Accurate and reliable ESG ratings are key for sustainable investing to allocate capital toward long-term value creation and impact. But the credibility of third-party raters has taken a hit due to their disparate methodologies and information sources. Moreover, there is ample confusion in the market about what ESG ratings actually measure and mean. What will it take to create consistent, credible, and reliable ratings that allow the ESG space not just to grow, but to deliver?

Wellington Management believes that through stewardship, ESG integration and informed, active ownership they can improve investment outcomes for their clients. Wendy Cromwell serves as head of sustainable investment, setting the research agenda and strategies for the firm’s sustainable investment practice, and as vice chair, where she is a senior member of the firm’s management team. Come hear what the $1.4 trillion dollar asset manager is doing to uncover market inefficiencies via sustainable management in conversation with Mindy Lubber, president and CEO of leading sustainable investor network Ceres.

Since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, corporations have begun to wake up to the importance of demonstrating their commitment to the key social issues of economic and racial justice, like supporting opportunities for Black homeownership, Black entrepreneurship and Black education. Learn how leadership companies are staying true to their pledges, making substantive progress in uplifting underserved communities and how organizations like CEO Action for Racial Equity are working to identify, develop and promote scalable corporate best practices to address systemic racism and social injustice.

The Emerging Leaders program aims to elevate, cultivate and support the next generation of leaders representing Black and Indigenous communities, as well as other people of color, who are driving the transition to a sustainable financial system. The program creates a pathway into the sustainable finance and investing industry for students and early-career professionals who face barriers to entry in the field, and wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend GreenFin 22.

The ESG investing space has been mired in the alphabet soup of standards used to convey information on sustainability performance. A wide range of stakeholders are asking for coherency and consistency in sustainability reporting at the scale needed to successfully give credibility to the fast-growing ESG investing marketplace.

The International Sustainability Standards Board was established in 2021 to develop a global baseline of sustainability disclosures. The group hit the ground running in 2022 with the launch of a consultation on its first two proposed standards. What is the ISSB’s vision for delivering a comprehensive set of standards that can accelerate corporate sustainability, and where are we now?

The sustainability space is more active and dynamic than ever. Key regulators across the world are beginning to home in on climate disclosure, including three proposals from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which seek to bring transparency and credibility to ESG investments. Coalitions like the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) are uniting the financial sector to push for a net zero reality in the real economy, and frameworks like the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) are serving a critical function in getting financial markets to provide the clear, comprehensive and high-quality information needed to achieve net zero.

For all the activity in this space, there is commensurate noise. This panel will dig into what is really at stake behind these rapid developments, with a group of experts who have deep experience behind the scenes.

Transitioning the global economy to net-zero emissions may be the most Herculean task modern society has faced. To sustain a healthy society, strong economy and dignified life on earth, there is no other viable option.

Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England now serving as the United Nations’ Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, is leading the net-zero transition from the frontlines. In partnership with the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign, Carney launched The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) to unite net-zero financial sector-specific alliances with assets totaling $130 trillion at their disposal.

Join the conversation, hosted by Watershed co-founder Taylor Francis, to hear from Carney about the financial sector’s progress on the path to net zero. With just eight years to 2030, Carney will address the biggest obstacles to achieving net zero and how we can surmount them.

Climate change is not a future state but rather our current reality. Economic risks posed by climate change will only increase, but measuring and mitigating the economic costs of a changing climate is a work in progress.

Sarah Bloom Raskin served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration and sat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors prior to that. Bloom Raskin, currently a law professor at Duke University, has invaluable and unique experience in making the case to account for climate risk in the core of our financial system. Join this conversation to hear what she has learned from a decade of continuous public service, and where we are now in the climate transition.

The energy transition is an economic, political and existential imperative. But it can't be done without recognizing and acting on the ethical imperative to develop and grow wealth for nations and communities left behind in modern development. Global business has a major role in realizing the transition to a clean economy, justly. This session will cover how the Just Transition Framework can be used to support company action on the energy transition that accounts for justice, not just gigawatts.

What kinds of companies are investors like Carbon Direct, which makes direct investments into leading carbon removal and utilization firms, and Bank of America, one of the largest green debt financiers in the United States, focusing their attention on? Hear some examples of what Bank of America is doing on the ground in this space and insights into the real economy transition from within the Global Financial Alliance for Net Zero and the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance financial institutions’ transition plans. 

State Street, among the world’s largest asset managers and custodian banks, is working to utilize its scale and reach to do its part in transitioning the capital markets to support the clean economy transition. Learn about what the firm is prioritizing and acting on in this pivotal year for ESG and sustainable finance, with Ron O’Hanley, State Street CEO, in conversation with GreenBiz Editorial Director Heather Clancy.

Delaware Public Benefit Corporations (PBCs), as distinct from Certified B Corps or Benefit Corps, have moved from the “impact” shadows to mainstream capital markets. There are now 19 publicly traded PBCs and hundreds of rapidly growing private companies that have employed this form. A confluence of factors has contributed to their popularity, including investors with a focus on benefiting broader stakeholders in addition to shareholders and increasing profitability.

But how do boards and management teams balance their fiduciary duties to shareholders with their defined public benefit and consideration of stakeholders? Will the PBC ultimately be used to accelerate energy transition and a move to net zero, particularly for more traditional industries? And, will PBCs successfully withstand increased investor scrutiny in the shifting capital markets and retain their valuations?

If we’re going to make global capital markets responsive to social, ecological, and climate concerns, we’re going to need vast amounts of high-resolution, real-time, and high-quality data. Fortunately, we’re in the middle of a sensor revolution wherein new streams of real-time data from the ground, air and space are making changes on Earth more transparent than ever. New generations of satellites monitor every crop, forest, and city –– everywhere and every day –– to provide unprecedented transparency into  daily operations of companies and governments globally.

In this keynote, we will take a tour of how these new data feeds will reshape our understanding of ESG risks and opportunities and the behavior of markets around the world.