ESG
requirements and assessments to ensure that companies ’ spending is in line with climate targets .
A note of caution Rhian-Mari added a note of caution , telling delegates that companies still have a way to go on the path to green finance .
She said there are four stages of development for companies in terms of climate investment :
1 . Initial engagement : making sure risk and compliance are at the forefront
2 . Systematic change : where organisations start to develop reporting and target setting
3 . Transforming the core : where sustainability is starting to drive revenue and growth
4 . Competitive differentiation : where everything is being driven by sustainability “ front and centre ”.
Rhian-Mari said financial organisations are “ largely at stage one and two ”.
Time for a sense of urgency How the money gets to the right place is far less important than that it gets there .
MSCI CEO and Chair Henry Fernandez , in an interview with RBC Capital Markets , said : “ Climate change is a fast-moving problem . We don ’ t have the luxury of waiting a very long time to come up with solutions .
“ The world also runs on capital , not on policy alone . We need private sector stakeholders at the table too ”
HENRY FERNANDEZ CEO & CHAIR , MSCI
“ We need to convene and debate the best way to tackle these problems . We created the MSCI Sustainability Institute to do precisely that by engaging academics , NGOs , think tanks and policymakers .
He added : “ My first time at a COP was COP26 in Glasgow . I was shocked that it was not until the 26th convening year that they invited investment and finance companies . The world also runs on capital , not on policy alone . We need private sector stakeholders at the table too .”
Finally , he warned : “ I tell my conservative friends that if the private sector doesn ’ t try to solve some of these problems , climate change is going to be the mother of all socialising factors in the world .
“ The physical consequences will become so bad that citizens are going to demand their elected officials do something about it , and they ’ re going to come up with highly prescriptive policies .”
80 August 2024