Announcement: COP26 Event Programme Launch
With just over three weeks to go until COP26 in Glasgow we wanted to take stock of our busy pre-event series and give you a taster of the exciting events we have lined up during the summit itself. Below you will find a roundup for each of our four work streams and links to secure your tickets for a mixture of in person and virtual events. You can follow us on Twitter, Linkedln and our dedicated Efx Global page throughout the summit to stay up to date with the sessions and speakers on the ground in Glasgow, and make sure you follow along with the hastags: ClimateAction , #TogetherForOurPlanet, #Finance4COP26, #COP26
Net Zero Pensions
The challenge of achieving net zero presents a complex range of issues for pension providers and financial institutions alike. With COP26 only four weeks away, financial institutions are coming under increasing pressure to commit to net zero targets. Pension providers must therefore accelerate action towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. At GEFI we have been raising this call to action as COP26 draws ever closer, with the following events and initiatives:
Pre-COP Events:
- 28th September marked the official launch of our Pension Providers and the Path to Net Zero Policy Paper. You can read the report here
- You can listen to the paper author Natalie Jackson give a radio interview to Good Morning Scotland on BBC Scotland
During COP:
- Net Zero Pensions Summit, Tuesday 9th November (Glasgow University, 12.30pm – 2pm). Click here to sign up to attend in-person or virtually.
Faith in the SDGs
Pre COP Events:
- Our latest Report 'Innovation in Islamic Finance: Innovation in Islamic Finance: Green Sukuk for SDGs' was commissioned last month in conjunction with UNDP Indonesia, explores the role of green sukuk in the context of climate change and the green economy. It highlights the potential of green sukuk to be used effectively by OIC member states and beyond, to finance NDC’s by attracting investment at scale to projects that reduce national greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. You can read the report here.
- Part 4 of our Thought Leadership series, ‘Islamic Finance: Shariah and the SDGs’ is available now.This report is the last part of a four-part thought leadership series delivered by the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) in partnership with the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC). It deliberates the relationship between Shariah and SDGs and highlights some of the key principles of Shariah which support the SDG agenda. Click here to download
During COP:
Faith in the SDGs Summit, Tuesday 9th November (Glasgow University, 10am – 11.30am). Click here to sign up to attend in-person or virtually.
Finance for Nature in Nature
Pre-COP26 Event (Virtual)
Monday 4th – Thursday 7th October – UNDP (Virtual)
- Nature for Life Hub – A programme of virtual events focusing on the transformations required to achieve the SDGs, and to bend the curve on biodiversity loss, climate change and nature-dependent livelihoods and wellbeing.
Events at COP26 (Ross Priory, Loch Lomond)
During COP: Finance for Nature (F4N) Programme, Thursday 4th & Friday 5th November (Ross Priory)
Email events@globalethicalfinance.org to attend in-person.
Other Events:
GEFI, Scottish Government & Scottish Enterprise Green Finance Day Wednesday 3rd November (Lighthouse, 2pm – 5pm). Click here to sign up virtually or email events@globalethicalfinance.org to attend in-person.
GEFI, Scottish Government & Scottish Enterprise Finance Day Reception Wednesday 3rd November (Lighthouse, 5pm – 6.30pm) Email events@globalethicalfinance.org to attend in-person.
Private Events
In addition to our public programme, we will be curating a number of private events with our stakeholders during the period.
Lunch and launch event for our SDG-Aligned Finance Platform
Tuesday 2nd November, 2pm – 4pm
FaithInvest and Climate Investment Funds round table
Wednesday 3rd November, 8.30am – 10am
Islamic Finance Programme
Wednesday 3rd November, 9am – 12pm
Recap: Pension Providers and the Path to Net Zero Launch
The challenge of achieving net zero presents a complex range of issues for pension providers and financial institutions alike. With COP26 now less than four weeks away, financial institutions are coming under increasing pressure to commit to net zero targets. Pension providers must therefore accelerate action towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Last Tuesday on the 28th September, GEFI were delighted to marked the official launch of our Pension Providers and the Path to Net Zero Policy Paper. You can read the report here.
The webinar explored some of the key issues facing pension providers around Net Zero, including the all-important question of whether to make ambitious commitments and seek to live up to them, or remain cautious and focus on what is practically achievable. During the session, lead author Natalie Jackson (GEFI) presented key takeaways from the Paper before facilitating a discussion between industry experts David Hickey (Lothian Pension Fund) and Eva Cairns (Aberdeen Standard Investments) who presented on key topics relevant findings for pension providers. The presentations were followed by a lively audience Q&A where issues such as decarbonisation, offsets and practical action points for professionals in financial services and local government pension schemes alike.
