Industry & Business

A major United Nations programme that encourages global financial centres to place sustainable and green finance at the heart of their operations and help fight climate change, is to establish its European base in Ireland. The new European secretariat will coordinate from Dublin a network of pan-European cities committed to the expansion of green and sustainable financial services.

The global Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) network, founded by the United Nations Environment Programme, includes London, Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin, Toronto, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Zurich.

The Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) network, supported by an investment of €1.5 million over three-years from Europe’s EIT Climate-KIC agency, has chosen Dublin as the base for the network’s European hub, and appointed CEO of Sustainable Nation Ireland, Stephen Nolan, as strategic advisor to the body.

According to the European Commission, between 2021 to 2030 Europe requires €177 billion in additional yearly investment, notably in clean energy, to keep the increase in global temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius, as agreed in Paris in 2015.

Following the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the European Union pledged to take the lead in implementing this historic agreement and delivering the transition to a low-carbon, more resource efficient, and more circular economy.

Working with market participants from across Europe including partners in the UK, France, Germany and Switzerland, FC4S Europe will coordinate pan-European initiatives and campaigns around green and sustainable finance. The secretariat will be officially launched at the Climate Innovation Summit in Dublin in November.

Welcoming the announcement of the new Dublin hub, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said: “Mobilising the world’s financial centres is essential to make progress on climate change and sustainable development. I am delighted that the UN founded FC4S network has chosen Dublin as its European base, supported by EIT Climate-KIC. I am also pleased that Sustainable Nation’s CEO Stephen Nolan has been appointed strategic advisor to the network. I wish him all the best in this important endeavour.”

Stephen Nolan said: “That the UN Environment founded FC4S network has chosen Ireland as the base for its European secretariat is a tremendous endorsement of the work being done by us and our partners to build Ireland’s low-carbon economy.

“Financial centres are the locations where the demand for and supply of finance come together. They are the places where the expansion of green and sustainable financial services will need to be accelerated across banking, capital markets, insurance and investment in order to fully meet the needs of the Paris climate agreement.”

The FC4S Europe network will be tasked with developing a common European assessment tool to evaluate climate and sustainability credentials for financial centres. It will also pursue collaboration, raise awareness of sustainability issues and assist with the design and delivery of development plans within financial centres yet to fully embed the green finance agenda within their activities.

Stephan Nolan added: “This is a major challenge, but also an opportunity. By re-orientating public and private financial flows towards green and sustainable efforts, Europe can help mitigate the risks posed by climate change, create new jobs and sustainable economic growth in the process.”

Europe’s EIT Climate-KIC Chief Executive, Kirsten Dunlop said: “Transforming the financial sector so that it can accelerate transition to a zero-carbon economy necessitates not just new relationships with the finance sector, but new business models, new ways of accounting, reporting and understanding social and environmental value. That is why EIT Climate-KIC is supporting the work of the UN founded FC4S network and the establishment of its European hub co-ordinated from Dublin.”

Erik Solheim, Executive Director, UN Environment said: “We hope this hub will help catalyse and accelerate the changes we need in the financial sector. We need to get the message out far and wide that sustainability is what the markets want, and that the solutions for making the shift are there.”

Nick Robins, Special Adviser on Sustainable Finance, UN Environment said: “Europe is one of the heartlands of sustainable finance and its fantastic to see the commitment and drive shown by both EIT Climate-KIC and Sustainable Nation Ireland to make this European Hub a reality. This will really help to galvanise all of Europe’s financial centres.”

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Pictured are: Finance minister Paschal Donohoe (centre) with Stephen Nolan, CEO Sustainable Nation Ireland, and Kirsten Dunlop, CEO EIT Climate-KIC.