Events

UNEP FI 2003 Global Roundtable

Sustaining Value: A Meeting on Finance and Sustainability

20-21 October, 2003 | Tokyo, Japan

Agenda: Strategic Values of Sustainability

• Making the business case for sustainability - what are the economic and strategic benefits?
• Assessing the environmental and economic efficiency relationship.

Speakers

Mr. Zmarek Shalizi - Senior Manager for Infrastructure and Environment Research in the Development Economics Vice Presidency of the World Bank
Presentation (PDF: 1.7 MB)

Mr. Alex Barkawi - Managing Director of SAM Indexes
Presentation (PDF: 483 KB)

Mr. Koichi Takata - President, Shiga Bank

Chair
Dr. Matthew Kiernan - Founder and Chief Executive, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors
Presentation (PDF: 173 KB)

Speaker Biographies

Mr. Zmarek Shalizi - Senior Manager for Infrastructure and Environment Research in the Development Economics Vice Presidency of the World Bank

Prior to his current position, Zmarek Shalizi was Director and Lead Author of the World Development Report 2003, which was presented in the World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.

His professional career includes extensive operational experience as: Country Economist in the Europe, Middle East, and North Africa Region, where he worked on macro issues related to structural adjustment loans, public expenditure reviews, and international balance of payments problems; as Project and Sector Economist, evaluating multi-sectoral regional development programs, sector-wide investment strategies, and the appraisal of individual projects (primarily in the infrastructure sector) in South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America; and as Public Finance Economist reviewing issues of public sector pricing (user charges and the whole spectrum of taxes), the mobilizing of public revenues, and fiscal policy in all regions of the World Bank.

Since 1990, Mr. Shalizi has held a number of management positions including CAO in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Policy, Review, and Research, Chief of the Transport Division in the Infrastructure / Urban Development Department, and Chief of the Agriculture, Environment, and Infrastructure Division in the Policy Research Department.

Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Shalizi taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and worked as a consultant in a number of consultancy firms. He completed his bachelor's and Master's degrees in Architecture and City Planning at University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Economics at MIT.

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Mr. Alexander Barkawi, Managing Director, SAM Indexes GmbH

Alexander Barkawi is Managing Director of SAM Indexes GmbH which together with Dow Jones & Company and STOXX Limited publishes and markets the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. SAM Indexes is part of the SAM Group, an independent Switzerland-based and internationally active financial services group with an exclusive focus on sustainability. Established in 1995, SAM was among the first companies to specialize in sustainability investments and to identify sustainability leaders worldwide.

Alexander studied economics at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, followed by a Ph.D. at the university's Institute of Sociology. He is a member of the advisory board of oikos, the international student organization for Sustainable Economics and Management, as well as a trustee of the oikos foundation.

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Dr. Matthew Kiernan - Founder and Chief Executive, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors

Dr. Kiernan is Founder and Chief Executive of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc., a specialist investment advisory firm based in New York, Toronto, London, and Paris. Innovest's clients include several of the leading institutional investors in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, as well as a number of Fortune Global 500 industrial companies. Innovest's largest outside investor is ABP, the largest pension fund in the world.

Prior to founding Innovest, Dr. Kiernan had served as Director of the Geneva-based Business Council for Sustainable Development, where he led the group's initial capital markets task force. The Group served as Principal Business and Industry Advisor to the U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Prior to that he had served as a senior partner with KPMG Peat Marwick, one of the world's leading business and financial consultancies.

Dr. Kiernan has also lectured on environmental finance in executive programs at the Wharton School, Columbia Business School, and Oxford University. He holds advanced degrees in political science and environmental studies, as well as a Ph.D. in strategic environmental management from the University of London. His book, The 11 Commandments of 21st Century Management, is published by Simon & Schuster.

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