Navigating the Road to European Competitiveness

Watch 2025 summit sessions

2025

The 2025 Summit will bring together some of the individuals drafting EU and national policies, and we will focus on the following themes:

  • streamlining and simplification of EU regulation,

  • removing obstacles to business growth and competitiveness and to investment flows,

  • the EU "omnibus" regulation, its main focus areas and its implications,

  • EU sustainable finance framework implementation case studies and best practices,

  • transition planning and transition finance,

  • financing of projects and investments in boosting competitiveness

Competitiveness, finance &
regulatory simplification

Download 2025 Summit Report

AGENDA 2025

THE SUMMIT FOCUS AND AIMS

This Summit’s main focus will be on the three strategic lenses for European policymaking, business and finance decisions:  

  • competitiveness/resilience,  

  • defence and security,  

  • and sustainability/innovation.  

The three lenses allow to calibrate strategies and prepare for an uncertain and fast-changing world, while incorporating secular trends and new emerging paradigms. The changing geopolitical landscape will offer opportunities for those who are prepared for new trade and supply chain opportunities, and for shifting investor priorities.  

The 2025 Summit offeres the best of European and global thinking, and a unique opportunity to talk to the “people in the know” and explored out what to expect next, or what asset owners, asset managers, bankers, and large corporates in the EU and globally are planning or preparing for. 

19 MAY
Monday

SUSTAINABILITY IN FINANCE

  • Keynote speeches 

    09:10 – 09:20 | Opening keynote 

    • Sean Kidney, CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative

    09:20 – 09:35 | Fireside conversation 

    • Chair: Hugh Wheelan, Financial Journalist 

    • Speaker:  Anne-Sophie Castelnau, Global Head of Sustainability, ING Group

  • 09:35 – 10:30 | Conversation with the audience - European Green Deal and competitiveness: will the regulatory rethink and the EU “omnibus” deliver what we need? 

    This session will dive deeper into the new European Commission strategic priorities and the efforts to simplify and streamline reporting and compliance, and what the competitiveness and simplification agenda means for businesses and finance in the CEE region. We will explore the unique needs of the region when it comes to investment and enabling policies for business growth. 

    • Chair: Helena Vines Fiestas, Chair of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance & Spanish Capital Markets Authority

    Speakers:

    • Andreas Hauer, Head of Sustainable Finance, Erste Group

    • Piotr Dmuchowski, CEO, PFR TFI S.A.

    • Petr Polach, Co-Head of Group Structured Finance & Investment Banking, Raiffeisen Bank International

    • Alice Machova, Partner, EY

    • Anne-Sophie Castelnau, Global Head of Sustainability, ING Group

    10:30 – 11:00 | Networking break 

  • 11:00 – 12:00 | Conversation with the audience  - Investing and business sense in turbulent times   

    Is ESG dead? What is the future of investing and the role of sustainability in it? Is AI about to “eat your lunch”? A session discussing whether we are witnessing new, unexpected developments in the investment and finance world, and what makes good business/investing sense – what to keep in mind when seeking value creation, scalable companies, and resilience. 

    • Chair: Linda Zeilina-Cross, CEO, ISFC  

    Speakers

    • Cliff Prior, Advisor, ImpactScope & Board Advisor, Gifftid.ai

    • Brian Wardrop, Managing Partner, ARX Equity Partners

    • Marian Gazdík, Managing Partner, G-FORCE

    • Lubomir Vystavel, Executive Director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management  

    • Michał Gladyš, CEO, ARP TFI

  • 12:00– 12:30 | Discussion with the audience  - Sustainable investing vs European security and defence needs.

    This session will look closer at whether sustainable or ESG investing is bad for European military industrial complex. What impact will joint efforts to improve Europe’s defence capacities have for business and finance? 

