UNEP FI hosted its 18th Global Roundtable on 10-11 December in Geneva, Switzerland and online. The flagship event focused on accelerating practical approaches to setting and implementing targets in areas including net zero, nature, impact, pollution, human rights, and financial inclusion to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
You can find photos of the event here and recordings of the event here.
UNEP FI’s biennial Global Roundtable (GRT) is a key event for driving action within the finance industry, offering thousands of professionals the chance to collaborate with peers and gain insights from global leaders. The GRT convenes a diverse group of stakeholders, including banks, insurers, investors, regulators, policymakers, and civil society, to collectively shape the sustainable finance agenda and catalyse action across the financial system to deliver more sustainable global economies for years to come.
UNEP FI and Building Bridges joined forces
This year, the Global Roundtable was held under the same roof as Building Bridges (9-12 December), a powerful movement that brings 2500+ attendees from 100+ countries from the finance and corporate sectors, governments, civil society, academia, and sustainable development communities to Geneva annually, to shape the global sustainable finance agenda and build a bridge towards a global economic model that meets the needs of a sustainable and just society. Find out more about Building Bridges 2024 here.
We invite you to explore the Global Roundtable 2024 agenda below. In parallel, the Building Bridges Action Days will take place from 10–12 December at the same venue. As a participant of the GRT, you will also have full access to the Building Bridges Action Days, featuring 65+ crowd-sourced sessions, offering a wide array of interactive formats such as panel discussions, workshops, fishbowl conversations, trainings, and case studies. To explore the Building Bridges Action Days program, click here.
Time (CET) | Joint sessions: Global Roundtable X Building Bridges | ||
09:00 |
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS Opening remarks
|
||
09:15 |
FIRESIDE CHAT Accelerating systems change through finance
|
||
09:30 |
FIRESIDE CHAT Wisdom from the Elders: The Right to a Resilient Future
|
||
09:50 |
PLENARY PANEL How finance drives the sustainability agenda forward
|
||
Time (CET) | Opening of the UNEP FI Global Roundtable Room D |
||
10:50 |
OPENING SESSION Opening dialogue with Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme
|
||
11:05 |
MESSAGE Message from Christiana Figueres, Founder, Global Optimism |
||
11:10 |
PLENARY PANEL Driving change through responsible banking and sustainable insurance
|
||
12:00 |
HIGH-LEVEL PANEL Accelerating the real economy transition
|
||
12:40 |
MESSAGE Message from H.E. Razan Al Mubarak, President, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion |
||
12:45 |
FIRESIDE CHAT Bringing nature to the heart of finance
|
||
13:05 | Lunch | ||
Start of Deep Dive sessions | |||
14:00 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 1 Embedding biodiversity concerns across portfolios
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 2 Mobilising finance for energy efficiency
|
|
15:00 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 3 Next steps to implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 4 Mobilising sustainable finance in emerging markets
|
|
16:00 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 5 Driving interoperability between sustainable finance taxonomies
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 6 Just transition: Incorporating human rights into climate finance
|
|
17:00 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 7 Mainstreaming impact management
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 8 Tackling plastics and promoting circularity to achieve sustainability goals
|
|
18:00 | End of Day 1 |
Time (CET) | Day 2 | ||
09:55 |
Opening keynote
|
||
10:10 |
PLENARY PANEL Supporting global sustainability ambition through policy and regulation
|
||
10:55 |
FIRESIDE CHAT Aligning professional practice with sustainability goals
|
||
11:10 |
PLENARY PANEL Driving 1.5 ambition through finance
|
||
11:55 |
FIRESIDE CHAT Risk and impact: Both sides of the same coin
|
||
12:15 |
CASE STUDY Tracking the Financial Sectors’ Transition Performance Using the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment
|
||
12:25 | Lunch | ||
Start of Deep Dive sessions | |||
13:20 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 9 Scaling finance for adaptation
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 10 Overcoming data challenges in sustainable finance
|
|
14:10 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 11 Transition finance: Opportunities and challenges
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 12 Public and private cooperation for sustainable development Introductory remarks by Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD) Panellists
|
|
15:05 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 13 Closing the gender gap: the role of banks (co-hosted with UN Women) Opening remarks:
Panellists:
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 14 – Insurance Unlocking the potential of insurance for nature positive Room C
|
|
16:05 |
START OF PRB SESSIONS Introductory remarks by Dimitrios Dimopoulos |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 16 – Insurance Scaling up climate action in the insurance industry
|
|
16:05 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 15 – PRB Effective client engagement: Strategies for banks to foster sustainable finance
|
||
17:05 |
DEEP DIVE SESSION 17 – PRB Engaging clients on social issues: Strategies
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 18 – insurance 17:05 – 17:45CET
|
|
DEEP DIVE SESSION 19 – insurance 17:45 – 18:15 CET Welcome and Introduction to the Nairobi Declaration on Sustainable Insurance and the purpose of the session:
Panel:
|
|||
18:15 |
COCKTAIL RECEPTION GRT Closing: Frontiers Planet Prize Sponsored by Frontiers Research Foundation |
||
19:45 |
End of UNEP FI Global Roundtable 2024 |
10 December
Road to FFD4: Scaling up private finance and investment for the SDGs Location: CICG, Room 14 (Geneva) |
|||
11:45 – 13:00 |
The objective of this consultation session will be to:
Specifically, the UN-led session will explore the following topics: (a) barriers to scaling up private finance and investment for sustainable development; (b) possible policy and regulatory reforms to encourage the provision of long-term finance and investment in sustainable development; (c) ways to enhance the effectiveness of blended finance approaches to scale up SDG-aligned investment in emerging markets; significant recommendations and initiatives that could come out of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.
The session is hosted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, alongside UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable. |
11 December
Nature Transition Planning Roundtable Location: Room Lausanne, Centre de Conference de Varembe (CCV) (across the GRT and Building Bridges Venue) This session has limited capacity, and attendance will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. To secure your seat, see contact below. |
|||
9:00 – 10:30 |
Nature transition planning is an emergent concept that offers a coherent, structured way to manage an organisation’s responses and contributions to transition set out by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). During this rountable we will request participants to reflect on the concepts presented by WWF, TNFD and UNEP FI. The insights gathered will be instrumental in refining these approaches, and identifying actionable steps on nature transition planning, that can be implemented across the financial sector. Objectives:
The session is hosted by UNEP FI, WWF, and The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), and held alongside UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable. This session has limited capacity, and attendance will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. To secure your seat, please contact: npoolen@wwfint.org |
||
|
Gold Sponsor

Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Partner:
Supporters:
Contact us if you are interested in sponsoring the Global Roundtable, at: roundtable@unepfi.org

Careen Abb
SDGs and Impact Lead

Angélica Afanador
Director, Guidehouse and Executive Director, Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)

Abimbola Agbejule
Head, Corporate Sustainability, Wema Bank

Amal-Lee Amin
Managing Director and Head of Climate, Diversity and Advisory, British International Investment

Inger Andersen
Executive Director, UN Environment Programme

Jesica Lelynn Andrews
Head of Climate Accountability and Climate Co-Lead

Butch Bacani
Head of Insurance, UNEP and Chair of the Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero

Ana Bachurova
Energy Efficiency Lead

Dawn Bailey
Head of Financial Wellbeing, Bank of Ireland

Antoni Ballabriga
Global Head of Sustainability Intelligence & Advocacy, BBVA

Susan Barron
Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Sustainable Banking Group, Barclays

Dirk Bartsch
Head of ESG, Berlin Hyp

Shargiil Bashir
Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President, First Abu Dhabi Bank

Dorothée Baumann-Pauly
Director, Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights

Luca Bertalot
Secretary General, European Mortgage Federation – European Covered Bond Council (EMF-ECBC)

Simon Bessant
Global Head of Insurance and Director, The Texel Group

Hans Biemans
Head of Sustainable Markets, ING

Sander Biesma
CEO, NN Re

Claudine Blamey
Chief Sustainability Officer, Aviva

Daniel Bouzas
Regional Lead, Europe

Thomas Brauchle
Head of Sustainability, Siemens Financial Services

Sofia Calltorp
Director, UN Women Geneva Office and Chief of Humanitarian Action

Filipe Camaño Garcia
Manager and Lead, Global Circularity Protocol for Business, WBCSD

