[Canada] Institute for Sustainable Finance

    SOURCE:  Institute for Sustainable Finance, 2020-10-23
    This page last modified: 2020-10-23 16:05:26 -0700 (PST)

  • Name: The Institute for Sustainable Finance
  • Affiliation: Smith School of Business, s Queen's University
  • Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
  • Type: Educational Research Center (Finance)
  • About; "The Institute for Sustainable Finance is a multi-disciplinary network of research and professional development that brings together academia, the private sector, and government to shape Canada's innovations in sustainable finance."  |  Brochure  |  local copy (pdf, captured 2020-10-23)
  • Mission: "The Institute is at the intersection of sustainability and finance. Our Mission is to align mainstream financial markets with Canada's transition to a prosperous sustainable economy."
  • Staff  |  local copy (html, captured 2020-10-23)
  • Advisory Board  |  local copy (html, captured 2020-10-23)
  • Website: Smith.QueensU.ca/centres/ISF/index.php  [<< ISFCanada.org resolves there]

    About

    "The Institute for Sustainable Finance is a multi-disciplinary network of research and professional development that brings together academia, the private sector, and government to shape Canada's innovations in sustainable finance."

    "The Institute for Sustainable Finance is a multi-disciplinary network of research and professional development that brings together academia, the private sector and government to shape Canada's innovations in sustainable finance."

    "Housed at Smith School of Business at Queen's University, the Institute is the first of its kind in Canada to fill the gap of relevant data, expertise and business-oriented solutions for sustainable finance. By aligning financial knowledge and tools with climate change imperatives, we will foster Canada's leadership in the shift to a low-carbon global economy."

    Funding, Support

    Donors and Corporate Supporters

    "Convening Canada's brightest thinkers and players in the field of sustainability and finance, the Institute for Sustainable Finance is supported by its founding partners, the Ivey Foundation and the McConnell Foundation, the McCall MacBain Foundation and the Chisholm Thompson Family Foundation, as well as an Advisory Board of high-profile individuals from academia, finance, insurance, and civil society."

    "Support Us.  To achieve our mission, we need collective action and support. Help us shape Canada's transition to a low-carbon economy."

    Position on Climate Change

    Source: pp. 3-5, Institute for Sustainable Finance's local copy (pdf).

      ../files/Institute_for_Sustainable_Finance-Brochure-p3.png


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      COMMENTARY (BuriedTruth). This stance on economic sustainability with regard to climate change all sounds fine, but note that this brochure prominently includes a statement (above) by Laurence D. "Larry" Fink, the CEO of the neoliberal BlackRock, an American global investment management corporation based in New York City. BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $7.4 trillion in assets under management (2019).

      In his 2020 annual open letter  [local copy (html, captured 2020-10-23), CEO Fink announced environmental sustainability as core goal for BlackRock's future investment decisions. BlackRock disclosed plans to sell US$500 million in coal investments.

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    • A 2°C global warming scenario will trigger financial losses of roughly US $4.2 trillion, a figure that grows to $13.8 trillion under a six degree scenario.
    • An estimated US $26 trillion is set to be gained by shifting economies to avoid worst-case climate scenarios compared to business-as-usual.
    • Greening the economy is projected to generate 65 million new low-carbon jobs by 2030

      Barbara Zvan, quoted above, is the Chief Risk and Strategy Officer at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

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      Cited news article [theGlobeAndMail.com, 2019-06-14] Canada must accelerate innovation, transparency and market access to win capital back  |  local copy (html, captured 2020-10-23).

    Additional Reading

  • [CBC.ca, 2020-10-23] Mark Carney says smart money needs better tools to measure climate risk. Trillions of dollars flooding into climate solutions are transforming finance.

      Mark Carney, the former central banker whose long list of titles includes United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, says the world of business is going through a period of dynamic transition as it joins the battle against climate change.

      Mark Carney, who served as Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 before moving on to other roles, described a financial sector that has been energized by a green transformation almost invisible to most of us outside the finance industry. ...

      ... In February, Carney famously described the process of stopping the rise of global temperatures as turning "an existential risk into the greatest commercial opportunity of our time."

      Addressing Thursday [2020-10-22]'s conference organized by the Institute for Sustainable Finance at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., he spoke of a Canadian pension and money-management sector that punched above its weight in global influence.

      "Part of the reason why the Canadian banks are profitable is because they are very good at managing risk," Carney said. "It's going to take a couple of years for everybody to be better at managing climate risk and really understanding it, but there's every reason why our banks could be some of the leaders."

      When Carney was governor of the Bank of England, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson convinced him to take a key role at COP26 [2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference], the UN Climate Change Conference originally scheduled for next month in Glasgow.

      COVID-19 has forced a delay in the 26th world climate conference until November 2021, but a key focus of next year's gathering over which Carney will help preside remains the same: helping people with money avoid the risk as a changing climate affects the economy.

      "It's going to be the suppliers of capital who will be making the decisions here," quipped Jim Leech, the chancellor of Queen's University and former head of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, who moderated Carney's talk in Kingston. "It's not pulled out of the air. ..."

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