• Achim Steiner
    "Combining private sector financial flows and smart public policy will be a key to a low carbon, resource efficient 21st century Green Economy."
     
    Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director
  • Gordon Brown
    "By kick-starting this engagement on issues of systemic risk and financial sustainability with the United Nations community, my hope is to contribute to defining the new kind of thinking and action that we must embrace to address the challenges of a global economy when climate change, resource scarcity, commodity price volatility and income inequality, amongst other ongoing concerns, will set the future context for our finance sector and global capital markets."
     
    Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister
  • Mary Robinson
    "The UN framework affirms that all businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights and that all must be able to demonstrate that they are meeting this responsibility through due diligence and positive actions irrespective of local contexts and government capacities. Many companies still have a great deal of work to do to make human rights due diligence part of their operations and to ensure that at minimum, their actions do not undermine respect for rights and indeed contribute to realizing rights in people’s lives."
     
    Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland
  • Barbara Krumsiek
    "I look forward to welcoming key stakeholders from around the world to Washington, D.C. for the UNEP FI Global Roundtable. My hope is that the event will build the critical partnerships that are necessary to move the sustainable development agenda forward."
     
    Barbara J. Krumsiek, Calvert Investments President and CEO, UNEP Finance Initiative Co-Chair
  • Kai Buntrock
    “I expect a truly catalytic reaction as to the felt and understood necessity of policy makers for placing the discussion on a sustainable policy framework - targeting the future private sector mobilisation and involvement - centre stage!”
     
    Kai Buntrock, Senior Investment Manager, DEG
  • Yvo de Boer
    “I hope the UNEP FI conference will explore best practice in ESG-investing, particularly in the US where we see new levels of interest from mainstream investors. The step change for companies is recognizing that investors have a valid interest in understanding how these issues are being managed across multiple asset classes.”
     
    Yvo de Boer, KPMG’s Special Global Advisor on Climate Change and Sustainability
  • Ernst Rauch
    "Munich Re is particularly looking forward to the expert workshop on climate information services for financial institutions at the UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable 2011. We appreciate the establishment and work of climate information centres, as reinsurance companies would benefit from the broader financial services and insurance sector. This would enhance the overall resilience of the entire sector in light of climate change impacts."
     
    Ernst Rauch, Head of Climate Change Centre, Munich Re
  • Nassim Taleb
    "Owing to [...] misunderstanding of the causal chains between policy and actions, we can easily trigger Black Swans thanks to aggressive ignorance - like a child playing with a chemistry kit."
     
    Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan

Global Roundtable Media Advisory

For immediate release

 

Washington D.C./Geneva, 11 October 2011 – With the drive for economic recovery topping the US and global political agenda, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is organizing a landmark summit on financial sustainability and market stability in Washington, D.C.

 

The 2011 Global Roundtable entitled, The Tipping Point: Sustained Stability in the Next Economy, comes at a crucial time for both decision-makers and the US general public. The recent financial crises are a stark reminder that instability is never too far away when markets are left exposed to long-term risks.

 

The Roundtable will bring together more than 100 speakers – including 20 CEOs and two former heads of government – who will consider the emerging role of sustainable finance in reforming the financial sector to ensure greater long-term stability in the world economy. The most forward-looking global economic pathfinders will shine a light on their groundbreaking ideas for establishing a strong and stable economic future.

 

The sessions will also highlight the sustainability sector’s promising potential as a key propeller of economic growth and job creation.  

 

Main event:             United Nations Environment Programme

 

                                Finance Initiative 2011 Global Roundtable

 

                                Date and time: 19 October, 2011 – 9 AM to 6:30 PM;

 

                                20 October – 9 AM to 5:30 PM

 

                                Venue: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

 

                               1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

 

 

 

Press conference:   A press conference will take place in parallel to the main event.

 

                                 Confirmed speakers are: Mary Robinson (former President of  

 

                                 Ireland), Barbara Krumsiek (CEO of Calvert Investments; UNEP

 

                                 FI Co-Chair), Paul Clements-Hunt (head of UNEP FI).

 

                                Date and time: 20 October, 2011 – 12:50 PM to 1:40 PM

 

                                Venue: Meridian C Room of the Ronald Reagan Building and

 

                                International Trade Center

 

 

High-level speakers include:

 

•    Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

•    Lisa Jackson, Head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency

•    Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland

•    Rick Lacaille, Global Chief Investment Officer, State Street Global Advisors

•    Paul Abberley, CEO of Aviva Investors London

•    Barbara Krumsiek, CEO of Calvert Investments; Co-Chair of UNEP FI

•    Anthony Kuczinski, President and CEO of Munich Re America

•    Weihua Ma, President of the China Merchant Bank

•    Nassim Taleb, financial commentator and best-selling author of The Black Swan

 

 

In its 13th edition, the Roundtable in Washington, D.C. carries on a well-established tradition that has spanned the globe from New York to Frankfurt, Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo.

 

Journalists wishing to attend the press conference or the entire two-day event are invited to register online at www.unepfi.org/grt.

 

 

For more information, contact:

 

•    Sebastien Malo, UNEP FI Communications, Tel: + (41 22) 917-8465 / Mobile: + (41 78) 686-7022 ; email: sebastien.malo@unep.org;

•    Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox, Head of Communications, UNEP Regional Office for North America, Tel: +1 (202) 974-1307/ Mobile (202) 812-2100; email: elisabeth.guilbaud-cox@unep.org.

 

 

About the Global Roundtable

 

Since the success of the first Global Roundtable edition, held in 1994 in Geneva, Switzerland, Global Roundtables have matured into major global agenda-setting events. Global Roundtables are convened by UNEP FI to offer an opportunity for leaders of the financial world and environmental experts to come together to discuss and exchange views on sustainability issues and responsible financing. www.unepfi.org/grt


About the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)

 

UNEP FI is a unique global partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the global financial sector. UNEP FI works closely with nearly 200 financial institutions who are Signatories to the UNEP FI Statements, and a range of partner organizations to develop and promote linkages between sustainability and financial performance. www.unepfi.org