Adam Smith and the Climate Crisis | The Future of Growth | The Radical Old Idea with Prof. Tim Jackson
Adam Smith and the Climate Crisis | The Future of Growth | The Radical Old Idea with Prof. Tim Jackson
What would Adam Smith have thought about the climate crisis?
On 14th July 2021, GEFI were joined by Prof. Tim Jackson, Director of CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity for a conversation with Kaisie Rayner FRSA, Climate Change Lead at Royal London as part of our Radical Old Idea series, platform inspired by the Scottish Enlightenment
The session started in an appropriate place: Adam Smith, one of the key figures of the movement. As Prof. Tim Jackson – a leading expert on sustainable economics – explained, the legacy of Adam Smith has been “used and abused” by free-market capitalism. Smith did not believe in an unregulated lassez-faire model of the economy, but was responding to the conditions of his time, where governments heavily restricted imports and exports to advantage special interests.
A wide-ranging conversation between the pair was centred on Prof. Jackson’s latest book, Post Growth: Life After Capitalism (https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509542512), as well as his earlier, more technical work, Prosperity Without Growth.
The Future of Growth | The Radical Old Idea with Prof. Tim Jackson
The Future of Growth | The Radical Old Idea with Prof. Tim Jackson
Can our economies continue to grow? We tackled this question at our latest Radical Old Idea event on 14th July 2021. We were joined by Prof. Tim Jackson, Director of CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity for a conversation with Kaisie Rayner FRSA, Climate Change Lead at Royal London.
A wide-ranging conversation between the pair was centred on Prof. Jackson’s latest book, Post Growth: Life After Capitalism (https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509542512), as well as his earlier, more technical work, Prosperity Without Growth. The Radical Old Idea is a platform inspired by the Scottish Enlightenment, and the session started in an appropriate place: Adam Smith.
As Prof. Jackson – a leading expert on sustainable economics – explained, the legacy of Adam Smith has been “used and abused” by free-market capitalism. Smith did not believe in an unregulated lassez-faire model of the economy, but was responding to the conditions of his time, where governments heavily restricted imports and exports to advantage special interests.
The motivation for Post Growth was a move away from the ‘rational arguments’ present in Prosperity Without Growth towards embracing “the spirit of the human soul” and looking to inspire deeper conversations about how we want to love, what kind of society we want and how we get there.
Drawing on Buddhist philosophy, Prof. Jackson argued that the pandemic has taught us that we can live in a different way when we need to, that we can organise our societies differently and that often the joy in life comes from social interactions, from having time to ourselves and not simply from material consumption.
Read more: https://www.globalethicalfinance.org/2021/07/15/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers/
Public Finance and the Climate Crisis | Dr Werner Hoyer
Public Finance and the Climate Crisis
How can public financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank help finance a sustainable future? EIB President Dr Werner Hoyer delivered this keynote address to Ethical Finance 2021, focusing on the need to address the triple crisis of climate change, the pandemic and the wider social landscape.
He argued that we need to tackle all three crises simultaneously, embracing new technologies. Public finance has a special role to play, as it is able to finance riskier projects, particularly around innovation.
Approaches to Net Zero in Banking and Investment | Panel
Approaches to Net Zero in Banking and Investment
Should oil companies voluntarily wind themselves up? That was just one of the provocative questions host David Pitt-Watson posed to this expert panel, featuring representatives from banking, investment, energy and development.
The global panel discussed the practical steps their organisations are taking to drive and support the transition to net zero, the role ambitious targets play, and the future of the fossil fuel industry in a net zero world.
David Pitt-Watson, Visiting Fellow, Cambridge Judge Business School
Deirdre Michie OBE, CEO, Oil & Gas UK
Masja Zandbergen, Head of Sustainability Integration, Robeco
Kaitlin Crouch, Sustainability Manager, ING
Joanne Manda, Regional Advisor, Climate Change and Innovative Finance, UNDP Indonesia
Practical Action on Biodiversity | Panel
Practical Action on Biodiversity
Would you rather hug a banker or an orangutan? Andrew Mitchell, the host of this Ethical Finance 2021 panel on financing biodiversity explains his journey from pure conservationist to financing the protection of the rainforests. The panel explore what finance can do for nature, and why it must do so, exploring data and more.
The panel features:
Andrew Mitchell, Founder & Senior Adviser, Global Canopy
Charlotte Kaiser, Managing Director, NatureVest, The Nature Conservancy
Antoine Sire, Head of Company Engagement, BNP Paribas
Madeline Ronquest, FirstRand Bank
Reza Marvasti, ESG Product Manager, ISS ESG
The International Platform for Climate Finance (IPCF) | Steve Waygood
The International Platform for Climate Finance (IPCF) | Steve Waygood
How can we come together to finance the transition towards resilient, net zero economies? Steve Waygood of Aviva Investors explains how the finance sector is coming together to support the Paris Agreement under the International Platform for Climate Finance (IPCF).
