ESG Investing Finance and the transition to Net Zero Symposium

Description

The UK has a legal responsibility to be net zero by 2050. Most local authorities are aiming to do this by 2030. This has created a catalyst of change, a new found interest in sustainable finance from investors, asset managers, regulators and academics alike. The speed in which this change needs to happen is in line with the industrial revolution - In other words, the biggest economic opportunity since the railways.

We will bring together financial experts, economists, local authorities and practitioners. Inspiring collaboration, conversation and debate on recent trends. We will work to explore and bridge existing data gaps on ESG and climate finance.

Day 1: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing

The first day of this symposium has a range of key speakers with a focus on ESG investing.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing has grown rapidly over recent years. The amount of professionally managed portfolios that have integrated ESG into their asset allocation has been growing consistently . The rise of ESG reflects the view that Environmental, Social, and Governance factors can affect investment returns. “If some companies and industries fail to adjust to this new world, they will fail to exist” (Carney, 2019).

Societal awareness and attention towards ESG factors such as climate change related risks, responsible business conduct and inclusivity in the workplace suggest that ESG factors not only will influence investors decisions and financial performance in the future but also financial stability.

Despite the impressive growth of ESG, challenges still remain such as a lack consensus on what financially-material information influence expectations of returns and risks, how best to measure climate risk for risk management purposes, inconsistencies within ESG ratings that can lead to misleading results for investors, and the lack of standardization on ESG disclosures amongst others.

Focus group:

The aim of this focus group is to bring business, policy makers and academics together to review their perspectives of the current state of the art on ESG issues when investing worldwide and in the UK. Delegates will provide overview of current gaps within ESG investing and highlight potential challenges.

Through facilitated discussions in the focus-group session in the afternoon, the aim is to stimulate research ideas, identify areas of common interest between attendees with particular focus on the future challenges for the further development of ESG. The output of the discussions will be a paper identifying and prioritising the most important findings.

Day 2: Climate finance – barriers, challenges and financial mechanisms

The second day of the symposium will be focused on climate change finance hosting a range of speakers.

Bristol is one of the 25 European successful bids for funding (£1.3 million) that has joined the Mission’s Pilot Cities program. The project will create a Net Zero Investment Co-Innovation Lab to test potential financial mechanisms and solutions to address climate change.

As part of this project, various mechanisms and approaches to bring about and increase climate finance will be trialled. For this reason, it is important to understand what is going on in Bristol and elsewhere in the world in relation to the range of ideas and approaches to increase climate finance. Particularly in relation to attaining investment from private sources given current budget and financial constraints of UK local governments.

Focus group:

The aim of this session is to bring business, policy makers and academics together to review the range of mechanisms and approaches that could be deployed in Bristol. The session will ask how can we bring about investment in decarbonisation and what the barriers and opportunities are. Delegates will discuss climate finance and highlight potential challenges.

The facilitated discussions aim to stimulate research ideas, identify areas of common interest between attendees with particular focus on the future challenges for the further development of climate finance at the city level. The output of the discussions will be formed into a paper identifying and prioritising the most important findings.

Programme