Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Bankers discuss ESG financial practices at UN climate conference (2023)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
|---|
|
| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
The United Nations’ 28th climate change conference, COP28, started November 30 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Bankers and other financial professionals were present to discuss ESG factors in finance:
| “ |
The UAE host of COP28 has given access to hundreds of bankers, consultants and lobbyists — and 20 housekeepers — at the event where oil and gas executives such as ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods will rub up against almost 200 government delegations shaping global climate policy. The UAE presidency invited more than 9,000 to the formal business area in the “blue zone”, including about 5,000 guests outside of its own extended delegation, based on Financial Times analysis of a provisional UN list of attendees. Total attendance in Dubai is unconfirmed but estimated at about 80,000, based on the list. The roster of chief executives on the UAE guest list included interim BP chief executive Murray Auchincloss, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, commodity trading group Trafigura’s Jeremy Weir and Brookfield Asset Management’s Connor Teskey. BlackRock and Brookfield were involved in the $30bn fund launched by the UAE on Friday to invest in climate-related projects. Bankers were one of the most represented professions among badge holders invited by the UAE, as climate finance moves to the forefront.[1] |
” |
Bankers led a COP28 conversation December 4 about how sustainable finance can promote ESG goals. But some in the industry argue sustainable finance is poorly defined:
| “ |
Banks including Morgan Stanley, HSBC Holdings Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have announced individual sustainable finance targets for 2030 that range from $750 billion to $2.5 trillion. Yet such statements leave investors with little real insight into the very different ways in which banks are defining what’s sustainable, according to senior bankers familiar with how the figures were compiled but who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The differences in accounting range from how banks treat mergers and acquisitions and debt underwriting to how they calculate revenue from market making, private equity investing, money-market funds, private banking, mortgages and revolving credit facilities, the people said. Emily Farrimond, a partner at London-based consultancy Baringa Partners LLP, said the absence of a consistent methodology “can impact the credibility of the entire market, raising fears of greenwashing.” And Greg Brown, a partner in the banking practice of law firm Allen & Overy, points to the lack of “a law or regulation” to steer the industry.[1] |
” |
See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
