On 17 March the Consulate General of Sweden in Shanghai as Presidency of the Council of the EU organized the seminar Financial Services in Green Transition in close collaboration with the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.
The transition to a resource-efficient, fossil-free future will require major investments in innovative industries to translate ideas and innovations into functional solutions. The financial services sector is crucial to the global economy reaching our net zero objectives and to the implementation of international commitments.
The seminar featured insightful presentations and dynamic discussions about how financial services can contribute to sustainability and green transition through ecosystems for sustainable investments. Speakers shared financial sector market experience and examples of activities toward green transition.
Keynote speakers during the seminar included Mr. Youfu Tu, Secretary General of the Shanghai Financial Association and Mr. Bruno Weill, Chief Group Representative for China BNP Paribas (China) Ltd. and Vice President of the EUCCC, as well as panellists Professor Oliver Rui, Professor of Finance and Accounting, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Mr. Kevin Zhang, Managing Director, Swedbank China, Professor Yan Hong, Deputy Dean of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, Jiao Tong University and Director of the Sustainable Investment Centre, Mr. Sean Qiao, Managing Director Corporate Finance & Restructuring, FTI Consulting, as well as Mr. Alexander Prautzsch, Vice Chairman of the Finance and Taxation Working Group at the EUCCC who moderated the discussion.
Shanghai has ambitious goals both as an international financial centre and towards sustainability, expressed notably through its Action Plan for Green Finance and Insurance launched in January 2023. The EU strongly supporting the transition to a sustainable economy, the Common Ground Taxonomy-Climate Change Mitigation (CGT), a joint initiative of the People's Bank of China (PBoC) and the European Commission, was noted by speakers attending the seminar as an important step for this development in China.
