Sustainable Finance Is the Future: Key Takeaways for FSIs From Climate Week NYC

“Sustainability strategy must be embedded into wider corporate strategy, and be championed by the world’s largest companies.”

— Will Jackson-Moore, Global Sustainability Leader at PwC

Climate Week NYC hit a record high of more than 900 events over 22nd-29th September 2024, several of which highlighted the importance of sustainable finance and FSI involvement in tackling the climate crisis.

Aligned with the UN General Assembly, it drew global leaders, businesses and activists to New York City. There, they discussed the event's overarching theme: "It’s Time", stressing the urgent need for action on fossil fuel reduction and investment in impactful climate solutions.

The Connect Earth team attended several of the week’s events, though of course we couldn’t quite make it to all 900! Now the dust has settled on this flurry of activity, here are our highlights from the week for financial services institutions.

Three Highlights for FSIs

• World Climate Summit: The financial sector's role in advancing the transition to a low-carbon economy was a significant focus. Discussions highlighted how mobilising private capital is critical for funding large-scale decarbonisation efforts. This includes investments in emerging markets. The Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance (IHLEG) estimates an investment of $2.4 trillion annually by 2030 to transition to clean energy, adapt to climate change and build resilience. This is four times the amount currently invested. (The World Climate Summit returns on 17th November as the largest business conference during the UNFCCC COP29.)

• PCAF: The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials hosted this event at Deutsche Bank in New York. It featured insights from the PCAF Board of Directors and Secretariat leadership team, as well as other leaders from the climate finance industry. The discussion centred on the progress made in carbon measurement and the harmonisation of disclosure frameworks. One key takeaway was the role financial institutions must play in the facilitation of Scope 3 emissions data to bridge the data gap, particularly with regard to SMEs in developing regions.
• Sustainable Investment Forum North America 2024: In partnership with the UN Environment Programme: Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), this forum has solidified its reputation as a must-attend event over the last nine years, this year convening over 620 qualified institutional investors and financial leaders. The key takeaway here is summed up by James Vaccaro, Chief Catalyst at Climate Safe Lending Network: "In order to have scalable investment it rests on things being familiar, but what is familiar is not natural and what is natural is unfamiliar and exotic for most investors." This is the fundamental hurdle FSIs must overcome.

The Intersection of AI, Data and Sustainable Finance

”Simply put, we need a second industrial revolution to transition to a net-zero global economy ASAP. We need to do it in just 26 years, one-tenth of the time of the first industrial revolution. That is a staggering timeline. But there are so many reasons to be optimistic. Unlike during the first industrial revolution we have incredible technology that can help accelerate the fight against the climate crisis.”

— Lisbeth Kaufman, Head of Climate Tech at AWS

Connect Earth had the honour of speaking on a panel for Startups using AI to address the Climate Crisis, hosted by the AWS Climate Tech & AI Forum:

“It’s been fantastic to see all the different ways businesses are leveraging AI to tackle the climate crisis, including designing new materials, optimising energy savings, and running risk assessments. It was a pleasure to be invited to speak alongside my fellow panelists and demonstrate how Connect Earth’s applied Al supports carbon emissions measurement for consumers and businesses.”

— Josh Couchman, Head of Data at Connect Earth

Our final highlight was a thought-provoking conversation at "A race to the Top: Open Data for the Energy Transition", hosted by Global Energy Monitor (GEM). It proved a compelling reminder of how important reliable and accessible data is for driving meaningful progress. In this arena, data transparency and accuracy is the bedrock of all policy, regulatory, business and even personal decision-making. It’s how we measure our current and future impact, dictating the urgency and scale of the actions we need to take to reduce global warming.

Check out our white paper on the power of carbon emissions data to find out how such data can help FSIs to make considerable headway towards a greener future.