Wednesday, May 21, 2025 | 13.15-17.15 UK Time

Organized by the Institute of Finance and Financial Regulation (IF^FR) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Format: Online

Language: English

Following the highly visible 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 conferences, the 2025 International Online Conference will address a broad range of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) topics relevant to banks, corporates, institutional investors, regulators, policy makers, and supervisors.

Now one of the world’s leading conferences in this field, it is organized by two prominent institutions to inform stakeholders on the latest ESG developments and foster discussion on emerging challenges and practical solutions.

Distinguished academic and professional speakers from top universities and organizations will deliver in-depth presentations, sharing insights and experiences on current trends and key developments in the fast-evolving ESG landscape.

Conference highlights

• Sustainable Reporting: Current State and Outlook
  • Implementation of the IFRS Sustainability Standards worldwide
  • The concept of a global baseline and its interaction with other frameworks
  • Key success factors and next steps toward effective global sustainability disclosure
  • What is the right metric for measuring standards' effectiveness?
• Advances in ESG
  • AI and corporate sustainability
  • Tools to detect greenwashing: Case studies for institutional investors
  • Global political and policy dynamics affecting ESG implementation
• Banking: Challenges in the Green Transition
  • Overview of current trends
  • Why are banks stepping back from climate commitments?
  • Strategic adjustments for banks
  • Financing the green transition
  • Outlook for 2030
• Institutional Investors: Financial and Real Effects
  • Does sustainable investing enhance returns or reflect ethical values?
  • How can investors make informed, evidence-based ESG decisions?
  • Financial materiality: Does it relate to stock outperformance?
  • Does divestment lead to greener firms?
  • The role of climate-related pressure from institutional investors
• Carbon Emissions: Social Costs, Forecasts, and Corporate Commitments
  • Estimating the social cost of future emissions
  • Comparisons with market capitalization
  • Who are the largest emitters?
  • Types of emissions-reduction commitments and their credibility
  • Assessing corporate delivery on climate pledges
• Climate and Biodiversity Risks
  • How do biodiversity risks differ from climate risks?
  • Interactions between nature loss and climate change
  • Do nature-related physical risks affect economies differently than climate risks?
  • Comparing regulatory risks in nature loss vs. climate change

The conference is organized by Professor George Skiadopoulos, Director of IF^FR and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). IF^FR is a leading international research center bridging finance and academia. Its experts conduct state-of-the-art research on critical topics for the finance industry, regulators, and policymakers. EBRD is owned by 75 countries as well as the EU and the EIB. Since 1991, it has played a historic role and gained unique expertise in fostering change, by investing more than €210 billion in some 7,400 projects across three continents. The EBRD is now committed to ensuring that, by 2025, the majority of its business volume is green.

Registration is free. Videos and information from past conferences are available here [2021, 2022, 2023, 2024].