The first edition of the Sustainable Finance Summit has just wrapped up, and its success can certainly be interpreted as a harbinger of great things to come for the event’s subsequent editions.
More than 1,500 participants joined the 5-day virtual event, organized with the support of the Government of Quebec, through its Accord program, of our main partner, Desjardins Group, as well as our sponsors and marketing partners. We would like to thank them all and invite you to (re) discover them here: Summit Sponsors
The Summit opened with the unveiling of the Statement by the Quebec financial center for a sustainable finance, bringing together more than twenty financial institutions representing over $ 900 billion in assets under management. With the announcement, the Quebec financial ecosystem is committed to taking concrete actions to respond to the climate emergency and social inequalities. To read the press release: Press release
Showcasing some 90 speakers, the inaugural edition proudly hosted the UNEP FI Regional Roundtable North America within its program. Seven sessions were presented as part of the Roundtable, focusing on themes ranging from net zero objectives, just transition, climate risks and disclosure, in addition to welcoming Guy Cormier, President and CEO of Desjardins and Charles Emond, President and CEO of CDPQ, for an opening plenary on climate transition.
Participants of the Summit can view this session, as well as the entire program, on the event platform (app.swapcard.com) exclusively, until the end of October. All sessions will be available shortly in both official languages.
"The Sustainable Finance Summit was created to inspire, inform and enable financial institutions to strengthen the integration of sustainability issues into their practices, processes and operations, whether they are banking sector issues, investment or even insurance. I am convinced that this forum for exchange and sharing will continue to develop and enrich itself in the future. I am particularly proud of the fruit of this collaboration with the Finance Initiative of the United Nations Environment Program, which contributes to the creation of a financial sector serving people and the planet, while seeing positive effects for the Quebec and Canada,” has declared Jacques Deforges, CEO of Finance Montreal.
“In this critical year for climate action, just a few weeks before COP26, we are proud to have hosted the UNEP FI Regional Roundtable North America as part of the hugely successful Sustainable Finance Summit. We are encouraged by the giant leap forward financial institutions are taking in the region and continue to count on climate action and sustainability concerns accelerating under their leadership. The collaboration with Finance Montreal has been a huge success and we look forward to supporting them in advancing the sustainable finance agenda across Canada and beyond in the years to come,” underlined Eric Usher, Head of UNEP FI.
Stay tuned, the dates of the next edition of the Sustainable Finance Summit, in spring 2022, will be announced shortly!
