Sustainable Finance at COP29
This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, has successfully come to an end. The event took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, and brought together governments, financial institutions, businesses and NGOs to discuss critical issues related to climate change. Our colleague Vera Economou, Sustainable Finance Topic Lead at Raiffeisen Bank International, actively participated in high-level panel discussions during this important event.
Vera Economou spoke on a panel moderated by Emiliya Mychasuk, Climate Editor at the Financial Times, which focused on the development and harmonization of sustainable finance taxonomies across jurisdictions. The panel discussed the importance of consistent standards to avoid market fragmentation and improve the flow of capital to sustainable initiatives. It included the launch of the 'Roadmap for Promoting Interoperability and Comparability of Sustainable Finance Taxonomies'. This roadmap aims to create a harmonized global approach to sustainable finance, in line with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Esteemed panelists - including Abdallah Al Dardari, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Jan Dusik, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Climate Action at the European Commission, Eric Usher, Head of United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and Sean Kidney, Co-founder and CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, shared insights on how streamlined, coordinated actions can drive transparency, consistency, and accelerated capital flow toward sustainable initiatives. Taleh Kazimov, Governor of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan envisioned a proactive role in implementing this Roadmap. Alfonso GarcÃa Mora, IFC Regional Vice President for Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean and Chair of SBFN, also called for strengthened action against climate change.
For more information on the roadmap visit: Roadmap for Advancing Interoperability and Comparability of Sustainable Finance