Net Zero Finance event to take place on March 16th as part of the Net Zero Festival, bringing together over 50 top green finance experts from around the world
MSCI and Schroders are to partner with the inaugural Net Zero Finance summit, which will kick off the Net Zero Festival later this month.
The investment research giant and asset management powerhouse will both feature on a programme bringing together over 50 leading green financial experts from around the world on March 16th to discuss how the financial sector is shaping the pace and scale of the net zero transition.
A number of complimentary tickets remain available for the online event, which kicks off with keynote sessions from Hiro Mizuno, special envoy on innovative finance and sustainable investments at the UN, and Nigel Topping, high level climate action champion at COP26.
MSCI and Schroders join a roster of influential partners for the event, including Bankers for Net Zero, Carbon Trackers, the Climate Bonds Initiative, FAIRR, the Green Finance Institute, ShareAction, the Sustainable Finance Programme at the University of Oxford, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), WWF, and the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative.
Bruno Rauis, executive director for climate risk research at MSCI, who will take part in a debate on how to develop a net zero portfolio at the event, said it was critical investors engage with escalating climate-related risks.
"Climate risks, whether physical or related to the transition to a lower carbon economy, are changing the risk-return profile of companies and industries," he said. "As investor awareness and stakeholder pressure rises, institutional investors increasingly want to invest to affect more systemic, global change beyond the company or portfolio level. We look forward to discussing the challenges and explore the opportunities at the Net Zero Finance summit as we aim to help investors seeking to align with a net zero world."
Carolina Minio Paluello, global head of product, solutions and quant at Schroders, who will take part in a panel discussion at the event on the investor role in the net zero transition, argued asset managers had a crucial role to play in accelerating the economy-wide shift towards net zero emissions.
"Climate change will be a defining driver of the global economy, financial markets and wider society in the coming years," she said. "As an active asset manager we believe that we have a fundamental role to play in encouraging large companies to take account of the urgent need to plan, and execute, a transition to net zero. We also believe that doing so will be beneficial for long-term corporate valuations. We're delighted to support the Net Zero Finance Hub and Net Zero Finance summit to spur action towards a low carbon economy."
The Net Zero Finance summit is the first event in this year's Net Zero Festival programme, as BusinessGreen works to showcase the best of the net zero transition ahead of the crucial COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow this autumn.
The Festival will take place from September 29th to October 1st online and in London. It will be accompanied by a series of virtual events, including Net Zero Finance on March 16th, Net Zero Nature on May 27th, Net Zero Innovate on June 24th, and Net Zero Culture on October 20th.
Drawing on BusinessGreen's 14 year heritage at the heart of the UK's green economy, the Net Zero Festival will bring together many of the world's top climate experts and most inspiring business leaders to deliver a raft of must-see content exploring how the net zero transition has become the defining business trend of the age. Uniting the movers and shakers in business, policy, and finance, the events will debate the mega-trends shaping the net zero transition and take a deep dive into the critical net zero related trends and challenges every company needs to engage with if they are to prosper over the coming decades.
With support from commercial partners such as Schroders, SNC-Lavalin, and Atkins, the Festival and fringe events will provide the new breed of chief sustainability officers and their many allies across the business with a wide-ranging forum through which to share best practices and explore how they can move faster, together.
Interested parties can register their interest in attending, sponsoring, speaking, or hosting a fringe event as part of the Net Zero Festival through the event website. Full details on the speaker and sponsor line up for the Festival and events throughout the year will be announced in the coming weeks.
