These events are by invitation only.
PPF is organizing the second round of national discussions following Sustainable Finance 1 on the need for affected sectors, their financiers and investors, and federal and provincial policymakers and financial and regulatory authorities to advance key recommendations from the Expert Panel’s 2019 report Mobilizing Finance for Sustainable Growth.
Global investors have proven themselves increasingly hesitant about exposure to climate risks, both from climate change itself and from the transformation to an economy with significantly reduced GHG emissions. They’ve made this clear to Canadian resource companies, financial institutions and many others. Pension plans, sovereign wealth funds and insurers, among others, now are resolute in screening for climate risk. The sudden and steep economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has not reversed their resolve. There currently is as much inevitability to the sustainable finance movement as there is to the worsening of physical climate impacts in our communities and economy. Still, the issues and criteria – and how to respond to the inevitability factor – are not well understood, and implementation is still at an early stage.
Climate Information: Advancing Data and Analytics in Sustainable Finance (October 7)
Asymmetric or imperfect access to climate-related information can distort economic activity away from the best available options to address climate risks and harnessing clean and resilient growth opportunities. The existing transparency gap is distorting market risk assessment, slowing progress on the low-carbon transition, and leaving Canada’s economy vulnerable to impacts. In its final report, the Canadian Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance recommended forming a Canadian Centre for Climate Information and Analytics (C3IA) as a trusted single-stop source for authoritative climate data and information relevant to sustainable finance. Through the C3IA, Canadian companies and financial institutions will be better positioned to respond to climate risk and seize the opportunity.
The roundtable will feature and build upon the report by the Smart Prosperity Institute’s Bridging the Transparency Gap in Sustainable Finance, which advances the business case for the creation of the Canadian Centre for Climate Information and Analytics.
The roundtable will be led by one of the report’s authors Barbara Zvan, President and Chief Executive Officer at University Pension Plan Ontario and member of the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, and feature 2 – 3 discussants who will reflect upon the report’s findings and recommendations.
Developing a Capital Mobilization Plan for a Transition to a Low Carbon Economy (October 28)
If the Canadian economy is to successfully transition to one that achieves a solid and sustained rate of economic growth and higher incomes while sharply reducing emissions, a significant scale of investment capital, financing and risk management services will be required – in clean energy use and supply, clean technology, business innovation, measures to boost energy efficiency, and many other areas. The roundtable will explore possible sources of capital, financing and risk-management capacity, recognizing that the private sector should be the dominant source of capital and risk-taking, and how that capital and financing could be deployed cross sectors and regions.
The roundtable will feature and build upon the research conducted by Queen’s University – the Institute for Sustainable Finance. The roundtable will feature 2 – 3 discussants, such as the Canada Infrastructure Bank, who will share their insights and expertise and reflect upon the report’s findings and recommendations.
Advancing Sustainable Finance Through a “Made-In-Canada” Taxonomy and Green Fixed Income Market (November 6)
With the emergence of global green and sustainable finance markets, many Canadian sectors will want to secure access to sustainable investment capital and to a variety of green and transition financial products and services, and to fixed income markets, such as green bonds, loans and mortgages. As Canada develops a classification system – or taxonomy – to create a common language for sustainable finance, a made-in-Canada taxonomy will need to also align itself with global frameworks such as the EU taxonomy, the Climate Bonds Initiative’s definitions and the Green Bond Principles.
The roundtable will feature the current state-of-play for a “made-in-Canada” taxonomy and the expansion of the green fixed income market with issuers, underwriters and investors sharing their experience and insight into how they have incorporated and applied taxonomy into their business models. The roundtable will also explore the challenges and opportunities in addition to the short, medium and long-term priorities for the public and private sectors to advance a “made-in-Canada” taxonomy and the expansion of the green fixed income market.
Supporting Canada’s Oil and Gas industry through Sustainable Finance (November 18)
The oil and gas sector is a crucial pillar of Canada’s economic foundation. As David Dodge, the former Governor of the Bank of Canada, noted in a recent paper for the PPF, oil and gas contributed 90 per cent of Canada’s net exports of $76.6 billion in 2019. Quite simply, a strong and environmentally sustainable oil and gas sector is essential for Canada to have a vibrant and growing economy.
However, the sector is also one of Canada’s largest sources of GHG emissions from production to usage. As publicly traded entities, Canadian oil and gas companies must deal with intense pressures on multiple fronts. It can be in the form of competition from major sovereign producers (such as state-owned companies in Russia, China and the Middle East), or the need to address growing societal pressures and changing investors attitudes as they relate to climate change.
At the same time, the oil and gas industry is playing, and must continue to play, a central role in the global energy transition to a low-carbon future. But for that to happen, the sector needs the investment necessary to meet the challenge. The path forward requires sustainable finance that supports the research and development and technology adoption required to achieve a low-emission, globally competitive oil and gas sector.
The roundtable will explore the current reality for the oil and gas industry, the scale of the challenges it faces, and the opportunities to realize the sustainable finance it needs so that it remains the major economic engine for Canada.
