On 10 January 2017, the School of Social Sciences hosted a public forum for over 180 participants at the Mochtar Riady Auditorium on the topic of Singapore, Green Finance and the Collaborative Challenge. This event was jointly organized by the SMU School of Social Sciences, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA). The forum was organized with the intention to provide insights on the nexus between sustainable finance and collaborative action. Sustainable finance has recently emerged as a keystone in meeting global needs and delivering the goals of sustainable development. A better alignment of global financial and capital markets with the global agenda thus requires collaborative action.
It was our privilege to have Dr Simon Zadek, an expert on business and sustainability issues, as the opening speaker for the event. Dr Zadek is currently the Co-Director of the UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, Visiting Professor and DSM Senior Fellow in Partnership and Sustainability at SMU. Dr Zadek has an extensive publication record that includes recognized titles such as The Civil Corporation, a book which won the prestigious Academy of Management’s award for “Best Book on Social Issues in Management” in 2006. Dr Zadek started off the forum proceedings by sharing a summary of core findings from the Second Edition of UN Environment’s Global Report on “The Financial System We Need: Momentum to Transformation” and an outline of G20 plans related to the report.
After Mr Zadek’s sharing, he was joined on stage by other panelists including Ms Nuru Mugambi (Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Kenya Bankers Association), Mr Mohammed Omran (Executive Chairman, Egyptian Exchange, Chairman, Federation Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges and Professor of Finance, Arab Academy for Science and Technology) and Mr Piyush Gupta (CEO, DBS Bank). Moderated by Dr Ann Florini (Academic Director, Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration and Professor of Public Policy, School of Social Sciences), the panelists engaged in a lively discussion relating to whether, why, and how to foster cross-sector collaboration in the public interest in support of sustainable finance.
