Island taking to global stage on green finance
AS THE world looks at how to pay for a green recovery from Covid-19, Guernsey is taking to the international stage this week by hosting a sustainable finance week.
Guernsey Green Finance hosts Sustainable Finance Week from tomorrow as the island seeks to make a contribution to the ongoing debate about financing a green and sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
Initially planned as a week of events staged in Guernsey, the online format has enabled industry agency Guernsey Finance to host the first week of discussions on sustainable finance – with a range of industry big hitters – by any global financial centre.
Dr Andy Sloan, chairman of Guernsey Green Finance and deputy chief executive, strategy, at Guernsey Finance, also said that the online format would hopefully engage audiences from across the world.
‘Private capital has a significant role to play in greening the economic recovery and Guernsey can play an important role in supporting that,’ added Dr Sloan.
‘Green and sustainable finance is important for Guernsey’s positioning post-Covid, in particular it is important to ensure that we properly convey the positive role we, and indeed finance in general, can and will play in routing private capital towards building a sustainable future economy.
‘Guernsey’s finance sector can demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainable finance – 75% of assets under management of funds in Guernsey are managed, administered or sponsored by firms adopting the United Nations’ Principles of Responsible Investment.’
The week will see leading figures in sustainability and private wealth from the UK, Switzerland and Guernsey brought together to discuss private capital’s role in financing sustainability from varying perspectives for the daily panel webinars.
Daily ‘in conversation with’ podcasts with leaders of sustainable finance bodies from the United Nations, Hong Kong and Switzerland provide a global perspective.
Supplementing the formal agenda is a full fringe programme put on by Guernsey-based firms and associations.
The event is part of a series of initiatives developed to promote the green finance agenda with the support of £300,000 of grant funding agreed by the States at the end of 2019.
Guernsey is home to the world’s first regulated green fund regime, the Guernsey Green Fund.
There are now seven funds within that regime, comprising just less than 2% of the assets under management of Guernsey-administered funds.
Finance industry chiefs have also highlighted how Guernsey has demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainable finance by playing a full role supporting the global policy agenda.
The island is a member of the UN FC4S network through Guernsey Green Finance, the sustainable finance initiative led by Dr Sloan and Guernsey Finance.
Guernsey is also a member of the Global Insurance Forum and the Network for Greening the Financial System through its financial services regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.
