This panel will explore the urgency and criticality of sustainable and green infrastructure financing to move the world towards a net-zero emissions path – and how private investment and financing are increasingly vital to drive this shift in the wake of COVID-19. The panel will also explore the various instruments and investment approaches available to broaden private sector participation in financing such transactions.

Global sustainable investment now tops USD 30 trillion—up 68 per cent since 2014 and tenfold since 2004. The acceleration has been driven by heightened social, governmental, and consumer attention on the broader impact of corporations, as well as by investors and executives who realise that a strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) proposition can safeguard a company’s long-term success. This panel will explore how investors will grow in their sophistication in integration methodology and technology use especially in this era of climate and pandemic risks. We will also look at the future of ESG disclosures, and how specific ESG issues such as diversity and inclusion, and ESG in compensation will shape the global corporate agenda.

Global societies are facing pressing and urgent social and environmental problems, and the need for impact capital is greater than ever to serve underserved markets and communities. Currently estimated at USD 715 billion and set to grow to up to USD 26 trillion, the impact investing space continues to attract a fast-growing cohort of investors with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside strong financial returns. As we move into a post-Covid world, this session will discuss global and regional impact trends and both private and public investment opportunities such as financial inclusion, affordable healthcare, education, sustainable agriculture, green energy, amongst others. As flows continue to accelerate, this session will also focus on developments and challenges in this space including impact management and measurement, and how the fast-growing industry can evolve to efficiently deploy much needed capital to underserved communities.

Throughout history, governments have competed to secure access to primary fuels, mineral resources and food supply, causing geopolitics to have a profound impact on capital markets. The climate agenda could disrupt these traditional supply chains and relationships significantly.

For now, with America rejoining the Paris climate accord, China’s departure from its CBDR-RC principle to set a net-zero target, and ~124 nations making net-zero pledges before COP26, it seems that the collective urgency for climate action could result in a great prospect for cooperation amongst world powers.  This discussion will explore the impact of the global climate agenda on geopolitics and what this means for global investments.

COVID-19 has undeniably changed the way we go about our daily lives. It has made us more empathetic as a society, and yet more conscious of risks that lie ahead. What are the thematic trends that investors should pay attention to as we head into the decade of action for the climate and the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030? And how can we identify purposeful businesses that will show resilience and profitability in the long term?