You can watch a recap of Natalie’s Presentation here
You can watch a recap of Eva’s Presentation here
You can watch a recap of David’s Presentation here
You can also listen to the paper author Natalie Jackson give a radio interview to Good Morning Scotland on BBC Scotland
We are also delighted to invite you to join us during COP26 in Glasgow on Tuesday 9th November at Kelvin Gallery, University of Glasgow, for our Net Zero Pensions Summit. The event will showcase best practice and provide practical guidance for pension providers to ensure that the pensions we pay are worth more in a world worth living in. Following the digital launch of the Net Zero Policy Positioning Paper in September 2021, and in anticipation of our Net Zero Transition Roadmap launch (late October), this Summit, held in partnership with abrdn, will explore the urgent action required by pension providers and ensure they play a key role in addressing the existential threat of climate change. The Summit will showcase best practice and provide practical guidance for pension providers to ensure that the pensions we pay are worth more in a world worth living in.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
- Barry O'Dwyer, Chief Executive, Royal London
- Faith Ward, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Brunel Pension Partnership
- David Russell, Head of Responsible Investment, Universities Superannuation Scheme
- Eva Cairns, Head of Climate Change Strategy, Aberdeen Standard Investments
Secure your place by signing up here.
Report Launch: Islamic Finance Can Unlock $50 Billion Funding For Climate Emergency Ahead of COP 26
With less than 6 weeks to go until COP26, a new report entitled 'Innovation in Islamic Finance: Green Sukuk for SDGs' has been published by the UK Islamic Finance Council (UKIFC) and GEFI as part of our Path to COP Faith in the SDGs workstream. As the report rightly outlines, the principles of Islamic finance are underpinned by the objectives of Islamic law and match many of the aims and objectives of the agenda for sustainable development goals adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 to provide a shared blueprint for an urgent call for action by all countries to end poverty, improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
The report, which will be officially launched at the UKIFC's Islamic Finance and Global SDGs summit on Tuesday September 28th, estimates an additional US$30-50bn can be raised by 2025 through green and sustainability sukuk to deliver the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, sales of new Green sukuk bonds have grown from US$500m in 2017 to US$3.5bn in 2019. The Republic of Indonesia (ROI), in partnership with the UNDP, issued the world’s first Government green sukuk in March 2018 (raising US$1.25bn) and the world’s first retail green sukuk in November 2019 (raising IDR1.4trn or USD$104.4m).
The report also demonstrates how this unique alignment of the SDGs and Islamic finance provides a clear opportunity for green sukuk bonds to bridge the gap in private sector finance needed to meet countries’ climate targets and accelerate achieving their wider Sustainable Development Goals. It takes a detailed look at the best practice approach to green sukuk taken in ROI and other Islamic finance regions.
REPORT FINDINGS:
- Upfront investment is needed to develop a green framework and independent certification to assure investors that green sukuk bonds are not greenwashing.
- Demand from western global investors for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investments gives green sukuk bonds the opportunity to attract major new investors who otherwise would not have considered sukuk bonds for their portfolios.
- Green or sustainability sukuk bonds might lower the cost of raising vital climate finance. Malaysia has seen the largest volume of sukuk issuances supported and facilitated by a number of Government initiatives.
- Indonesia has a very limited corporate sukuk market and has not seen any corporate green sukuk issuances. There is a need to ensure sukuk have a level playing field with no additional burdens in comparison to conventional bonds; in addition, tax incentives could encourage corporate sukuk issuances.
- The opportunity is there for Shariah scholars to positively influence ESG aspects as part of their Shariah review of sukuk issuances.
- A challenge within the Islamic finance industry is the general lack of experience and depth of knowledge in relation to ESG matters. It is recommended organisations such as the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions take a lead and develop guidance for Shariah scholars.
The full report can be accessed here.
There is still time to register for the UKIFC's Islamic Finance and Global SDGs summit via their Eventbrite Page. You can find out more about our Faith in the SDGs workstream and activities at Cop26 on our dedicated Path to Cop Page.
Are you a young person with questions about COP26? Join our #26for26 campaign
With COP 26 now less than 50 days away, we are eager to encourage voices from all around the world, and in particular, young voices, to get involved with the conversation in and around finance that will be taking place in Glasgow and beyond.
The Climate crisis facing us today is immense, and the negotiations that will take place at COP will hopefully bring us closer to a solution and a combined international effort. But what is the thing you have been dying to ask the delegates? Who would you like to ask this question? No guarantees we will get you that person, but with the finance industry gathering in Glasgow in November, we will have a broad range of industry leaders we can speak with.
As part of our #26for26 campaign, we will pick 26 questions to ask our network throughout the two weeks of COP26. You may of course submit anonymously, however, if you provide us with contact details and social media handles, we will link any posts to you, so you can share with your network, should you be chosen.
You can submit your questions via our Questions for COP chat box on our website.
Make sure you follow us on Twitter, Linkedln and YouTube to be part of the conversation across social media.
New Global Islamic Finance and SDGs Summit Launched
As part GEFI's Faith in the SDGs workstream, the UKIFC in partnership with UN and Islamic Development Bank is organising a virtual global summit on Islamic finance and the SDGs, to coincide with the UN General Assembly.
