In 2016, China’s G20 Presidency created the Green Finance Study Group which developed specific green finance recommendations, including promoting voluntary principles for green finance and increasing cross border investment in green bonds. Germany’s 2017 G20 Presidency is now taking forward the Green Finance Study Group recommendations to utilize green finance as a means to catalyze economic growth, enhance competitiveness and develop infrastructure, while increasing transparency to help mitigate risk.

This was our third meeting in the Greening the Financial System roundtable series. As market participants seek to maintain the momentum of green finance in a changing landscape, this roundtable provided a forum for a lively exchange of views, including on mitigating risk through, and the increasing importance of, green finance for sustainable growth in both developed and emerging markets.

Some of the topics discussed included:

• FSB’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations
• Effective policy frameworks for carbon pricing
• Progress in Green Finance Study Group recommendations
• Sustainability as a competitiveness advantage

8:30 – 9:00 AM: Registration & Coffee

9:00 – 9:10 AM: Welcome

Jim Quigley, Executive Vice Chairman, International Corporate and Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

9:10 – 9:20 AM: Keynote Remarks

Joerg Stephan, Deputy Director General G20 Policy, German Federal Ministry of Finance

9:20 – 9:25 AM: Opening Remarks

Hung Tran, Executive Managing Director, Institute of International Finance

9:25 – 10:40 AM: Session 1: Incentivizing Issuers and Investors

With opportunities increasing globally for private capital investment in green projects, more work needs to be done to channel investment towards such projects. Discussants will review existing guidelines and emerging standards that encourage issuers and investors to seek green projects as part of their portfolio diversification.

Moderator: Simon Zadek, Co-Director, Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, UNEP

Discussants:

• Matt Arnold, Global Head of Sustainable Finance, JPMorgan Chase & Co., member of the FSB’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
• Susan Gray, Managing Director and Global Head, S&P Infrastructure Ratings
• Stewart James, Deputy Co-Head of Group Government Affairs, HSBC
• Dr. Ma Jun, Chief Economist, Research Bureau, The People’s Bank of China

10:40 – 10:55 AM: Networking Break

10:55 – 12:20 PM: Session 2: Green Finance and Competitiveness

As companies look to develop cutting-edge technologies to meet their green finance goals, private sector financing will be ever more critical, resulting in the creation of new jobs and investment. This panel will examine the intersection between green finance and competitiveness, and what that means for the global economy.

Moderator: Deborah M. Lehr, Senior Fellow, The Paulson Institute & CEO, Basilinna

Discussants:

• Mike Eckhart, Managing Director, Global Head of Environmental Finance and Stability, Citigroup
• Dr. Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Global Responsible Investment Team, Aviva

12:20 – 1:45 PM: Networking Luncheon

A summary briefing of the meeting is available here.