Putting a Price on Global Environmental Damage |
The new report released in San Francisco this week by the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and UNEP FI states that global environmental damage caused by human activity in 2008 represented a monetary value of $ 6.6 trillion, equivalent to 11% of global GDP. Those global costs are 20% larger than the $ 5.4 trillion decline in the value of pension funds in developed countries caused by the global financial crisis in 2007/8. The study, an initial effort to quantify in monetary terms the environmental harm caused by business and the possible future consequences for investor portfolios, fund returns and company earnings, estimates that in 2008 the world's top 3,000 public companies were responsible for a third of all global environmental damage. The study warns that as environmental damage and resource depletion increases, and governments start applying a "polluter pays" principle, the value of large portfolios will be affected through higher insurance premiums on companies, taxes, inflated input prices and the price tags for clean-ups. Read the report. See the press release. |
UNEP FI's Online Course on Climate Change: Risks and Opportunities for the Finance Sector
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 LAST PLACES LEFT!
50% DISCOUNT COUPON CODE FOR UNEP FI MEMBERS
Dates: 11 Oct-1 Nov 2010
Language: English
Contact: cc-training@unepfi.org
The next UNEP FI Climate Change: Risks and Opportunities for the Finance Sector Online Course will be held later this month. The course aims to equip staff in financial institutions with enhanced knowledge on climate change and carbon finance, specifically the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms, and to provide support for the development of effective internal policies and products. It will allow participants to share knowledge on climate change mitigation and adaptation, with an emphasis on the all-important role to be played by financial institutions. More information. Click here to enroll.
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UNEP-FI & Credit Suisse to host Workshop in Hong Kong on environmental risks and opportunities in the financial sector
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 Following the CEO Briefing at the Convention on Biological Diversity Meeting in Nagoya, Japan, UNEP FI and Credit Suisse will be hosting an inception workshop in Hong Kong on 2 November in order to actively discuss the risks and opportunities arising from environmental issues for the finance sector, and hear from the client side about the important role that biodiversity and ecosystem services plays for their own operations, and why this is an issue of increasing relevance for the financial sector. The aims of this half-day event are to engage key regional players from the finance sector, the client side, as well as other businesses and non governmental organisations in an active dialogue to increase our understanding of environmental risks and opportunities, and secondly to discuss the rationale and development of a 'Natural Capital Statement' through which UNEP FI will seek support from banks and other financial institutions to commit to embedding environmental considerations into internal processes, products and services. For more information read the Invitation Letter and see the Natural Capital Roadmap documents. Please RSVP by October 15 2010 to Margot Hill (margot.hill@unep.org ). |
Finance sector to step up efforts to combat climate change and increase investment in renewable energy, urges Nobel Laureate
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 Less than three months before world leaders will meet in Mexico in an attempt to negotiate a new global deal on climate change, leading finance executives came together in Mexico City, under the umbrella of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The Bankers Club of the Mexican Banking Association (ABM) hosted 55 senior finance executives who exchanged views on the finance sector's role with regard to climate change solutions. The event was co-organized by the UNEP FI, ABM and the Mexican National Institute of Ecology, and was moderated by Jessica Jacob, UNEP FI Latin America Task Force Coordinator. Nobel Laureate Dr. Mario Molina delivered the keynote address, urging the finance sector to increase investment in renewable energy. 'The private sector has to see the real business and investment opportunities and learn from the existing best practices to accelerate progress. There is no one magical solution. We need to take different simultaneous actions, such as investing in solar and wind energy', he said. Read more. Read media coverage of the event.
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Community CPS Australia joins UNEP FI
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Community CPS Australia is one of Australia's largest and most influential credit unions. With over 180,000 members and 46 Financial Centres across the country, Community CPS Australia facilitates and promotes the lifestyle goals and financial success of its members, while enhancing community welfare. Community CPS Australia is committed to environmental sustainability and is particularly dedicated to reducing its environmental footprint. For this purpose, it has established an Environmental Management System (EMS) Committee, which has targeted energy, water and business travel as central foci for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste production. More on Community CPS Australia.
