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[Update on 13 August 2020: With the global Covid-19 pandemic still ongoing, Eco-Business has decided to take our flagship Unlocking capital for sustainability conference fully virtual for the first time. The current crisis has exposed the critical link between ESG performance and human and planetary health. We believe that our event is a timely avenue for our community to have urgent discussions on how to mobilise finance to build back better.
Existing ticket holders will be contacted to either receive a refund, or convert their ticket to the new virtual ticket and/or donate their contribution to EB Impact. We would like to thank you for your support during these unprecedented times, and we hope to see you at the virtual event on 10 September 2020!]
Unlocking capital for sustainability is an annual premiere event organised by Eco-Business in partnership with UN Environment Programme (UNEP) that brings together high-level decision makers in finance, business, government and civic society to discuss and commit to actionable initiatives that mobilise the capital markets for sustainable development.
The financial sector stands at a crossroads of change: Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the role of finance in building equitable, sustainable economies has been debated across societies. Set amid this backdrop is the rise of sustainable finance, which allocates capital with an environmental, social and governance (ESG) lens to create long-term value. Despite the encouraging momentum however, the deployment of private capital for sustainable finance remains relatively small.
According to the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, sustainable development in Asia will require US$5 trillion of investments to address complex challenges of climate change, growing inequality and rising urbanisation by 2030. How can the finance industry accelerate the responsible deployment of capital for these solutions in a rapidly growing region?
Join us at Unlocking capital for sustainability 2020: Building back better
*Please note that registrations will close at 6.30 pm Singapore time on 9 September.*
Founder and Managing Director, Eco-Business
Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Chief Economist of the United Nations
In this intimate session, speakers share their birds-eye view of what it will take for the region to build back better after experiencing the largest peacetime crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. We will discuss the progress of sustainable finance in the region, looking at the trends that will shape the decade ahead and how to accelerate capital allocation for recovery and long-term sustainable development. The discussion will look at the opportunities in a rapidly developing region in crisis, and how to seize them.
Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Chief Economist of the United Nations
Chief Executive Officer, Rabobank Singapore & Representative Markets
Senior Director for Asia Pacific, ICMA
Group Chief Sustainability Officer, DBS
Head, Listing Policy & Product Admission, Singapore Exchange Regulation
ASEAN Representative, EMPEA
Executive Director, Head of ASEAN and Public Policy, World Gold Council
Executive Director, Eco-Business
Green bonds, blue bonds, sustainability loans, green loans – financial institutions are clamouring to announce newly launched green loans and products. Even as the world recognises the need for new financial instruments to fund projects driving sustainability, there remains a strong scepticism towards loosely defined green instruments that are subject to greenwash. Is there a role for regulators in this respect for Asian products? What other drivers can accelerate financial ESG standards in Asia?
Group Chief Sustainability Officer, DBS
Vice President Governmental Affairs System Design, TOMRA Systems ASA, Norway
ASEAN Representative, EMPEA
Executive Director, Head of ASEAN and Public Policy, World Gold Council
Executive Director, Eco-Business
Banks have an outsized influence on the modern economy today and have been under pressure to accelerate the critical energy transition needed to tackle our global climate crisis. Last year, banks with over US$47 trillion in assets, making up one third of the industry, adopted the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Banking to fight climate change and shift loan books away from fossil fuels. Closer to home, Singapore’s three major banks said they would stop new investments in coal fired power plants. Regional banks and organisations in this panel will discuss the state of the energy transition in this rapidly developing region and the role of finance in enabling it.
Senior Sustainability Consultant, Vigeo Eiris
Managing Director, Head of Structured Finance and Sustainable Finance at OCBC Bank
Green Finance Lead for South East Asia, Carbon Trust
Head of Asia Pacific ESG Solutions at S&P Global Sustainable1
Deputy Editor, Eco-Business
Head of Ethics, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore
BlackRock made headlines recently when it announced a partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to launch the BGF Circular Economy Fund of US$20 million, marking the proliferation of circular economy concepts in our modern economy, which advocates a circular approach to managing our limited resources. Research has suggested that if Europe were to adopt a more circular economy it could expect to receive €1.6 trillion in net benefits. Separate research indicates a circular economy could boost UK GDP by £29bn and create 205,000 new British jobs.
What about Asia? Where should investors begin looking for circular economy investing opportunities in a region that is rapidly growing and grappling with responsible resource management? This panel invites the world’s forward-looking investors to discuss their investment approach, successes and challenges of putting their money where the circular economy is.
Managing Director, Asia at Circulate Capital
Senior Energy Specialist, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC), Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Associate Director, APAC, Forum for the Future
Head of UNEP Finance Initiative
Vice President, Projects, Alliance to End Plastic Waste
Founding and Former Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact; Chairman, Arabesque
Attendees will be split into 4 intimate virtual networking sessions based on the following themes:
Please note that networking is only applicable to full access attendees.
*Please note that registrations will close at 6.30 pm Singapore time on 9 September.*
*Please note that registrations will close at 6.30 pm Singapore time on 9 September.*
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