Environmental Finance Asia 2022 - Virtual Conference

Chair's opening remarks

Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

Panel: Climate transition and pathways to net zero

• Defining net zero pathways, science-based targets and assessing the metrics involved
• To what extent do different targets and commitments align toward net zero ambition? How do the different benchmarks for transition fit together?
• In the absence of a transition taxonomy, what will investors support and where are they focusing their efforts?
• Carrot or stick? Looking at tax incentives and stricter disclosure requirements?
• Asia's energy transition – is enough investment is being allocated to decarbonise and/or the place natural gas has in the energy mix

Moderator:
Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

Panellists:
Kenneth Hui, Head, Market Development Division, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Edris Boey, Head of ESG Research, Maitri Asset Management
Satoshi Ikeda, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer, FSA, Government of Japan
Thomas McMahon, CEO & Co-Founder, AirCarbon Exchange
Colin Chen, Head of ESG Finance, APAC, MUFG

Panel: How Asia's asset owners are investing in transition strategies

• How are investors categorising and classifying investments that support the climate transition?
• Will a change in strategic asset allocation be required?
• Net zero commitments and transition organisations – how do investors ascertain those organisations are genuinely implementing material transition and align to pledges in a timely manner?
• Hard to abate sectors and ensuring a credible transition – is there a risk of greenwashing or should it be viewed as 'getting started'?

Moderator:
David Walker, Senior Writer, Field Gibson Media

Panellists:
Thomas Walenta, CFA Senior Investment Officer, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Alexander Kalis, Managing Partner, Milltrust International LLP
Purnima Gandhi, Director, Portfolio Development, Temasek

Panel: Creating sustainable investment portfolios – when to exclude and when to engage

• How to raise the game on engagement
• Can exclusion yield unexpected results?
• What sustainability issues matter for a given sector?
• Positive screening based on absolute ratings and best-in-class screening
• Differences in sustainable investing strategies between stocks and bonds
• The role of low carbon indexes

Moderator:
Jo Murphy, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, CAIA

Panellists:
Bayu Wirawan, CIO, Indonesia Infrastructure Finance (IIF)
Bertrand Jabouley, Head of Sustainable Finance, Asia-Pacific, S&P Global Ratings
Liza Jansen, Head of Responsible Investment, Prudential
Weiyu Tan, Managing Director, Capital Markets, KKR
Sarah Gallard, Senior Manager, Responsible Investment, State Super

Panel: Taxonomies for sustainable finance

• Harmonisation of 'green' taxonomies – focus on processes rather than activities
• Taxonomies being developed at the country level – the importance and impact of the ASEAN Taxonomy and Common Ground Taxonomy
• The influence of the EU's taxonomy in APAC

Moderator:
Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

Panellists:
Haidan Zhong, Senior Client Portfolio Manager, Invesco
Daniel Bouzas, Regional Coordinator, Europe, UNEP FI
Andrew McDowell, Partner, Strategy&, PwC Luxembourg

Chair's opening remarks

Madeleine Jenkins, Staff Writer, Environmental Finance

Panel: Latest trends in impact investing

• Which geographies/sectors/asset classes offer the most potential for impact in ASEAN?
• New players joining the impact space
• Carried interest tied to impact targets
• Any new key impact metrics and indicators?
• Which technologies are helping to scale impact investment?
• What innovative technologies need help to scale?
• How can firms work together in an efficient way to deploy capital quickly?

Moderator:
Madeleine Jenkins, Staff Writer, Environmental Finance

Panellists:
Aditya Mohan, Investment Manager, Asia Region, Triodos Investment Management
Prabaljit Sarkar, Investment Director Infrastructure, Blue Orchard
Stephen Liberatore, Head of ESG Impact, Global Fixed Income, Nuveen
Dr Hishmi Jamil Husain, Head of Biodiversity, Corporate Sustainability, Tata Steel

Panel: Going beyond net zero commitments – a focus on social

• Can we minimise negative impacts to people and jobs during the transition to net zero?
• Harnessing corporate social impact through multi-sector collaboration
• Focusing on the "S" through fintech and financial inclusion

Moderator:
Olivier Mueller, Chapter Executive in Zurich, CAIA Association

Panellist:
Georgia Hall, ESG Analyst, Maple Brown Abbott
Nicholas Gandolfo, Director Sustainable Finance Solutions, Asia Pacific, Sustainalytics

Panel: Integrating natural capital into impact strategy

• How do investors currently approach natural capital?
• What impact strategies maximise nature gains?
• Where are the opportunities and what barriers need to be addressed?
• How should projects measure and report impact in a way that is useful for investors?
• How can natural capital impacts of other investments be best captured and understood?
• How can TCFD/TNFD disclosures be utilised when making decisions around impact?

