TUESDAY 16 MAY 2023
Sustainability in Banking: Banking on an economic transformation

08:30 – 09:00 | Registration

 09:00 – 09:30 | Opening keynote 

09:30 – 10:30 | Panel discussion
European banking system:
Improved management or breaking of the sovereign bank doom loop?

The 2012 EU debt crisis exposed the European banking system’s weaknesses.
More than a decade later, Europe faces growing inflation, fears of recession, and geopolitical tensions.

 10:30 – 11:10 | Coffee break

11:10 – 11:30 | Elevator speeches

11:30 – 12:30 | Panel discussion
Sustainability and leadership in banking – from pledges to action

In the run up to COP26 and afterwards, banks worldwide committed to net zero pledges. However, since then, questions have been raised about how net zero will be achieved in practice, and whether the transition to a carbon neutral Europe is feasible and what can be done by the end of this decade. Since banks are crucial actors in the European and especially CEE financial system that link the financial sector and the real economy, their strategies and practices will have a direct impact on the green transition.

• Are banks able to tackle the challenges we face - is it their responsibility?

• What can banks do in practice to minimise new risks such as ones arising from climate change, biodiversity, and other sustainability-related factors?

• How can we support the implementation of the net zero pledges?

• What does leadership look like in the banking sector on climate-related issues or sustainability?

• What can regulators, policymakers and supervisors do that would be helpful for the banking sector?

• Is there a need and a market for new “sustainable” financial products? 

12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch & meet the speakers

13:30 – 14:30 | Panel discussion
Financing the transition: strategies, solutions, products

The banking sector is crucial for the efforts to finance the transition across the CEE region.
As the dominant players in the financial ecosystem, banks can play a significant role in influencing the speed and the nature of the transition.

• What are the latest strategies and solutions for financing the transition at a time of high political volatility, inflation, and liquidity crisis?

• What could help the banking sector – what is missing from the regulatory or policy side?

• What key new products can and should be used to finance CEE region’s transitions?

• What elements of strategy need to be reassessed because of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Agenda and regulatory changes?

14:30-15:10 | Coffee break

15:10-15:30 | Keynote speeches

15:30 – 16:30 | Panel discussion
Climate and sustainability-related risks – how to build better scenarios and methodologies

The banking sector has to navigate a wide range of challenges and new demands, including ones related to sustainability data and reporting, changes in internal processes, and a wider rethink of their own business models for retaining profitability. While climate stress testing and climate-related physical and transition risk topics are now part of mainstream conversations about banking, approaches and readiness for climate-related risk management vary across different institutions and geographies.

• How can banks improve their methodologies and scenarios?

• What regulatory, supervisory or policy changes would help?

• What have been the most successful sustainability and climate-related risk management strategies or tactics?

• How can banks address the data issues they face when it comes to client sustainability performance and carbon exposure? 

16:30 – 17:00 | Coffee break 

17:00 – 18:00 | Panel discussion
Central bank mandates: out of date or pushed too far?

Central banks have been stabilising economic and financial systems by using quantitative easing, interest rates, and market signalling. Now, central banks face the challenges of growing inflation, risks of recession or stagflation, and rising climate-related risks from extreme weather events and potential adverse impacts on food systems.

• Have central banks been pushed too far in terms of what they have been asked to do?

• Should central bank mandates be changed to include action on decarbonisation or climate change-related issues?

• How can we better integrate climate-related analysis long-termism in central banking?

  More information on the event, speakers and partners can be found on the event website.