Webinar – Green finance: what levers of action for an organisation?

Green finance – what levers of action for an organisation?

Banks, insurance companies, pension funds, employee savings, investments, investors, financial actors play a critical role in the climate equation. They are essential for financing the ecological and energy transition, but they can also contribute to worsening climate change by financing the development of climate-incompatible activities such as the exploitation of fossil resources. Today, despite the growing popularity of sustainability themes, mainstream finance remains at odds with environmental and social justice objectives.

An organisation’s financial choices are critical levers in the fight against climate change. After a presentation by Reclaim Finance on the challenges of green finance today and its role in accelerating and massifying climate action, the aim will be to identify the levers for action at the level of an organisation, based on the initiatives of Bordeaux Métropole and the Anyama Foundation in particular. The opportunities vary according to the types of financial actors with which organisations work. Choosing banks, investors or financial investments, organisations can begin their financial transition in different ways, depending on their practices and interests.

When and where?

May 04, 2023 (Thursday) | 1.00 – 2.30 pm (CET Geneva time)

Online (this webinar will be held in French)

Speakers 

• Julie Sansoucy, Civil Society Engagement Campaigner, Reclaim Finance.

Reclaim Finance is an NGO founded in 2020 with the aim of putting finance at the service of social and climate justice. With its robust financial expertise, Reclaim Finance works to accelerate and scale up green and sustainable finance approaches, as the current momentum in the finance world is deemed insufficient. The organisation produces expert and monitoring reports on the activities of the sector (banks, insurance companies, pension funds), develops advocacy campaigns aimed at decision-makers and the general public, works with financial players and supports associations, companies and local authorities seeking to take action. In just three years, Reclaim Finance has pushed dozens of actors to reduce their support for coal and to take unprecedented measures to fight against the expansion of oil and gas. The organisation has recently developed a web platform to encourage people to switch banks.

• Jacques Fraval, Department finance, Bordeaux Métropole.

Bordeaux Métropole is a French local authority in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, with 28 municipalities and a population of 819,604 in 2020. As part of a wider climate change initiative, Bordeaux Metropole and the City of Bordeaux have embarked on several green finance initiatives. One of the areas identified is the choice of more virtuous banks. A specific questionnaire has been developed for this purpose in partnership with several NGOs and sent to the banks. 50 million, which allows borrowers to link the cost of their loan to the achievement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives. The financing is subsidised according to predefined environmental, social and governance objectives.

To go further :

• Climate plan Bordeaux Métropole  
• Green loan Bordeaux Métropole

• Max Thillaye du Boullay, Director General, Anyama. 

Anyama is an endowment fund whose objective is to protect life. Created in 2021, the fund provides financial support to projects of general interest for the protection of life around three priority areas: the protection and revitalisation of forests, the preservation and regeneration of biodiversity, and support for the sick and their families. The fund ensures its sustainability by investing its money in profitable financial assets. Anyama has signed the manifesto of the French Coalition of Climate Foundations and is committed to taking into account sustainabilitý criteria in the selection of its assets, to favouring investment in sustainable thematic funds, or to excluding assets based on fossil fuels.

Missed the webinar? Watch the recording below or watch it directly on our YouTube channel!

Cover photo © Sean Pollock/Unsplash.