IEEFA Sustainable Finance 2024

Sustainability-labelled fixed income instruments—including use of proceeds and sustainability-linked bonds and loans—have become a significant source of capital, and are expected to grow given the large climate funding gap. However, not all these instruments show clear contributions to net-zero goals.

Recent IEEFA research discusses the upcoming European Green Bond Standard, which is often seen as a “gold” standard to enhance credibility and transparency. Meanwhile, the UK is developing its own standard as part of its green finance strategy. How can a desired standard align investors’ and issuers’ incentives towards achieving climate objectives?

The discussion will delve into the role of public and private finance institutions, corporate issuers and policymakers in supporting the growth of labelled debt instruments, and explore cases of desired credible and impactful issuance.

Confirmed Speakers: 

• Dr Gireesh Shrimali, Head of Transition Finance Research, Oxford Sustainable Finance Group
• Jo Richardson, Managing Director, Head of Research, Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute
• Emma Harvey-Smith, Chief of Staff, Green Finance Institute
• Kevin Leung, Sustainable Finance Analyst, Debt Markets, IEEFA

Following COP26, the initial momentum behind GFANZ and initiatives like Climate Action 100+ brought genuine hope that active ownership methods could be transformational for real-world decarbonisation. 

More recently, however, the industry is signalling that engagement is not living up to its early promise—a train of thought increasingly backed up by evidence from academia. With corporate engagement’s track record already under the microscope, antitrust concerns have chipped away at industry resolve, while aggressive silencing tactics from carbon-intensive market participants could be reshaping the relationship between owner and asset.

This presents challenges to stewardship frameworks closely linked to universal ownership theory, which target collaborative engagement as a catalyst for systemic change. This session will explore issues from recent IEEFA research to ask the question: How can universal owners evolve their investment management approaches in the face of growing challenges?

Confirmed Speakers: 

• Paul Chandler, Director of Stewardship, UN PRI
• Brynn O'Brien, Executive Director, ACCR
• Tom Gosling, Executive Fellow, London Business School and at the European Corporate Governance Institute
• Alasdair Docherty, Sustainable Finance and Data Analyst, Europe, IEEFA