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Eurobank EFG Serbia joins UNEP FI
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Eurobank EFG Serbia is a subsidiary of the Eurobank EFG Group. Established in 2003, the bank has invested over €500 million in technical and operational infrastructure, recruitment and development of modern banking products and services. In March 2006, Eurobank EFG developed a comprehensive corporate social responsibility program titled "We Invest in European Values", designed to contribute to local society improvement, with environment, education, health and equality as its four pillars. In addition, the bank is aiming, through its operations, to constantly improve the added value it contributes to society, setting systematic targets and improving transparency in regard to its financial, social and environmental performance, and committing to "good corporate citizen" practices. More on Eurobank EFG Serbia.
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UNEP FI welcomes Royal Microfinance of Zambia Limited
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Royal Microfinance of Zambia Limited - UNEP FI's first member from Zambia - provides microfinance services to small and medium enterprises, and caters in particular to small farms and agribusinesses. The company's corporate strategy is to specialize in environmental and social risk management finance. In this way, Royal Microfinance of Zambia Limited aspires to emerge as a heavyweight intermediary between international institutions and agribusinesses for managing environmental and social risks. Forthcoming innovative products include the finance of maize marketing, the risk analysis and finance of clean drinking water and the development of an agricultural index for insuring against drought, heavy rain and storms. More on Royal Microfinance of Zambia Limited.
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UNEP FI/Ecobanking Workshop: Environmental and Social Risk Management for the Turkish Financial Sector
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UNEP FI is to convene an Environmental and Social Risk training workshop in Turkey. We organize this workshop in the hope of sensitizing bankers, risk managers and other relevant parties across the Turkish financial sector, on the importance, effective techniques and consequential benefits of incorporating environmental and social considerations into their investment and risk management decision-making. The workshop also stresses the importance of mainstreaming the integration of environmental and social considerations in the local financial sector. A carefully targeted group of risk managers, credit officers and analysts, as well as sustainability and environmental managers, from local banks and relevant institutions will attend this workshop. In the course of the day participants will be oriented towards practical mechanisms and tools for implementing Environmental and Social Risk Management. Case-study based exercises and activities, as well as peer-to-peer experience sharing from banking practitioners (Unicredit and TSKB) will also be part of the agenda.The event is co-organised with The Banks Association of Turkey and kindly sponsored by TSKB. Read more. |
UNEP FI and partners launch inaugural World Climate Summit
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The UNEP Finance Initiative and partners including the World Bank, the UN Global Compact, the Carbon Disclosure Project and many others have come together to launch the inaugural World Climate Summit (WCS) 4-5 December 2010 at The Ritz-Carlton in Cancun, Mexico, in parallel with the UNFCCC COP 16 conference. As the first founding partner of the WCS and the conference's main focal point on finance, investment and insurance, the UNEP Finance Initiative is supported by a large coalition of financial institutions and investors, both UNEP FI Signatories as well as numerous climate change networks such as IIGCC, IGCC, INCR, the PRI, ClimateWise and FELABAN. Visit the conference website. Register for the conference here. See the press release and media coverage.
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UNEP FI's Property Working Group partners with Financial Times for Commercial Property Conference
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UNEP FI's Head, Paul Clements-Hunt, participated in the panel discussion 'Giving Sustainability the Green Light' at the Financial Times Commercial Property Conference in London. The UNEP FI Property Working Group teamed up with the Financial Times as a Session Knowledge Partner. |
UNEP FI and partners issue the global insurance industry statement on climate change adaptation in developing countries
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 Four initiatives representing more than 100 leading international insurance companies are today calling on governments worldwide to harness risk management techniques and insurance expertise to help implement climate change adaptation measures in the developing world as well as to firmly anchor insurance mechanisms as part of the future international climate change regime under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Read more. Available in English, French or Spanish. Read the press release and additional media coverage. |
Introductory Training Workshop on Environmental and Social Risk Analysis debuts in Lisbon
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This is the first time that UNEP FI convened the one-day training workshop in the Iberian Peninsula, seeking to train risk analysts and credit managers who work for Financial Institutions in Portugal on how to identify and manage social and environmental risks and opportunities in their lending and investment operations. Through 4 workshops in 2010 the project objective is to provide concrete information and tools about environmental risks to local bankers, in particular the Risk Officers and Sustainability managers and be able to define specific sectoral questionnaires and guidelines which could be implemented by all Portuguese banks when analyzing credit loans. This event was organised in collaboration with Sustentare, the Portuguese Banking Association, and the two local largest banks, members of UNEP FI: Caixa Geral de Depositos and Banco Espirito Santo. Read more. See the agenda and biographies (in Portuguese).
