The Conference “Green and Sustainable Finance: Finance for a Sustainable Future” aimed to ignite the discussion about sustainable finance and the current opportunities it can offer. The one-day event hosted a variety of speakers – from Cyprus and abroad – covering different areas of the topic. Through the presentations and interventions of 6 keynote speakers on the policy direction but also on products and risks, the audience had the opportunity to gain more insight into sustainable finance topics, to share knowledge and to discuss the challenging near-term outlook.

The Conference hosted senior decision makers from the private sector, policymakers, finance, and experts from various fields. As a result, we believe that the event achieved its target to act as an opportunity for the country’s stakeholders to gain more insight into sustainable finance topics, to share knowledge and to discuss the challenges they may face, with and experts from UK, Ireland, Cyprus and other countries. In the event participated more than 90 participants with physical presence and 20 participants online.

The main concluding remarks from the two Panel Discussions, are the following:

• The climate is changing, and we need to build a more resilient economy.
• Financing itself is not enough to tackle climate change, however, can contribute to energy & climate agenda, the EU Green Deal and 2030 targets. Banking and financial sector should move from low hanging fruits to more actual products that promote sustainable projects.
• The European Union is leading the way in terms of regulating sustainable finance. Further progress is expected through the European Green Deal and the European Commission’s sustainable finance strategy.
• We need to move from financing the straightforward project e.g. PV parks, to more complicated projects from all sectors that promote decarbonisation.
• The banking sector is not well prepared for all changes, thus more education and training is needed.
• More info should be made available to clients, customers, and investors. Information sharing is important and the online tool developing by the European Commission’s initiatives are to the right direction.
• In the financial world, interest in sustainable growth has long been limited to a small group of specialist operators. This has changed the recent years. Whether investment programmes can be implemented will largely depend on the cost and availability of financial resources. The lower cost of capital compared with traditional investments – also referred to as the green premium – could encourage the launch of new sustainable projects. Sustainable Finance, should also cover topics like biodiversity, water resources, etc
• We also need to eliminate “greenwashing” as is misleading for customers. We all need common standards.

The event was organised by ideopsis Ltd and Grant Thornton (Cyprus) Ltd Supported by the British High Commission in Nicosia.

More information is available on https://events.ideopsis.com/