How effective has the Financial Services sector been in its inclusivity of women and other minority groups? What can the Banking Sector do to restore consumer trust and improve perceptions about its ethics and competence? How can financial leaders “action” ESG?

This Earth Day - April 22 - AccountAbility’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sunil A. Misser, virtually moderated a panel that discussed these critical questions at the 2021 Sustainable Investment Forum-Europe, hosted by Climate Action and the United Nations Environment Programme-Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI).

Entitled Banking on Sustainability: Is the Finance Sector Doing Enough?, the panel engaged executives from the European Banking Authority, Société Générale, and European Investment Bank in a discussion on the role of the finance sector in assisting an equitable transition toward a low carbon global economy.

Watch the full panel below and at this link.

In this video, you'll hear notable highlights from the conversation between the following esteemed professionals and AccountAbility's expert moderator, including:

Sylvie Préa, Group Director of Corporate & Social Responsibility, Société Générale:

• "It's not a question of competition, it's a question of coalition to build and preserve our financial future. Establishing new methodologies, sharing innovations, and aligning disclosures will make a difference by allowing us all to speak the same language and build together toward the same sustainability targets."

Slavka Eley, Head of Unit Banking Markets, Innovation, and Products, European Banking Authority:

• "While we can all agree that the role of the private sector should include social responsibility, having a greater understanding of social impacts also advances risk management practices... Banks need to get on board with ESG not just because politicians said so, but because economic and regulatory efforts are gradually tightening around climate-related issues. This will create additional risks to the balance sheet and increase losses for banks."

Elina Kamentizer, Head of the Climate Office, European Investment Bank:

• "ESG makes business sense... The financial sector is increasingly recognizing the need to support the transition to a net zero carbon economy. It's about more than compliance, and we need to start focusing on what else can be done. We must bring more transparency into the market to avoid 'greenwashing.' Banks also must take responsibility to build capacity in the economy to promote green projects and move away from fossil fuels."

Sunil A. Misser, Chief Executive Officer, AccountAbility:

• "We have spoken about business values, diversity making business sense, and the need to link sustainability performance with action. This fact is clear: the financial sector needs to change and further own its important role in our future transformation to become a more sustainable society."

Learn how AccountAbility helps businesses embed ESG into their corporate DNA by contacting us below or at communications@accountability.org.