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UNEP FI launches Issue 2 of Chief Liquidity Series at World Water Week in Stockholm
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 The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) launched Issue 2 of the Chief Liquidity Series, focused on the power sector, at an event titled Seeking Liquidity: Integrating Corporate Water Performance into the Core of Financial Services and Capital Markets, during World Water Week. In an effort to encourage new thinking and foster creative solutions to the world's most pressing water challenges, the World Water Week in Stockholm convened leading experts, practitioners and decision makers in the field. UNEP FI led the discussion on how water stresses impacted business performance in water-intensive sectors. Read the press release and additional media coverage.
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Advanced Training Workshop on Environmental and Social Risk Analysis in Lima
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This is the second time that UNEP FI and Ecobanking convened the "Advanced ESRA Training Workshop", seeking to train exclusively risk managers and analysts who already have a basic understanding/experience of environmental risk management and are seeking to step up their ESRM systems. The Advanced Training Workshop aims at enabling participants to identify, evaluate and administrate environmental and social risks and at the same time, propose different alternatives to lessen their impact utilizing international tools. Over one-and-a-half days through a "risk lab" participants undertake live web research, use specialized analysis tools, and simulate the presentation of an environmental risk report before a risk committee. The Workshop demonstrates to participants the limitations of their current procedures for detecting environmental risks, and shows them ways they can enhance these procedures through the implementation of international tools and best practices. This Advanced Workshop is being organized with the collaboration and support of The Peruvian Banking Association and local UNEP FI members Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo S.A. - COFIDE and BBVA Banco Continental. Read more on Advanced Training Workshops.
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UNEP FI Head of Communications speaks on climate change finance at Asia Europe Business Forum in Brussels
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 Two months before the UN climate change negotiations UNEP FI's Head of Communications Iveta Cherneva took the opportunity to engage the EU Brussels community and leading financial institutions from Asia on the question of climate change finance in the context of Asia-Europe relations. Earlier this week Cherneva addressed senior executives gathered at the Asia Europe Business Forum in Brussels, sharing a panel with EU Director General for Climate Change Jos Delbeke. Other conference speakers included the Prime Minister of Singapore, President of BNP Paribas, the Chairman of ING Bank, and over ten CEOs of Asian financial institutions. Read the Media Information Note. Read the speech.
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UNEP FI Head of Communications addresses Japanese Minister and 60 diplomats at Japanese Mission in Geneva
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UNEP FI's Head of Communications, Iveta Cherneva, participated as a panel speaker at the Japanese Mission Briefing in Geneva. Ms. Cherneva informed the 60 diplomats who gathered at the Japanese Mission about UNEP FI's plans for the upcoming UN CBD COP 10 biodiversity negotiations in Nagoya in October, speaking alongside Japanese Minister Mizushima and the Secretaries-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. "UNEP FI is going to launch a CEO Briefing on finance and biodiversity at Nagoya COP 10", Ms. Cherneva informed the diplomats, and invited them to join the launch of the CEO Briefing on 27 October in Nagoya. Read the speech. |
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Our People | |
Is your company involved in structuring funds for climate solutions? Do you see barriers to sustainability project investing/financing? |
...then ask Marenglen Gjonaj, UNEP's Expert of the Day about financial engineering for green investment growth. |
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Top Report of the Month |
Chief Liquidity Series Issue 2: Power Sector |
Water-related materiality briefings for financial institutions. Read the report.
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Online Courses |
Environmental & Social Risk Analysis (ESRA) Online Course
When:
Spanish: 1-19 Nov
English: 8-26 Nov
Contact:
training@unepfi.org
The aim of this course is to instruct risk managers and analysts dealing with developing countries and emerging markets on the management of ESRA generated through their lending and investment activities. More information. |
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