UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND    Microfinance

Issue 17 / October 2005

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The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Global Roundtable is recognised as the principal event on sustainability in the finance sector, and attracts over 500 leading professionals each year. The 2005 Roundtable will be held fro October 25-26 at UN Headquarters in New York, and carries on a tradition which stretches back a decade, and has spanned the globe from Chicago to Frankfurt, and from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo.

This year's Roundtable will focus on the issues of carbon and responsible investment, under the theme of environmental risks and opportunities for financial institutions: "A World of Risk. A World of Opportunities?", a theme intimating the nature of the common environmental, social and economic risks that our globalising world faces, while also suggesting the hope and entrepreneurial opportunity that a vibrant market, underpinned and catalysed by sustainable finance, brings.

UNEP contends that our understanding of responsible investment of capital and its allocation to sustainable, productive technologies, companies and communications, is set to shift significantly in the near term. Financial institutions that are part of this transition and provide leadership in the way a sustainable approach is embedded in their policies and practises will become a critical pivot that ensures the markets work more effectively for all.

Paul Clements-Hunt, head of the UNEP FI, is delighted with the way the event is shaping up: "The timing for the event could not be better. Climate change, environment, poverty reduction and human rights issues are becoming core business issues for financial institutions worldwide."

He added: "You cannot operate successfully in a global market without addressing sustainability issues head on. The New York event will be a great opportunity for any financial institution to get up to speed on the latest opportunities, challenges and approaches to embed sustainability thinking in your investments and operations."

Agenda

At the heart of the Roundtable agenda is the complex question of how modern finance and capital markets can bring the power of the markets and the flexibility of financial engineering to tackle the corrosive issues such as environmental destruction, poverty, and social injustice.

In order to address this question, the 2005 Roundtable will focus on "real world" challenges and opportunities for banks, insurers and asset managers embedding a sustainability approach across their business. The event will give a special focus to the role of institutional investors, and the asset management community that serves them, in particular as the future of fiduciary is explored.

Panel sessions and in depth workshops will address globally and regionally relevant topics, including:

• responsible investment for the world's largest pension funds and foundations;
• materiality of environmental, social and governance issues to equity prices;
• carbon markets and clean energy;
• insurance;
• project finance, hedge funds and alternative investments;
• access to finance and microfinance;
• transparency, accountability and reporting.

The full agenda is available online at: http://www.unepfi.org/events/2005/roundtable/agenda/