Celebrating Women in Sustainable Finance

There is growing recognition that sustainability and women's empowerment are closely linked.

• IMF report finds that banks with higher shares of women board members had higher capital buffers, a lower proportion of nonperforming loans, and greater resistance to stress, resulting in more financial stability. S&P Global finds that firms with female CEOs and CFOs have produced superior stock price performance compared to the market average.
• European banks with greater female representation on the board of directors have a greater commitment to the 2030 Agenda.
• Research on large Italian firms shows that companies reaching a critical mass of three female directors maintain a stronger attitude towards environmental sustainability.
• Out of 1,000 US investors polled in 2017, 84% of women were interested in sustainable investment, compared to only 67% of men, according to a study by Morgan Stanley.

Research suggests that improvements arise from beneficial effects of a greater cognitive diversity on boards and reduced discriminatory hiring practices that enable selection from a larger talent pool.

As International Women's Day is approaching, we would like to celebrate great initiatives supporting women leadership and greater diversity of thought in the financial sector. Please share with us your favourite ones in the comment section!

• Responsible Investor will run a series of articles on gender in the investment industry. In preparation for this, those working in and with investment firms can share their thoughts and experiences via this public survey.  100 Women in Finance is a global organisation providing educational and networking opportunities, mentoring programs, and philanthropic initiatives.The goal of Girls Who Invest is to have 30% of the world's investable capital managed by women by 2030. For the Czech audience, the Women in Finance podcast features inspiring experts from the world of finance.

In the news

Low-emission steelmaking: The European Commission announces state aid for projects aimed at decarbonising steelmaking by steel and mining company ArcelorMittal in Germany and Spain, writes ESG Today.

PFAS contamination: Le Monde and partners created a Forever Pollution Map showing the extent of Europe's contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - a group of manufactured chemicals that are ingredients in various everyday products.

Google, Amazon, Mercedes, Ikea: Corporations have warned Poland’s prime minister and parliament to support the development of green energy, otherwise they risk losing investments. Signatories include the Polish Steel Association, Polish Concrete Association and Polish Chamber of Automotive Industry, writes Alicja Ptak for Notes from Poland.

Overlooked risks: "Asset management industry is overlooking what promises to be a major new ESG risk: biodiversity" writes Alastair Marsh for Bloomberg News.

USD 34bn annually for fossil fuel projects: A coalition of civil society organisations urge OECD - OCDE leaders to end export finance for new oil and gas infrastructure, writes Polly Bindman for Energy Monitor.

Sustainable transport in Central Europe: "Electrification will eat up the biggest piece of the investment pie, as we show in the Sustainable Investment Roadmap for V4", forecasts Michal Hrubý from ISFC in this CEENERGYNEWS article.

Changes in gas consumption: The Czech Republic scores below European average when it comes to savings on gas consumption. Overall EU gas consumption fell by 19.3% between August 2022 and January 2023, shares the Czech outlet, Deník Referendum.

CZ ESG indicators: ČEZ, Czechia's largest energy company, launches an ESG online database of non-financial indicators, mapping nearly eight hundred ESG indicators under the leadership of CEŽ Chief Sustainability Officer, Kateřina Bohuslavová, writes Martina Patočková for Ekonews.

Recommended readings

Slovak industry in focus: In February, the Slovak central bank/Národná banka Slovenska held a special one-day event focused on climate and sustainability-related risks. All of the panel discussions are now available on the website. If you are interested in the future of Slovak industry and business, make sure to watch the below discussion with Oliver Grunberg from Volkswagen Slovakia, Michal Pinter from US Steel Kosice, Martin Kuruc from Tesco and Marek Senkovič from Slovnaft:

Unequal carbon footprints: "The top 10% of emitters were responsible for almost half of global energy-related CO2 emissions in 2021", shares the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its publication on social inequalities and emissions.

Cost of green steel: Seb Kennedy writes about the challenges for the pioneering green steel production and the future of Europe’s steel industry, published by TransitionZero.

IRA vs EU: A policy brief from Bruegel discusses the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its impact on the EU economies, and how the EU should boost its structural competitiveness. Short summary by Jeromin Zettelmeyer can be found here.

Foretelling ETS prices: This paper aims to improve the forecast of ETS price returns by proposing a method to generate alternative predictors for daily ETS price returns using online news monitoring.

China's coal power: New briefing from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and the Global Energy Monitor examines China’s new coal power plants, with new permits reaching the highest level since 2015.

Regions in focus: XDI: The Cross Dependency Initiative analysis of “Gross Domestic Climate Risk” calculates physical climate risk to the built environment in over 2,600 territories globally, touching on risk pricing and capital investments, vulnerability of global supply chains, and the need for climate resilience.

Paul Krugman is wrong: The American economist "cherry-picks a few numbers to argue that economic growth is more sustainable than we think" writes Timothée Parrique, dissecting the idea of economic growth and sustainability.

Targeted longer-term refinancing operations: The publication from the Slovak central bank - Národná banka Slovenska examines the TLTRO III operations introduced by the European Central Bank in 2020 on the bank lending activity of Slovak banks.

Czech seminar: In February, the Czech National Bank held a seminar on the application of ESG in capital markets. Presentations on the Sustainable Finance Agenda, CSRD and SFDR are available here in Czech language.

Global financial markets: New publication from the Deutsche Bank provides an overview of climate stress tests and formulates key findings about climate risk exposures and financial stability, summarises Zsuzsanna Tajti PhD, CFA, FRM, PRM, CIA, SCR 🌱.

35 years of emissions: Lucrezia Palma makes comparison between two future policy scenarios, the Equal per capita emissions and the Polluter pays for a timeframe between 1980 and 2050.

Podcasts

Climate Strategy: "Think of your career as a marathon, not as a sprint”, recommends Peter Sweatman, the CEO of Climate Strategy & Partners in the latest episode of the Sustainability in Finance podcast. Peter shares his valuable insights about the upcoming trends in climate and energy efficiency issues, explains the benefits of an EU Renovation Loan that broadens the access to energy efficiency finance for homeowners in Europe, and, last but not least, shares important career advice.

A closer look at hydrogen: In the newest episode of the Czech 2050 podcast published by Fakta o klimatu, Martin Tengler from BloombergNEF discusses the technological potential of hydrogen, its industrial use, and the economic aspects of its production and transportation.

Events 

Czechia: On 6 March in Prague, Michal Hořejší, author of the book Forest policy (Politika lesa), reveals how politics can influence debates on local environmental issues.

Online: 8 March, ACCA’s hosts an online International Women's Day event, focusing on new EU legislation that is set to Increase Gender Diversity on Company Boards

Hybrid: 13 - 14 March, the 2023 Wall Street Green Summit will be held in New York City and virtually on Zoom.

Online: 14 March and 20 March, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) will deliver a series of online workshops on Climate Risk Management and TCFD dedicated to the Middle East and North Africa region.

Netherlands, Amsterdam: 15 - 16 March, the Future of Utilities: Energy Transition Summit is happening in Amsterdam.

Florence, Italy: 23 and 24 March, Banca d'Italia with European University Institute's Florence School of Banking & Finance will host a two-day event focused on climate risk and prudential supervision.

Warsaw, Poland: On 28 March, International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC) in partnership with WiseEuropa is organising a one-day event on sustainable finance and energy transition at Bristol Hotel, in cooperation with Erste Group.

Budapest, Hungary: On 30 March, International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC) in partnership with Green Policy Center, & PwC Hungary & Egyensúly Intézet // Equilibrium Institute of Budapest is organising a one-day event on sustainable finance and energy transition at Eiffel Palace, and in cooperation with Erste Group.

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