Finsia releases industry study on climate change
The finance industry must be better prepared for the risks and opportunities presented by climate change, a report released by Finsia this week recommends.
Results from the study suggest a significant disparity between Australia’s response to climate change to date, compared to competing foreign markets. This has raised serious concern that if Australia’s pace of engagement with the ESG agenda fails to accelerate, opportunities in capital attraction, skills development and retention, and thought leadership will be lost to foreign markets.
“These preliminary findings form the first stage of Finsia’s research for its 2008 policy initiative – Sustainability post-Kyoto: opportunities for the Australian finance industry and have identified a gap in understanding within the industry regarding the opportunities which climate change initiatives present,” said Dr Martin Fahy, Chief Executive Officer of Finsia.
“Australia’s ability to adapt and embrace the opportunity to enter new markets, develop new products, generate and attract new capital and produce long term returns will significantly improve Australia’s comparative advantage as a financial services centre.”
The study results will inform Finsia’s workshop at the National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development today at Parliament House in Canberra. The results suggest that a broad-based response across the financial services industry, academic institutions, industry bodies and government is needed to take advantage of the opportunities that climate change presents and to determine and mitigate risks.
The report is part of a joint initiative between Finsia and Griffith University’s Sustainable Business Research Initiative. It has involved the study of representatives from large banks; research organisations; investment and advisory organisations currently engaged in Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) activities.
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Page last updated: Monday, 19 May 2008
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