ASFI October Update
We are now days out from ASFI's inaugural Australian Sustainable Finance Summit, to be held this Friday the 28th of October at the Sheraton Grand in Sydney. Due to overwhelming demand, we have extended ticket sales to close Wednesday 26 October. You can register for the event here, with both virtual and in-person ticket options available.
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 summit will provide opportunities to hear about the latest developments in sustainable finance markets, policy and regulation in Australia and internationally, for networking across the finance sector and to generate momentum to deliver strong, sustainable change in financial markets for the year head.
Earlier this month, we also released our International framing paper: Analysis of international taxonomies and considerations for Australia. This report, informed by engagement from our Technical Advisory Group, Government and regulators, and officials from jurisdictions across APAC, Europe and North America, highlights the purpose, principles and key objectives to inform the design of an Australian Taxonomy and identifies the need for it to be science-based and credible. You can access the full report here.
ASFI progress
Taxonomy project:
Our International framing paper is the first of two papers to be released this year. Work for our second paper, which will outline recommendations for an Australian taxonomy, is now underway and is expected to be released in December this year.
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:
ASFI is holding a member and partner workshop on the 27th of October, co-hosted with KPMG, to support and collaborate with them in developing and piloting the TNFD. 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.
We will be holding a panel session 'Financing toward nature positive' at the Australian Sustainable Finance Summit which will explore why the focus on natural capital and biodiversity protection is more than just a phase, discuss how early leaders are paving the way to a nature positive future, and delve into different aspects of nature-related risks and opportunities from the perspectives of asset managers, the insurance industry, banking, and credit risk and in the development of carbon and biodiversity markets.
Progress Tracker Report:
We are excited to release the Progress Tracker Report at our Summit this coming Friday. The Report will show significant momentum across a broad range of areas to implement the Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap. It will also highlight some gaps and opportunities, and underscore the need for all actors to double down their efforts for a sustainable, resilient and inclusive financial system.
Government Engagement
We are looking forward to hearing from the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, the Hon. Stephen Jones MP in his keynote speech at the Australian Sustainable Finance Summit. The Minister will provide insights into where Government policy on sustainable finance is heading and what the budget means for the financial services sector.
Events
There are a range of upcoming events which we welcome your participation in.
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 sent out previously.
28 October: ASFI Sustainable Finance Summit, Sydney. The last remaining tickets are still on sale, but ticket sales will close this Wednesday 26th October.
7 November: ASFI public webinar: Key insights into the ASEAN sustainable finance taxonomy. Register here.