    • Chair: Raphael Minder, CEE correspondent, Financial Times 

    Speakers:

    • Eila Kreivi, Board Member, Finnerva & former head of Capital Markets, EIB

    • Piotr Arak, Chief Economist, Velobank

    • Julian Popov, former minister of Environment, Bulgaria

    • Petr Zahradník, Economic and Strategic Analyst, Česká spořitelna

  • 13:30 – 14:00 | TED-style talk: GDP at transition risk. Prof Dirk Schoenmaker, Professor of Banking and Finance at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam

    A special presentation with analysis of the risk management for certain countries (Germany, Czechia, Poland) and sectors (automotive, energy, etc.) to improve and manage competitiveness in regional and global markets. 

    14:00 – 14:30 | TED style presentation : Prof J. Doyne Farmer (University of Oxford, INET) - Making sense of Chaos: A better economics for a better world  

    14:30 – 15:00 | TED-style talk: Dr Florian Berg, MIT: ESG and the original sin

    15:00– 15:40 | Coffee break

  • 15:40 - 16:40 | Conversation with the audience: Nature positive finance and biodiversity.
    Are we ready for biodiversity disclosures and the measurement of natural capital? Sustainable finance - the EU taxonomy, reporting

    • Chair: Will Oulton, Vice Chair, UK’s Marine Conservation Society (MCS) 

    Speakers:

    • Andreas Rajchl, Head of the Green Finance and Sustainable Economy Department Austrian Ministry of Climate and Environment

    • Astrid Matthey, Senior Economist, German Environment Agency

    • Aleksandra Palinska, Executive Director, Eurosif

    • Prof Irene Monasterolo, Utrecht University School of Economics, Finance  

    16:40 – 17:10| TED-style presentation: Prof Irene Monasterolo, Utrecht University School of Economics, Finance

    Making macroeconomic and financial models work for climate risk analysis: Insights from the NGFS short term scenarios

    17:00 – 17:10 | Closing session and reflections of the day

  • 17:10 – 18:00 | Move to evening venue

20 MAY
Tuesday

SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS

  • 09:05 – 09:20 | Keynote

    • Elina Roine, Deputy Director General of the Operations Directorate, European Investment Bank (EIB) 

    09:20 – 09:40 | On stage interview

    • Chair: Prof Ben Caldecott, founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group at the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment 

    • Speaker: Tamsin Ballard, Chief Investor Initiatives Officer, UN PRI

  • 09:40 – 09:55 | On-stage interview - Competitiveness as a new sustainability – walk the talk by development banking.

    • Linda Zeilina-Cross, Founder & CEO, ISFC

    • Andrea Ferjencikova NRB (Czech National development Bank) 

    09:55 – 10:20 | Conversation with the audience  - Is and will CSRD reporting bring changes to financing for business?

    The session will look at what changes are underway or are already being implemented that are affecting the financing of businesses. 

    • Chair: Irena Pichola, President of SteerCo, Chapter Zero Poland & President, Responsible Business Forum Poland 

    Speakers:

    • Petra Ondrušová, Chief Sustainability Officer, Česká Spořitelná

    • Petr Fiala, Raiffeisen Bank, Czech Republic

  • 11:00 – 11:20 | TED-style talk: Corporate reporting. transformed.
    Arko Vervark, Global VP Sales, Tangelo Software 

    11:25 - 11:40 | On stage interview  -Decarbonisation and Client transition plans 

    • Hugh Wheelan, Financial Journalist 

    • Speaker: Eva Bučová, CEO of ING Czechia

    11:40 – 12:30 | European business and Industrial Policy: pathways to increased competitiveness or an inevitable decline?

    A spotlight on business in Europe & the role of industry in the CEE economies.  The discussion will focus on CEE business and its potential for competitive advantages, including improved innovation and digitalisation.  