The summit will:
- Highlight the natural alignment between Islamic finance and the SDGs, based on the Maqasid Al-Shariah (higher goals of Islam);
- Examine some of the challenges for Islamic finance and the SDGs;
- Showcase the practical progress made by Islamic financial institutions on the SDGs, including multilateral organisations, governments, and commercial banks and asset managers; and
- Showcase the role for Islamic social finance in achieving the SDGs.
By focusing on the natural alignment between the Islamic faith and the SDGs, we will seek to drive engagement with and acceptance of the Goals among communities who might otherwise not engage with them. The summit will feature a mixture of high-level discussions about the global trends facing the Islamic finance industry, scholarly debate regarding the Goals, and practical showcases of SDGs in action in Islamic finance.
The Global Islamic Finance and SDGs Taskforce, initiated by the UKIFC, was launched by the UK Government together with IsDB to promote awareness and adoption of the SDGs amongst commercial Islamic financial institutions. This summit is informed by, and builds on, the work of the Taskforce and the UKIFC’s broader activities in promoting the SDGs and its work with GEFI as part of the Faith in Finance Path to COP workstream.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
- Dr Ahmed Al-Meraikhi, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General
- Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, Board Member, International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance
- Raja Amir Shah Raja Azwa, CEO, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad
- Stella Cox CBE, Managing Director, DDCAP Group
- Rafe Haneef, CEO - Group Transaction Banking & Group Chief Sustainability Officer, CIMB Group
- Charles Haresnape, CEO, Gatehouse Bank
- Farmida Bi CBE, EMEA Chair, Norton Rose Fulbright
- Dr Akram Laldin, Executive Director, International Shariʽah Research Academy for Islamic Finance
- Arshad Mohamed Ismail, CEO, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad
- Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi, CEO, BIMB Investment Management Berhad
- Hajara Adeola, CEO, Lotus Capital Limited
- Omar Shaikh, Managing Director, UKIFC
To register your interest for the summit, follow the link to the sign up page.
YouGov poll shows an increase in appetite for responsible investment, and young people are leading the charge
With COP26 in Glasgow approaching in just a few months’ time, and our Net Zero Pensions work stream in full swing, the team at GEFI wanted to get a sense of how the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have impacted investment habits across the country.
In a recent survey conducted in collaboration with YouGov, we questioned 1,002 adults between the 12th - 16th August 2021 to understand whether the coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on where members of the public want to invest their money and the trust they place in financial institutions in the aftermath of the IPPC’s declaration of a code red for humanity. The results painted an interesting picture and showed signs that young people are leading the charge when it comes to responsible investing in a post-pandemic world.
With Scotland’s proud history as a global centre for ethical finance- a legacy GEFI has consistently championed through our events and advocacy work- a clear public commitment to ethical finance was to be expected. Unsurprisingly, 66% of our respondents thought that financial institutions have a vital role to play in tackling the climate emergency and 36% only want their money invested in companies that have a positive impact on the environment even if it means lower returns- a consensus that broadly mirrored the results of GEFI’s 2019 survey.
One of the most striking takeaways from this year’s assessment is the emergence of young people wanting to know where their money is going, and what impact it will have on the planet. Almost a quarter (24%) of survey participants said the Covid-19 pandemic has increased their interest in where their money is being invested. Moreover, 37% of all 18-34s said they will take more proactive steps to invest their money more responsibly going forward.
But while the appetite for responsible investment is increasing, the results also indicate that there is still work to be done on educating the public about the impact of their individual pension pot. As our survey results indicated, a staggering 78% of Scots don’t consider themselves to be financial investors even though the same proportion of Scots have a pension that will be invested in global financial markets. Similarly, the last government figures from a 2019 survey showed that Scots had nearly £600bn invested in their pensions (Source: https://data.gov.scot/wealth/2020report.html), yet only 15% of Scots with pensions actively choose how their money is invested and 20% don't know how their money is invested. So how can financial institutions act more responsibly, and what can members of the public do to see their pension pot help to deliver positive change for people and planet?
Tony Burdon, CEO of Make My Money Matter suggests an answer may lie in both public awareness and renewed commitments from financial service institutions to deliver Net Zero.
“This survey adds to the growing mountain of evidence showing loud and clear that people want their money to help tackle the climate crisis, rather than fuel the fire”, he commented. “With trillions saved in UK pensions, it’s undoubtably one of the most powerful weapons we have to help protect our planet and build a future we’d all want to retire into.”
Through a series of papers, workshops and events to support pension providers in our Net Zero Pensions work stream, GEFI is committed to assisting pension providers in overcoming challenges and increasing emissions transparency and developing tangible plans to make and deliver on net zero commitments. With public appetite for using finance to act on climate change peaking in the run up to COP26, and with young people leading the charge, the need to provide a clear path towards responsible investment choices is arguably more urgent than ever.
If you require advice on your sustainable finance journey, the Global Ethical Finance Institute’s dedicated advisory team can help guide you. To find out more about how your pension can benefit the planet - or want to know more about GEFI’s Path to COP campaign and events series - you can visit www.pathtocop.org
Fieldwork was undertaken between 12th - 16th August 2021. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
You can read GEFI's full press release here