Sustainable Finance in South East Asia | Panel
Sustainable Finance in South East Asia | Panel
Should we cut out palm oil?
In Europe and the US, campaigns against palm oil have caught the public imagination. Compelling pictures of orangutans deprived of their natural habitats have spurred boycotts, but as our Ethical Finance 2021 panel explains, the view from the ground in South East Asia is a little different.
Unsustainable palm oil is – unquestionably – bad. However, driving smallholders out of palm oil production would have knock-on effects.
Not only is it an economically important crop, but it also produces an incredibly high number of calories for a given land area – so were farmers to replace those calories, they might have to clear even more forest.
Led by Prasad Padmanaban of our partners at the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, our expert panel discusses these issues, and more facing the region, in one of our unique regional showcase sessions from Ethical Finance 2021.
Global Trends in Sustainable Finance | Panel
Global Trends in Sustainable Finance | Panel
From crisis to opportunity. Our panel of experts discussed global trends in sustainable finance, drawing on their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the East Asian Financial Crises and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
Watch Dame Susan Rice, Chair of the Financial Services Culture Board and the GEFI Steering Group, Dr. Zeti Aziz, former Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, and Katie Murray, Group Chief Financial Officer of NatWest Group discuss culture, ethics and sustainability in banking and investment.
The IIGCC Net Zero Investment Framework | Clare Foster, Daisy Streatfeild and Dewi Dylander
The IIGCC Net Zero Investment Framework | Clare Foster, Daisy Streatfeild and Dewi Dylander
Can asset owners save the world? In this initiative spotlight from Ethical Finance 2021, we take a look at the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)’s Net Zero Investment Framework. With moderator Clare Foster of Shepherd and Wedderburn, Daisy Streatfeild of the IIGCC and Dewi Dylander of Denmark’s PKA, the session explores how a small group of asset owners, including public pension funds, got together to explore what they could do to align their portfolios with the Paris Agreement.
Despite its small beginnings, the Net Zero Investment Framework has grown rapidly as more and more investors realise the importance of taking these actions. The participants explain how this important tool can be used to understand portfolio’s impacts on climate, and begin to transform them, investing in both climate transitions and climate resilience.
Sustainable Finance in South Asia | Panel
Sustainable Finance in South Asia
How can finance support poverty reduction, gender inclusion and economic development in South Asia? Our expert panel, convened in partnership with the Institute of Bankers Pakistan, discuss.
Featuring:
Sima Kamil, Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan
GM Abbasi, Director, Islamic Banking Division, State Bank of Pakistan
Azhar Aslam, Head of Islamic Banking & Governance Head Central & North Region at Standard Chartered Bank
Mujahid Zuberi, Head Corporate & Investment Banking, Pakistan, Dubai Islamic Bank
Dr. Shah Md. Ahsan Habib, Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM)
Muhammad Shoaib, CEO, Al Meezan Investment Management
Khawlah Usman, Director, Marketing & Sales, The Institute of Bankers Pakistan
Sustainable Finance in West Africa | Panel
Sustainable Finance in West Africa
“7/10 of the most vulnerable countries in the world are in Africa, and the continent receives only 3% of global climate finance”, said Al Hamndou Dorsouma in this panel, convened with our partners Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) and Lotus Capital, which looked at ethical and sustainable finance in West Africa.
In industrialised countries, climate change dominates the discussion around making finance more ethical. In Africa, however, there is a big focus on poverty and financial inclusion, ensuring that the poorest in society have access to banking services, including credit and savings.
On the panel:
Boason Omofaye, Anchor at ARISE News
Al Hamdou Dorsouma, Division Manager, Climate and Green Growth at African Development Bank
Abdelkader Benbrahim, Partnership Coordinator for Making Finance Work for Africa
Elsie Addo Awadzi, Deputy Governor at Bank of Ghana
Garba Mohammed, Group Head Sales, Non-Interest Banking at Sterling Bank
Karima Ola, Partner at LeapFrog Investments
Jules Ngankam, Group CEO at African Guarantee Fund
Hajara Adeola, CEO & Managing Director at Lotus Capital
The Impact of Covid-19 on Finance in Australasia | Chris Whitehead
The Impact of Covid-19 on Finance in Australasia with Chris Whitehead
Watch Chris Whitehead CEO and Managing Director of FINSIA, whom this session was convened in partnership with, discuss the challenges of sustainable finance in Australasia in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on the first day of Ethical Finance 2021.
