Program

Download the brochure of the Climate Finance Day

All speakers mentioned below have confirmed their participation

Conference Moderator

Benoît LEGUET, Head of CDC Climat Research

08:15 - 08:45

Welcome Coffee

08:45 - 09:00

Welcome speech

Gérard MESTRALLET, Chairman, Paris EUROPLACE, Chairman & CEO, ENGIE, Coordinator of the Business dialogue

09:00 - 09:30

Opening Speeches

Michel SAPIN , French Minister of finance and Public Accounts
Christiana FIGUERES, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

09:30 - 11:00

Round Table 1

How Can Institutional Investors Bring their Portfolios into Line with 2°C?

Moderated by Izabella KAMINSKA, Financial Times

Some of the world’s largest institutional investors, including a growing number of pension funds, national wealth funds and insurance companies, are considering whether or not to exclude assets of the most carbon emitting businesses from their portfolios. Others are choosing to influence company strategy using shareholder engagement tactics in order to encourage these organizations to better define their climate objectives. Still others are deciding to measure the carbon footprint of their portfolios in order to find ways of gradually reducing their carbon emissions, either by active asset management or by using low carbon indices. Many organizations are taking a positive approach by choosing to invest in green assets that will help in the transition to a low carbon economy, further proof of the growing awareness of carbon risk but also of the new opportunities that the transition to a low carbon economy will create. The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), who, like many organizations, is supporting signatories in their initiatives on climate risk, helped to design this session. It will provide large investors with an opportunity to discuss their climate strategies, for example, What impact does carbon have on the value of the portfolios? How do their strategies influence financial markets and the real economy? Which of those strategies best contributes to the goal of reducing global warming to 2 degrees? Are they relevant to contributing to green growth in developing and emerging countries?

11:00 - 11:05

Purna SAGGURTI, Global Chairman of Corporate and Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

11:05 - 12:45

Round Table 2

Assessing, Financing and Insuring Against Climate Risk

Moderated by Aron CRAMER, President and CEO, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)

Conclusion : Henri de CASTRIES, Chairman and CEO, AXA

The climate is already changing, creating economic, ecological, and social risks - both real and potential - in developing countries especially, but also in developed countries. Since it assumes risk, the insurance industry is assessing these growing risks very closely, through advanced research and risk management. Extreme natural events are among the risks involved, ranging from sudden occurrences to protracted phenomena, including floods, rising sea levels and droughts. The challenge requires both prevention and adaptation strategies. This session will discuss the issue of climate resilience. It will stress the insurance industry’s role in risk prevention and risk management, addressing the topics of risk-sensitive investments, infrastructure and early warning systems against risks. It will also showcase insurance solutions such as green products for renewables, parametric insurance and risk advisory services. Moreover, in the run up to COP21, the roundtable will show how new partnerships between the financial and public sector could implement the “Agenda of Solutions” for tackling the climate challenge (e.g. the Resilient City initiative, regional pooling mechanisms for risk transfer, index-based insurance, etc.).

12:45 - 14:15

Buffet Lunch

14:15 - 14:30

Announcement of Global Investment Platform

Fiona REYNOLDS, Managing Director, Principles for Responsible Investment ( PRI )

Announcement of Insurance Industry Commitments Platform

Remco FISCHER, Programme Officer – Climate Change, UNEP – Finance Initiative

14:30 - 16:00

Round Table 3

Finance for Climate Action – Tackling the Investment Challenge

Moderated by Christopher KNOWLES, Head of Climate Change & Environment Division , European Investment Bank (EIB)

Keynote speech

Jonathan TAYLOR, Vice-President, European Investment Bank (EIB)

To limit global warming, projects which facilitate the shift to a low carbon economy must be increased and sped up worldwide. Renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transport, sustainable cities, land use and water management are all areas concerned. However, green projects globally still meet barriers to find funding; a problem which is even more acute in countries facing development challenges. Potential investors often consider project risks or transaction costs to be too high. But tools and financial products which are tailored to shift capital are emerging, both from traditional bank financing and, more and more, from other financing sources. Equally, investor appetite for green assets is increasing, as the development of green bonds clearly demonstrates. Credit analysts are also embedding the climate risk of projects in their assessments. To what extent are green bonds a financing tool to accelerate the transition? Can credit rating leverage a powerful force for change in mainstream finance? How must public funding be tailored to remove obstacles and accelerate climate private financing? How can we blend public and private capital to accelerate the shift? This session involves stakeholders in the financing chain and, in particular, commercial banks issuing green bonds and structuring finance green projects, public banks that create innovative tools to secure and leverage private funding, and rating agencies that assess the quality of bonds issued.

16:00 - 16:15

Coffee break

16:15 - 17:45

Round Table 4

Innovations for a Sustainable Financial System: Policies, Regulations, Standards

Moderated by Nick ROBINS, Co-Director, Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, UNEP

Public policy is essential to finance the transition to a low-carbon, resilient economy – not least measures on the demand side to correct market failures in the real economy, such as putting a price on carbon. In addition, more and more financial policymakers and practitioners are focusing on the complementary reforms within the financial system that are needed to mobilise the supply of finance. As part of this momentum, the United Nations Environment Programme has initiated an Inquiry to identify policies and measures that can better align the financial system with sustainable development, which will publish its final report in October. This session will present a set of global policy best practices across different financial sectors in areas such as disclosure, risk management, credit guidelines and capital market innovation. An international panel - with representatives from China, France, India, the UK and the USA - will explore the critical steps that policymakers can take both domestically and internationally to scale up capital for the coming financial climate.

17:45 - 18:15

Closing

Introduced by Pierre-René LEMAS, CEO, Caisse des Dépôts Group

Janos PASZTOR, Assistant Secretary-General on Climate Change, United Nations
Laurent FABIUS, French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development

18:30