Tuesday, June 17, 2025 (timings are CET)
9:30 AM | Registration, Coffee and Networking |
10:00 AM | Conference Welcome |
10:05 AM | Keynote Presentation: Climate on the Front Line Climate change must be front and centre not just in the minds of investors, but in those of military strategists as well. As the changing climate leads to more tensions over arable, liveable space and drives resource shortages, we can expect more strategic competition and regional disruption in regions around the world. Our opening keynote discusses the role of climate in supply chains, economic and human security and how the military’s approach to climate change may inform the financial sector. |
10:30 AM | Accelerating the Road to Regulation The Taskforce on Net Zero Policy supports the development of stronger, clearer standards for net zero emissions pledges by non-state entities and speed up their implementation. Will this help pension funds be more vocal about their needs? |
10:40 AM | Sustainable Investment– Where are we Now? In 2024 the global mean temperature was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) average and some climate scientists have pronounced the 2°C dead. Oil and gas majors have weakened clean energy commitments and in the US Republicans are clamping down on shareholder rights and collaborative engagement, with large asset managers retreating from climate alliances. A key pillar of European investors’ sustainability strategies is stewardship, but is this working? Is there a leadership vacuum waiting for European asset owners to fill? Join us for a panel discussion on these key questions and more. Catherine Howarth OBE - Chief Executive, ShareAction Tim Manuel - Head of Responsible Investment, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Adrien Perret - Executive Director, Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) Matteo Squilloni - Head of Climate Transition, Equity Investments, European Investment Fund Moderated by Susanna Rust - ESG Editor, IPE |
11:30 AM | Sponsored Content - Turning Climate Science into Forward-Looking, Financially Material Insights How can investors quantify the financial materiality of climate risk? |
11:45 AM | Sponsored Content - Decarbonising Heat: The Sleeping Giant of the Energy Transition Buildings are responsible for 40% of the EU's energy consumption and one-third of its emissions. Of this, 80% stems from heating systems reliant on fossil fuel technologies. For institutional investors seeking meaningful climate impact alongside competitive returns, decarbonising heat represents one of the most significant yet overlooked opportunities in the energy transition. |
12:00 PM | Lunch and Networking |
1:00 PM | Keynote Presentation: Financing the Climate Transition: Understanding the Role of Debt Markets The global debt markets have been reliable funding sources for events including the recovery from the GFC and Covid crises. But the world needs the debt markets to shift from supporting recovery to financing investment and growth. According to the Energy Transitions Commission, $3.5 trillion per year in capital investment is required between now and 2050 to fund the energy transition. But with debt levels high and slowing economic growth in much of the developed world, how can the debt markets help meet this challenge? |
1:20 PM | Panel: Emerging Markets and the Energy Transition Advanced economies are decarbonising at the required rate. EMs are not. Blended finance has long been touted as a solution to the problem of getting money to developing markets – is it living up to its promise? What solutions are out there that will suit institutional investors? Nan Li Collins - Chair, UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative and Senior Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD Sarah Marchand - Director Capital Solutions, British International Investment Thede Ruest - Project Manager and Technical Lead, Sustainable Finance, UNDP Harald Walkate - Advisor, LSE Blended Finance Lab Moderated by Liam Kennedy - Editorial Director, IPE |
2:00 PM | ESG in the USA – Investor Stewardship and Engagement Under Attack The current American government has made no secret of its hostility toward ESG investment, with regulatory changes both already enacted and in the pipeline set to potentially weaken investors’ influence over listed corporates. What is the scope of these new regulations and what remaining firepower do investors have left in their arsenals to ensure their collective voices are still heard on climate and social issues? For investors with a strong ESG mandate, could American equities become un-investable? |
2:15 PM | Case Study: Transformative Stewardship in Renewable Energy A global leader in stewardship within private markets explains how they promoted sustainability in a renewable energy producer in which they had invested. The two initiatives involved, wind farm repowering and EV charging network development allow the producer to boost both their output and environmental benefits, while reducing Scope 3 emissions. |
2:30 PM | Sponsored Content - Transition-Focused Developed Market Equities The transition to a sustainable economy demands that investors incorporate transition-focused elements into their fundamental decision-making processes. This involves navigating the complex regulatory and policy transition agenda and frameworks that impact both investors and investees. What are the critical challenges and considerations when investing in developed market equities with a transition focus? And what strategies or tools can investors employ to ensure their approach is both effective and credible? |
2:45 PM | Building Transition Credit Portfolios: Focus on Fundamentals In today’s rapidly evolving landscape of regulatory uncertainty and fragmented sustainability disclosures, building robust energy transition credit portfolios requires a focus on fundamentals. A top-down approach – reliant on ESG scores and exclusions – has often failed to capture company and asset specific risks and opportunities. To credibly align investments with the energy transition, investors should embed sustainability analysis within bottom-up research, including a focus on transition plans, sector dynamics and capital expenditure plans. Focusing on alignment of credit fundamentals with the energy transition is the most effective way to drive real world impact and capture emerging risks and long-term opportunities within portfolios. |
3:00 PM | Emerging Market Private Debt - Unlocking Value in an Uncrowded Asset Cass Why is emerging market private credit growth as an institutionalised asset class vastly underwhelmed vs developed markets? Can investors capitalise on less deal competition to simultaneously generate real-world impact and attractive relative value opportunities? We explore this untapped opportunity in EM, highlighting case studies that exemplify the risk adjusted return asymmetry in decarbonising emerging markets. |
3:15 PM | Coffee Break |
3:55 PM | Scoring the EU’s Track Record on Sustainable Finance After a tumultuous start to the year characterised in part by the controversy over the Commission’s omnibus initiative we now have a better idea of where the Commission/EU is heading with regard to sustainable finance. Time to take stock. Helena Viñes Fiestas - Chair, EU Platform on Sustainable Finance; Co-Chair, Task Force on Net Zero Policy and Commissioner, Spanish Financial Markets Authority, EU Platform on Sustainable Finance and Co-Chair, Task Force on Net Zero Policy and Commissioner, Spanish Financial Markets Authority Didier Millerot - Head of Unit, European Commission Henrik Munck - Senior Policy Advisor, Insurance & Pension Denmark Matthies Verstegen - Head of Brussels Office, Dutch Federation of Pension Funds |
5:00 PM | Spotlight on minerals Minerals are key to the energy transition as essential components in many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies. What are the opportunities and responsibilities for investors and what are the latest consensus-building activities and agreements reached by the miners and the investors in this sector? The Chair of the Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030 brings us up to date. |
5:25 PM | Chair's Wrap Up and Awards Introduction |
5:30 PM | IPE Transition Awards and Drinks Reception |