Finextra’s annual Sustainable Finance Live conference will take place at Events@No6 in London on 10th October, bringing together experts from all over the sustainable finance industry to discuss plans and strategies to make the financial sector greener for the future. Leading up to the event, Finextra spoke to upcoming speakers for a sneak peek into what’s to come.
Finextra interviewed Peter Bachmann, managing director of sustainable infrastructure at Gresham House, who will be speaking on the panel ‘How will financial markets deliver the investment needed to ensure impact?’
Bachmann stated that the sector is moving towards combatting climate change through strategies to make infrastructure more sustainable. He cited three of these “asset-based solutions” that intend to reduce climate issues:
- “Vertical farms, which can be 1,900 times better in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, use 99% less land and around 95% less water compared to imported field grown crops;
- Waste-based biofuel plants, converting industrial waste into a sustainable alternative to coal for the cement and steel industry – a single site could avoid over 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year;
- Landscape-scale habitat banks, which drive significant positive environmental impacts via biodiversity enhancement, helping tackle climate change.”
Bachmann posited that banks and fintechs should push for deliverable and impactful projects that decrease carbon emissions and use capital to invest in sustainable solutions.
Sustainable Finance Live will see discussion on sustainability regulation that is currently in place, on which Bachmann commented that the frameworks being instated by the TCFD and TNFD will seek to put an end to greenwashing in the industry.
“While progress is being made, there is currently no one clear set of regulations that all institutions are required to follow. As such, there is potential for substantial regulatory arbitrage, making it challenging to compel meaningful change.”
He added that regulators should place smaller capital charges against investments by financial organisations to change behaviours when it comes to pollution, carbon emissions, and energy sources.
When asked about the next trends to emerge in the sustainable finance sector, Bachmann believes that the industry will place a heavier focus on addressing climate change and carbon removal. The next step for companies - while Scope 3 emissions are still to be accurately determined - is to concentrate efforts on carbon avoidance and reduction of company emissions.
On what he is most looking forward to at this year’s Sustainable Finance Live, Bachmann said: “Hearing from the amazing group of speakers and contributors about their new ideas and ways to tackle the climate crisis.”
Learn more and register for Finextra's annual Sustainable Finance Live conference, that will bring together industry experts to examine strategies to build a sustainable city on 10 October 2023.