Moderator:
Thomas Cox, Senior Writer, Environmental Finance

Panellists:
Thomas Schumann, CEO, Thomas Schumann Capital
Tai Lin, Managing Partner, Proterra Investment Partners
Lauren Ferstandig, Managing Director, Origination, NatureVest

Panel: Investors' expectations on impact reporting requirements

• What steps are being taken to improve asset location and ownership data? How could this affect the reporting and verification of ESG data?
• How can impact performance be better understood in terms of output, impact, and additionality?
• How can an increased awareness of local contexts and baselines improve the understanding of relative impact and absolute impact?
• Who is checking to see if targets are being hit or previous projections were accurate?
• How are targets, statements and projections being verified?

Moderator:
Michael Hurley, Deputy Editor, Environmental Finance

Panellists:
Charles Smith, Associate Director, Senior Funding Officer, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Jérôme A. M. Kamm, Investment Director, Hamilton Lane
Natasha Garcha, Senior Director, Innovative Finance and Gender Lens – Investing Specialist, Impact Investment Exchange, (IIX)

Closing Remarks and end of day two

Chair's opening remarks

Genevieve Redgrave, Staff Writer, Environmental Finance

Panel: The regulatory agenda – disclosure preparedness and regulatory frameworks

• How can regulators and regulations keep up with rapidly changing ESG demands and data? How much should be left to market self-regulation
• ASEAN Taxonomy, Common Ground Taxonomy – how prepared are companies for new disclosure requirements? How have national regulations helped prepare some countries better than others?

Moderator:
Michael Hurley, Deputy Editor, Environmental Finance

Panellists:
Mushtaq Kapasi, Managing Director, Chief Representative Asia-Pacific, ICMA
Elaine Ng, Senior Manager, International Affairs and Sustainable Finance, Securities and Futures Commission (HK)
Jarek Olszowka, Head of Sustainable Finance, Nomura International

Panel: The future of ESG data reporting and harmonising reporting frameworks

• Can reporting standards really be harmonised? Are universal, standardised metrics possible or even preferable? What will be the impact of the ISSB in APAC?
• How can ESG performance and impact across different sectors, metrics and companies be compared?
• How can the challenges of comparing environmental impacts with social impacts be overcome?
• What initiatives are attempting to harmonise frameworks? What progress is being made? Will there ever be a gold standard, or is this a pipe dream?

Moderator:
Genevieve Redgrave, Staff Writer, Environmental Finance

Panellists:
Sophie Dejonckheere, Director of Sustainable Finance, TD Securities
Michelle Cameron, Director, Sustainable Finance and Investment Sales, Asia, Refinitiv
Kerry Adams-Strump, Director of Group ESG, Prudential
Alexander Chan, Head of ESG Client Strategies, Asia Pacific, Invesco

Panel: ESG investment returns – incorporating ESG data into investment decisions

• How can identifying an ESG strategy help drive investment decisions?
• What solutions are there for quantifying the correlation between ESG performance and financial performance?
• How can investors best align what they are trying to achieve with their investments and which ESG metrics to prioritise?
• What engagement routes are most effective when it comes to encouraging companies to report on ESG data?
• What factors must be considered when devising a data strategy?
• Where are the biggest holes in ESG data for investors?
• How can data be used to make proactive rather than reactive investments based on ESG data?
• What is the role of ESG indexes?

Moderator:
David Walker, Senior Writer, Field Gibson Media

Panellists:
Wing Chuen Desmond Yu, Head of Investment, China Pacific Insurance
Luying Gan, Head of Sustainable Bonds, Debt Capital Markets Asia-Pacific, HSBC
Sasja Beslik, CIO, SDG Impact Japan
Helena Fung, Head of Sustainable Investment, Asia Pacific, FTSE Russell

Interview: Obtaining visibility through ESG data

Interviewer:
Genevieve Redgrave, Staff Writer, Environmental Finance

Speaker:
Elsa Pau, Founder & CEO, BlueOnion

Closing Remarks and end of the conference