Laura Canas da Costa
Co-Lead, Global Policy

Jean-François Chalifoux
President and CEO, Beneva

Mustafa Chaudhry
Co-Lead, Communications

Lauren Clarke-Wiest
Head of Global Climate Hub, Aon

Lara de Mesa
Global Head of Responsible Banking, Santander (Spain)

Johannes Hermanus De Wit
Vice President, Executive Board Member, Head of Retail, Bank of Beijing

Xavier Demeulenaere
Research and Analysis Associate Director, S&P Global Mobility

Alejandra Díaz
Chief Sustainability Officer, Banco Davivienda and Seguros Bolívar (Colombia)

Laura Diaz Zea
Implementation Guidance Coordinator and Financial Health & Inclusion Lead

Johanna Dichtl
Implementation Guidance Team Lead

Dimitrios Dimopoulos
Head of ESG, Piraeus Financial Holdings

Vanessa Doger de Spéville
Head, Sustainability, Reputation & Engagement, MCB

Shanning Dong
General Manager, Green Finance Department, Bank of Jiangsu

Esther Egeter
Sustainability Manager, a.s.r.

Lisa Eichler
Head of Physical Risk & Natural Solutions, MSCI

Paul Ekins
Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy, Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources, University College London

Anna Falth
Global Head of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), UN Women

Amandine Favier
Head of Sustainable Finance, WWF-Switzerland

Lauren Ferstandig
Managing Director, Nature Vest, The Nature Conservancy

Remco Fischer
Co-head of NZAOA Secretariat; Climate Lead, UNEP FI

Jonathan Fowlie
Chief External Relations Officer and Head of Impact Strategy, Vancity

Linda Freiner
Chief Sustainability Officer, Zurich Insurance Group

Warrick Fuchsloch
Senior Client Engagement Specialist, S&P Global Sustinable1

Noelia Garcia Nebra
Head of Sustainability, ISO

Verónica Gavilanes Véjar
General Manager, BancoSol

Romie Goedicke den Hertog
Co-Lead, Nature

Denisse González
Climate Change Specialist, Produbanco

Mark Gough
Executive Director, Natural Capital Coalition

Nik Gowing
Founder and Co-Director, Thinking the Unthinkable

Anja Hannerz
Group Head of Sustainability, Nordea

Makoto Haraguchi
SVP of Sustainability Section, MS&AD Insurance Group

Paul Harris
Sustainable Product Innovation Lead, Bank of Ireland

Irene Heemskerk
Head of the Climate Change Centre, European Central Bank

Glenn Hodes
Senior adviser on SDG investment, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)

Clémence Humeau
Head of Sustainability Coordination and Governance, AXA IM

Tomohiro Ishikawa
Chief Regulatory Engagement Officer, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)

Masaaki Iwabuchi
General Manager, Finance & Investment Planning Department, Nippon Life Insurance Company

Joseph Jacobelli
Advisory Group Expert, ESCAP (FET Project) and Managing Partner, Bougie Impact Capital

Geetu Joshi
Advisor, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance of the Government of India

Marc Kahn
Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Investec Group

Patty Karuaihe-Martin
Managing Director, NamibRe (Namibia)

Sean Kidney
CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative

Raj Kumar
President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

Alvaro Lario
President, International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Nathalie Larrousé
Associate Director, Green Financial Systems, Head of Green Capital Markets, EBRD

Christine Lee
Director, Climate and Nature Risk Product Development and Management, S&P Global Sustainable1

Peggy Lefort
Pollution & Circular Economy Lead

Philippe Lionnet
Envoy for Sustainable Finance and Co-Head of the Policy Issues & International Relations unit, State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF), Swiss Federal Department of Finance

Alexandra Lockyer
Senior Sustainable Finance Analyst, UN Women

Philip Lopokoiyit
CEO, ICEA LION Group

Stefan Malchow
Head of Sales, ESG Solutions, SAP Fioneer

Kelvin Massingham
Director, Risk and Resilience FSD Africa

Emily McKenzie
Technical Director, TNFD

Christos Megalou
CEO, Piraeus Bank

João Mestre
Head of Sustainability, Fidelidade Group

Madelena Mohamed
Sustainability Director, Bank Negara Malaysia

Masaaki Nagamura
Fellow International Initiatives, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.

