DDCAP attended the Green Finance Summit 2019 on Tuesday, 2 July at the Guildhall in London. The “Green Finance Summit: Investing in Actions”, which was oversubscribed, brought together more than 1300 financiers, government representatives, academics and other leaders in green finance from around the world to focus on the future direction and requirements of the green finance industry. Whilst this was the third Green Finance Summit to be held in London, this year’s event was held during London’s first Climate Action Week (1-8 July) and marked the launch of the Green Finance Institute (link) as well as the publication of the UK Government’s Green Finance Strategy (link).
Keynote addresses were delivered by Hoesung Lee, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; John Glen MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury; António Horta-Osório, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group; Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders; Peter Estlin, Lord Mayor of the City of London; Catherine McGuinness, Policy Chair at the City of London Corporation; and Chris Skidmore MP, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. Panel discussions were organised around Investing in a Sustainable Future, Investing in Climate Analytics, International Trends in Sustainable Finance, New Green Finance Opportunities as well as Investing in Sustainable and Resilient Cities.
Green Finance Institute
The Green Finance Institute (GFI) is an initiative jointly funded by the City of London Corporation and HM Government and is to be led by industry specialists. This is to be the principal forum for public and private sector collaboration in green finance. Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, who was recently appointed the Green Finance Institute’s first CEO, described the GFI as a mission-led coalition to develop and scale green finance and deploy green capital toward a zero-carbon and climate resilient economy. Its focus will be to drive the global green finance agenda, create a recognisable global brand for the UK as well as build a digital platform, the GFI Knowledge Hub, and to facilitate the sharing of information.
Green Finance Strategy
Building on the important work of the Green Finance Taskforce, the first Green Finance Strategy sets out how the UK intends to accelerate the growth of green finance, from greening the global financial system and catalysing necessary investment, to driving innovation in financial products and building skills across the financial sector. It calls for government to work with UK industry, regulators, academia and the newly launched Green Finance Institute to deliver the changes needed.