The UK Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) held its second annual ESG Conference on 21 November at The Waldorf Hilton London to address what ACT President Joanna Bonnett referred to as “an increasingly important treasury item” at a time when the drive towards green practices and net zero is gathering pace.
Opening speaker, Bernice Lee, Geopolitics and Trade Research Director at the Chatham House think tank, covering Climate Action and Futures, welcomed attendees to the ACT’s second environmental, social and governance (ESG) conference by emphasising finance is moving to the implementation stage: “Where the rubber hits the road. This involves politics, risk, and business overlapping. It’s an engineering and an investment challenge.”
The hundreds of bankers, corporate treasurers from Heathrow, Weir, Kingfisher and others, plus regulators, green activist investors, lawyers and others gathered in London to listen to a one-day conference programme outlining how ESG will impact the buy- and sell-side of investing. Its remit extends to loan and insurance pricing, corporate reporting and 21st century business generally as the transition towards a green economy and social well-being metrics escalates.
Energy company SSE joined the keynote treasury panel to explain how they raised more than $3bn from issuing green bonds on the financial markets. Its first launch happened back in 2017 and has been followed by five more sustainable fundraisers where the company has made its green effort plain to investors.
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