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A Roundtable Discussion Current Challenges in Environmental Finance

When: —
Venue: Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street

A Roundtable Discussion on Current Challenges in Environmental Finance 

We are delighted to have Thomas Singer from the US Conference Board, Maria Netto from the New Development Bank, and Karsten Schulz from the University of Groningen, Netherland, as our panel discussants in this roundtable discussion. 

The panel will share their valuable working experience, they will provide their unique insights into current issues in sustainability disclosure, possible solutions to overcome current challenges (for example, blockchain), and how to help emerging economies establish climate-related finance disclosure and channel climate finance.

The event will run on Thursday 31 March 13:00-14:30 GMT and the session will be run in the roundtable-style and available to academics, students, practitioners, and the public.

There is an option to attend this event either in person at Birkbeck Campus or attend the session remotely and join online. 

Panel:

  • Thomas Singer, Principal Researcher in the ESG Center, US Conference Board 
  • Dr Karsten Schulz, University of Groningen, Netherland 
  • Maria Netto, New Development Bank 

The lecture is part of the hybrid workshop Environmental Finance for the Common Good. You can view the full workshop itinerary of in-person and online events on our website. 

Biographies

Thomas Singer, Principal Researcher in the ESG Center, US Conference Board

Thomas is a Principal Researcher in the ESG Center at The Conference Board, where he leads research on corporate sustainability issues. Singer is the author of numerous publications, including “Organizing for Success in Corporate Sustainability” and “Purpose-Driven Companies: Lessons Learned.” Prior to joining The Conference Board, Singer worked with Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting and SustainAbility, helping clients embed sustainability into their core business. He began his career as a management consultant with Kaiser Associates, advising clients on white space opportunities, competitive analysis, and benchmarking. Singer holds a BA from Tufts University and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Dr Karsten Schulz, University of Groningen, Netherland

Karsten is Assistant Professor for Governance and Innovation at the University of Groningen (Netherland), where he also coordinates the Master’s program in Climate Adaptation Governance. Before joining the University of Groningen, he worked as a government consultant in the field of digitalization and as a researcher for a number of international organisations and climate change-related research projects. His current research focuses on the role of digital innovations (blockchain, DLT, platforms) for climate change adaptation, climate finance, and collective/democratic decision-making. Karsten Schulz is a member of the Young Academy Groningen and serves on the advisory board of the Future Earth-led project ‘Re-imagining Climate Governance in the Digital Age’. His work on blockchain, climate finance and sustainability transformations has been published in academic journals such as Futures, Earth System Governance, and Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, among others.

Maria Netto, New Development Bank

Maria is the Chief of the Financial Institutions and Markets Division of the New Development Bank, leading the Bank’s relating to green and sustainable finance resource mobilization and loan syndications, public and private financial intermediation operations, and development of financial solutions and innovation. Previously she worked for over 12 years in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as principal specialist in capital markets and financial institutions and was responsible to oversee programs for innovative financing strategies with local financial institutions and capital markets to promote private sector investments in low carbon and resilient projects in the LAC region.  She also worked in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where she was responsible for overseeing global projects to assist countries to assess investments and financial flows and policy options to integrate green business in different sectors and economic activities. Finally, Maria Netto worked for more than 10 years in the Secretariat of the Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where, among others, she was responsible for leading the institution's work on bilateral and multilateral financial cooperation, for the assessments and follow up of investment and financial flows to address climate change and the development of carbon markets mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. She has a MA in economy in the International Studies Institute of Geneva. 

Sponsoring Institutions

The Money Macro and Finance Society, United Kingdom

Department of Management, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom

 

Event Disclaimer

This event is subject to any restrictions in place with regard to the Covid pandemic. If it is not possible to hold the event in person, then it will be moved online.

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