Puleng Tumelo Ndjwili-Potele
Co-Lead, Banking

Patrick Odier
Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Lombard Odier Group and Chair, Building Bridges

Ralph Opara
Group Head, Commercial Banking Division, Access Bank

Yasmine Pagni
Head of Social Policy Unit, Environment, Climate and Social Office (ECSO), Projects Directorate (PJ), EIB

Susanne Pedersen
Director, Science and Knowledge Centre, IUCN

Joana Pedro
Social Lead

Nicolas Picchiottino
Head of Public Development Banks, AFD & Secretary General, IDFC

Franco Piza
Head of Sustainability, Grupo Bancolombia (Colombia)

Hacina Py
Group Chief Sustainability Officer, Societe Generale

Jan Raes
Finance and Plastics Lead

Sue Reid
Climate Finance Advisor to Christiana Figueres, Global Optimism

Rémy Rioux
CEO, Agence Française de Développement (AFD)

Nick Robins
Professor of Practice in Sustainable Finance, LSE

Mary Robinson
Chair, The Elders & former President of Ireland, & former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Carlos José Santos Lardé
Sustainability Manager, Banco Bolivariano

Clemence Schmid
Director, Global Plastics Action Partnership, World Economic Forum

Kirsten Schuijt
Director General, WWF International

Krishnan Sharma
Principal Economic Affairs Adviser, Financing for Sustainable Development Office, UN DESA

Vincent Siegerink
Economist, OECD WISE Centre and Co-Lead, Impact Management Platform

Maria Simonson
Head of Client Relationship Management and Chief Sustainability Officer, Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK)

Elisabeth Skorna
Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President Finance, DACH, Schneider Electric

Jessica Smith
Lead, Nature

Tomas Soley Perez
General Superintendent, General Superintendence of Insurance of Costa Rica (SUGESE)

Caroline Wakesho Sonje
ESG Specialist, ICEA Lion

Maria Eugenia Sosa Taborda
Membership and Regional Co-ordination Manager

Susan Stawicki
Head of Reporting, UN Global Compact

Elisabeth Stern
Board Member, KlimaSeniorinnen

Saori Takahashi
Manager, Sustainability Management, Corporate Strategy Group, The Norinchukin Bank

Nirnita Talukdar
Regional Lead, Asia Pacific

Grace Tam
Director, Investments, Clean Energy Finance Corporation

Wendy Teleki
Head of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), the World Bank

Massimiano Tellini
Head – Circular Economy, Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center

Massamba Thioye
Project Executive, UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub, UNFCCC secretariat

Simon Thompson
Managing Director, Global Capacity Building Coalition (GCBC)

Quyen Thuc Nguyen
Senior Climate Finance Specialist, Global Product Lead, IFC

Elisa Tonda
Chief of Branch, Industry and Economy Division (IED), UNEP

Cirhan Truswell
Director, Climate Science, Sun Life

Eric Usher
Head, UNEP Finance Initiative

Liesel van Ast
Deputy Head

Rie Vejs-Kjeldgaard
Director of the Sustainable Enterprises, Productivity and Just Transition Department, International Labour Organization (ILO)

Thomas Viegas
Nature Strategy Lead, Aviva

Helena Viñes Fiestas
Co-Chair, Taskforce on Net Zero Policy and Chair, EU Platform on Sustainable Finance

Caroline Wellemans
Head of Unit, Sustainable Finance Policy - DG INTPA, European Commission

Olivier Wibo
Sustainable Finance Solutions Product Manager, Bloomberg

Makaio Witte
Head of Sustainable Finance, Sustainable Economic Transformation and Sustainable Finance Global Project, GIZ

Christine Würfel
Head of Group ESG & Sustainability Management, Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI)

Amanda Zillig
Human Rights Lead, ING