ASFI September update
Momentum continues to build for ASFI’s inaugural Australian Sustainable Finance Summit, to be held in Sydney on Friday 28th October with tickets now on sale. The summit will provide opportunities to hear about the latest developments in sustainable finance markets, policy and regulation in Australia and internationally, provide an opportunity for networking across the finance sector and generate momentum to deliver strong, sustainable change in financial markets for the year head. . More announcements on speakers and program will be made in the coming weeks so keep an eye on the Summit page. We have a small number of sponsorship and exhibition spaces remaining, please get in touch today to find out more.
Representatives from 22 ASFI member organisations travelled to Canberra on Monday 5 September 2022 for a day of meetings and events with Government Ministers and senior officials. Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, and Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Jenny McAllister, both acknowledged the critical role of the finance sector in achieving many of the Government's ambitions and expressed strong support for collaborating on the sustainable finance agenda.
The Canberra visit culminated in a Sustainable Finance @ The House cocktail event attended by parliamentarians, political advisors and members of the policy community. You can read remarks from ASFI Chair Kristian Fok here and Assistant Minister Jenny McAllister’s here.
ASFI progress
Taxonomy project:
Work is now well underway on the analysis of international taxonomy frameworks.
ASFI is currently seeking feedback from the Taxonomy Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on the key considerations to inform the draft international taxonomy development paper.
The international taxonomy paper is currently on track for release in mid-October.
TNFD
The TNFD summit, the fourth TNFD workshop was held on 14 September with workshop participants RIAA, ACSI, the ABA, the BCA, the NFF and the MCA. At the summit, participants were able to gain useful insights and engage across sectors on key aspects and shared experiences with the TNFD beta framework. Recordings of previous workshops are available on the ASFI website
ASFI will continue to support, engage, and collaborate with our members, government and the broader finance and business community in the piloting and development of the TNFD and its application in the Australian context.
Leadership Forum:
The EOI process for the working group for ASFI members on ‘Organisational transformation for sustainability’ is now open. The working group will share experiences and lessons between participants on the organisational structures, processes and transformation required within financial institutions to achieve sustainability outcomes. If you’re interested in finding out more about ASFI membership so you can get involved in these and other ASFI member activities, please get in touch.
The Australian Sustainable Finance Summit will also be a key part of our work on Leadership, showcasing how leadership is transforming the finance sector.
Progress Tracker Report:
ASFI has begun work with our project partner, KPMG, on our Sustainable Finance Progress Tracker. Earlier this month, ASFI collected survey responses and case studies, which are to be featured in the report and launched at the Sustainable Finance Summit on October 28.
The Progress Tracker Report will provide a snapshot of sustainable finance developments in Australia and assess progress across each of the Roadmap’s 37 recommendations.
If you have a case study that you’d like to submit for the report, please get in touch asap.
Events
There are a range of upcoming events which we welcome your participation in.
10-12 October: ISC Connect 2022, Brisbane. Hosted by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council, CONNECT 2022 will provide an opportunity to listen, learn and lead, on issues in sustainable infrastructure. The event will feature a range of industry leading speakers and provide an opportunity to network with industry peers. Register here
27 October: ASFI Members and partners workshops, Sydney. Workshop sessions for ASFI members and partners on TNFD, Leadership, Taxonomy and First Nations perspectives, people and outcomes in finance. These are invitation-only sessions with invites to come out soon.
28 October: ASFI Sustainable Finance Summit, Sydney. Tickets are now on sale and please get in touch if you would like to discuss partnership opportunities.
Government engagement
Following our member Roundtable with Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Hon Pat Conroy MP, ASFI is finalising a submission to the Government’s Development Finance Review which will explore opportunities for Government financing mechanisms to help mobilise private and philanthropic finance to achieve sustainability and development goals in the Asia-Pacific.
ASFI is collaborating with The Conexus Institute and the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia to provide evidence-based inputs into the Government’s review of the Your Future Your Super framework.