    • Chair: Julian Toth, COO, ISFC

    Speakers:

    • Petr Jonák, Member, Board of Directors, Czech Confederation of Industry  

    • Zdenek Petzl, Executive director of the Automotive Industry Association

    • Sebastian Rath, Board Strategy Advisor and European Climate Pact Ambassador

    • Marta Mikliszańska, Director of Group Public Policy, Allegro

    • Suzana Carp, Founder, Cleantech for CEE

    12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch

  • 13:30 – 13:50 | Presentation: A path to net zero: Setting a New Standard with Local Carbon Compensation
    Pavel Sovička, Managing Director at Panattoni CZ&SK

    13:50 – 14:10 | TED-style talk

    “The ESG Tech Pack & Automated Reporting: the Right Tools for the Right Company“ 

    • Maciej Gomółka, Associate Director, KPMG 

    14:10 -14:25 | TED-style presentation - Transition story – transition in practice 

    Marcus Pugh-Smith, Client Portfolio Manager, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Fundamental Equity

    14:25 – 15:10 | Conversation with the audience – fire round - Energy transition for competitiveness – affordable energy prices and decarbonisation: ideas at odds?

    • Chair: Jakub Skavron, Senior Advisor to KKR

    Speakers:

    • Anita Simon, Deputy CEO, Alteo

    • René Nedela, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade

    • Vladimír Hlavinka, Group CEO at ORGREZ Group, a.s.

    • Martin Michalíček, CEO and Founder, sun.Energy

    • Zdeněk Obruča, Director, KPMG Czech Republic 

    15:10 – 15:40 | Coffee break

  • 15:40 – 16:00 | On-stage interview/ fireside chat - Values-based leadership and the role of insurance sector

    • Chair: Dimitrios Mazarakis, Independent Advisor, Sustainability & Insurance

    Speakers:

    • Ganna Pidgorna, Board member, UNIQA

    • Helena Zavazalova, Deputy Director, ČAP  

    16:00 – 16:30 | Conversation with the audience - The business needs for resilience and competitiveness in uncertain times: data, innovation, HR and change management. 

    • Chair: Andy Gray, Tilia Impact Ventures

    Speakers:

    • Esmeralda Topuzi, UNIQA Sustainable Business Solutions GmbH - Business Resilience Advisor

    • Arko Vervark, Global VP Sales, Tangelo Software 

    16:35 – 16:55 | On stage interview 

    Linda Zeilina-Cross, CEO, ISFC in conversation with Marek Mora, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance, Czechia 

    16:55 – 17:10 | Conclusions and wrap up

    • Julian Toth, COO, ISFC & Director, CzechSIF  

    • Katerina Spanikova, Head of ESG & Support Products, Raiffeisen Czechia 

  • Dinner and evening reception with music and CEE Leadership Awards

21 MAY
Wednesday

  • 09:00 - 09:15 | Opening Keynote - Munir Nanji, CEO Central Europe, Citi 

    09:15 – 09:40 | On-stage opening discussion - The future of CEE capital markets, investing and business – Second economic transformation in progress?

    • Chair: Linda Zeilina, CEO & Founder ISFC

    Speakers:

    • Petr Koblic, CEO, Prague Stock Exchange

    • Sanaa Mehra, Head of EMEA Sustainable Debt Capital Markets, Citi

  • 09:40 – 10:00 | TED-style talk 

    • Mr Gergely Pokos, Managing Director, OTP Bank

    10:00 – 10:20 | Conversation with the audience - The key insights from the first years of work on climate risk management and sustainability lens integration in banking  

    • Chair: Prof Ben Caldecott, founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group at the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment 

    Speakers:

    • Mark Campanale, Founder & Director, Carbon Tracker Initiative, founder of Planet Tracker, Member of Advisory Board, GFANZ 

    10:20 – 11:00 | Coffee Break

  • 11:00– 11:30 | TED-style talk - Quantification of Climate Impacts on a Bank

    Speakers: 

    • Petr Franěk, Head of Strategic Risk Management, Česká spořitelna

    • Radek Lastovicka, Senior Manager, Financial Services, Ernst & Young, s.r.o.

