Climate Festival 2026 - Decoupling Rhetoric from Reality: Financing the Transition to Net Zero
When:
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Venue:
Online
• 12:00–13:00 ‘Greenhouse gas emissions and earnings management practices’ by Prof. E. Mamatzakis, Professor of Finance and Director of Accounting and Finance Research Centre, Birkbeck Business School.
Professor Mamatzakis’ research presents evidence that earnings management practices are associated with greenhouse gas emissions. His talk will open-up discussion on the widening gap between corporate sustainability claims and substantive environmental action.
• 13:00–14:00 ‘Financing the Transition to Net Zero’, Panel Discussion moderated by Dr Ellen Pei-yi Yu, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Financial Management, Birkbeck Business School.
Join us for an engaging panel discussion exploring the financial mechanisms driving — and at times hindering — the global transition to Net Zero.
Panel speakers include:
Wendy Walford, Head of Climate Risk at Legal & General
Wendy will discuss Legal & General’s key climate initiatives, including their biodiversity investment project at Pudding Wood near Gatwick.
Rajashree Padmanabhi, Associate, Capital Raising and Investor Relations, Climate Fund Managers
Rajashree will explore the role of blended finance in mobilising private capital for climate infrastructure.
Dr Harish K Ahuja, Head of Sustainability, Power & Carbon markets, Listing and Social stock exchange, National Stock Exchange, India — Global South Perspective
Dr. Ahuja will offer insights into the environmental transition from the perspective of emerging and developing economies. The financing gap facing Global South countries in achieving climate and development goals.
• 14:00–14:10 Break
• 14:10–14:40 ‘Climate Scenario Analysis: Challenges and Impacts on Financial Institutions’ by Mr Yiannis Koutelidakis, S&P Global.
This talk will explain why the financial sector must rethink risk management models to incorporate climate-related risks appropriately and avoid mispricing the risks associated with the Net Zero transition. Through climate scenario analysis, and by using coherent climate (physical and transition) and economic (financial and credit) datasets alongside appropriate credit models, banks and investors can gain a clearer picture of transition risks and pathways and help encourage funding for transition projects.
• 14:40–14:55 ‘Pathways to Net Zero: Business Risks and Opportunities’ by Dr Ioanna Boulouta, Lecturer in Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability and Director of Birkbeck’s Responsible Business Centre, Birkbeck Business School.
This talk will explain the commitments businesses need to make to reduce their emissions to net zero and will highlight the multiple risks and opportunities they may encounter along the way.
• 14:55–15:00 Concluding remarks by Prof. Mamatzakis, Dr Yu and Dr Boulouta.
By attending this event, you will:
- Learn how to distinguish between genuine corporate decarbonisation and symbolic environmentalism, including how to spot red flags such as selective data disclosure and over-reliance on carbon offsets.
- Understand how current financial structures — including flawed ESG ratings and the misuse of Green Bonds — can unintentionally fund inertia rather than innovation.
- Gain a clear perspective on the systemic barriers, such as fossil fuel dependency, that are slowing the global transition to a zero-carbon economy.
- Be better equipped to anticipate tighter transparency requirements and the potential legal and reputational risks facing organisations whose sustainability rhetoric does not align with reality.
- The importance of a just transition, energy access, and climate equity.
- The financing gap facing Global South countries in achieving climate and development goals.
- How institutional capacity shapes the success of green investment initiatives.
Contact name: External Relations Events
Speakers-
Dr Ellen Yu
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Dr Ellen Pei-yi Yu is a Senior Lecturer in Finance at Birkbeck, University of London. Her research focuses on sustainable investing, environmental finance, corporate disclosure, green innovation financing, and blended finance.
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Dr Ioanna Boulouta
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Ioanna Boulouta joined Birkbeck- University of London, in September 2012. Her research interests lie in the areas of Corporate Responsibility/Sustainability and Strategy, particularly in the relationship between Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance, the impact of Corporate Responsibility at the national level and the link between Corporate Responsibility and gender diversity.
Prior to joining Birkbeck, she has held research and teaching assistantship positions at the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics, the London Business School, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has work experience in 7 countries around the world (UK, USA, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, India, and Nepal) as a project manager, design engineer and researcher, and in international organizations such as NATO and Thales.
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Professor Emmanuel Mamatzakis
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Emmanuel is a Professor of Finance at the Birkbeck Business School, Birkbeck College, University of London. He holds a DPhil in Economics from the University of London, Queen Mary College, an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick, and a BSc in Economics from the Department of Economics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research is primarily driven by its impact on the real economy.
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