EIBFS, UK firm to boost green and sustainable finance

DUBAI: Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS), a regional leader in banking and finance education and training, hosted a webinar to assess the effects and interdependence of green and sustainable finance on long-term development, in collaboration with Chartered Banker Institute, a UK global professional education body for bankers.

The virtual session titled ‘Frontiers of Green and Sustainable Finance’ saw over 100 participants from the business community representing various financial services sectors.

The session is part of the EIBFS conversational learning initiative, which aims to host periodic talks on behalf of the EIBFS CSR Commitee, to cover timely banking and finance-related subjects as part of its community outreach goals.

The participants joined Simon Thompson, Chief Executive at Chartered Banker Institute, UK, Valerie Bauckham, Global Business Partner at Chartered Banker Institute, UK, and the session moderator Dr Niel Oberholzer, Director of the Learning Division at EIBF, to discuss the role of the financial service sector, in supporting the development of green and sustainable finance and the transition to a low carbon economy as well as to examine the challenges in identifying, describing, and classifying climate-related financial and non-financial risks and the impacts of these on the economy, society, and the financial services sector.

During the discussion, the panelists concurred that every professional financial decision should take climate change and sustainability into account. The speakers also highlighted the role of a range of key players and policy and regulatory frameworks in building and supporting a sustainable financial system and the challenges and opportunities that will emerge following the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26).