    11:30 - 11:50 | Simona Kalvoda, CEO of Czech Green Building Council (CZGBC) & Libor Vošický, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stavební spořitelna České spořitelny and Chairman of the Association of Czech Building Savings Banks  

    11:50 – 12:30 | Conversation with the audience  - Central banking in focus

    • Chair: Pierre Schlosser, Deputy director, Schuman Centre, Florence School of Banking and Finance, EUI

    Speakers: 

    • Reiner Martin, Executive Director, National Bank of Slovakia (NBS)

    • Adam Banai, Central Bank of Hungary (MNB)

    • Agnieszka Smolenska, CETEX, LSE

    • Mariam Kharaishvili, Head of Financial Stability Analysis and Macro-financial Modelling Division, Central Bank of Georgia 

    12:30 - 13:30 | Lunch break

  • 13:30 – 13:50 | TED-style presentation “Old Homes, New Business value for banks”

    • Sarah Anwar, Head of Sustainability and Governance, Econans

    • Krzysztof Bertman, Regional Manager CEE, Econans

    13:50 – 14:00 | RICS  - From Bilbao to Budapest: Upcoming Built Environment European Summit 2025

    • Gina Ding, RICS

    • Linda Zeilina-Cross, ISFC 

    14:00 – 14:10 | Presentation 

    Raul Garcia Rodriguez, EY  

    Managing decarbonisation and greening in lending, fixed income, and mortgages. Interest rates, new products, and competitiveness  

    14:10 - 15:00 | Conversation with the audience

    The built environment and the financing of real estate development and redevelopment. Business as usual or can we expect watershed change? What are the latest solutions that work well? 

    Chair: Raul Garcia Rodriguez, EY 

    Speakers:

    • Jens Hirsch, Chief Scientific Officer, Building Minds

    • Ulrike Gehmacher, Board Member, UN Global Compact Network Austria

    15:00 – 15:40 | Coffee Break

  • 15:40 – 16:00 |Keynote presentation  - Insights from the ECB’s Financial Stability Report (to be launched 21 May)

    Paul Hiebert, Systemic Risk and Financial Institutions Division, ECB & Chair, ESRB Analytical Working Group - Eurosystem Macroprudential Analysis Group

    16:00 – 16:20 | TED-style presentation  - Upgrading housing efficiency: the role of borrower-based measures

    • Reiner Martin, Executive Director, National Bank of Slovakia (NBS)

    • Pierre Monnin, Senior Fellow at the Council on Economic Policies (CEP) and a Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research

    16:20 – 17:00 | Conversation with the audience - The future of banking 

    Speakers:

    • Richard Gregor, Senior Program Manager, Erste Group Bank AG 

    • Ugo Biggeri, Representative, GABV & co-founder, Banca Etica

    • Magdalena Andrejczuk, Director of the Sustainable Finance Department for Corporate Banking, mBank

  • Informal networking dinner and drinks - NH Carlo IV Hotel

SUSTAINABILITY IN BANKING 

CLOSED DOOR ROUNDTABLES

Alongside the main stage agenda, we hosted closed-door roundtables and focused masterclasses for in-depth, practical discussions.

MONDAY 19 MAY

Sustainability
in Finance

LEARN MORE

TUESDAY 20 MAY

Sustainability
in Business

LEARN MORE

WEDNESDAY 21 MAY

Sustainability
in Banking

LEARN MORE

SPEAKERS

MAIN PARTNERS 2025

Supporting Partners

Media partners

The CEE Sustainable Finance Summit is the flagship event of
Climate Week Prague 2025

LEARN MORE

CLIMATE WEEK PRAGUE 2025

Organisers

Auspices

The event is held under the auspices of the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel,
Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík , Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic

Check out the Agenda and Speakers from the previous years:

Previous editions & resources

Download the CEE Sustainable Finance Summit Reports from the previous years: