The Future of Climate Finance

Rio was proud to sponsor The Future of Climate Finance last week; an exclusive one-day conference held in the heart of London that addressed the escalating mobilisation of finance in favour of sustainable global development. As well as sponsoring the conference our CEO and founder, Dan Botterill, sat on a dynamic panel discussing the evolution from ESG to sustainability and real impact.

The conference saw a discussion amongst lead investors, policy makers and CFOs on the multi-billion dollar climate-focused funds investment industry. Specifically, over $650 billion poured into climate-focused funds worldwide in 2021 and 2022 is set to be another record-breaking year for green finance.

As the environmental stakes increase and the vocal and natural warnings grow menacingly stark, pressure on the global investment industry to tackle climate change is higher than ever before.

There is no vaccine against the potential of a climate crisis and the rapidly shifting change in sentiment towards those that can assist in delivering a greener future is already widening the gap between winners and losers. There is no end of money to be made by those who anticipate the number of opportunities brought about by this uneven pace of change.

Moreover, the politics of climate change continues to have significant implications for how capital markets are expected to perform. It seems increasingly possible that the owners of capital will either die alone in the pursuit of growth or share a bed with the concepts of sustainability and social well-being.  

Is this endless pursuit of growth compatible with an urgent need to slash carbon emissions? Or is this the end of capitalism as we know it?

Click here below to listen to the key takeaways from some of the excellent speakers including Olga Hancock, Deputy Head of Responsible Investment, Church Commissioners for England, Amanda Young,  Chief Sustainability Officer, abrdn and our very own Dan Botterill, CEO and Company Founder, Rio ESG LTD.