Global Sustainable Finance Conference

12th to 13th of June in Karlsruhe

The financial services industry across the globe is undergoing strategic transformation as the focus shifts from short term profitability to long term success. The sustainability challenge i.e. embedding environmental, social, economic and financial aspects in the organisation’s DNA is now increasingly recognised as the most critical challenge that the financial institutions face today. In these times of historic change, when the increasing regulations, growing competitive pressures, widespread digitisation, volatile market conditions and rising environmental and social concerns are reshaping financial industry’s landscape across the continents, there is a need for stakeholders to come together and jointly address the sustainability challenge.

Sustainable Finance Award Ceremony 2013 in Karlsruhe with Namita Vikas, President & Chief Sustainability Officer, YES Bank Ltd. India  Foto: PS

The Conference

The overall objective of the Global Sustainable Finance Conference is to contribute in sustainability transformation of the financial services industry by providing an international forum to key stakeholders from across the world for sharing knowledge and experiences and for working together for a strong, fair, safe and resilient financial services industry that works in harmony with the natural environment.

The conference aims to address the following areas.
Environmental Change
The Unfolding Challenges
The Paradigm Shift
From Intention to Action
From Corporate Philanthropy to Business Case

As a platform where stakeholders with diverse backgrounds and from all over the world get together, the conference also aims to serve as a truly global, productive and proactive forum to:
- Discuss current issues impacting the financial services industry
- Examine effective strategies and practices to mainstream sustainability in the financial institutions
- Share knowledge and experiences and discuss new ideas with practitioners, peers and other stakeholders and get feedback
- Identify new business opportunities in emerging green industries
- Showcase green project financing and present initiatives for Sustainable and Responsible Financing and Investments
- Provide networking opportunities with like minded people from around the world for exploring cooperation opportunities and building synergies with institutions represented at the conference

For more information regarding membership and about how you can contribute and benefit from the growing network of institutions from across the globe, you are welcome to visit: eosd.org/en/gsfn/gsfn.html

Looking at 2013: Indian private sector bank, Yes Bank received the 'Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement' award at the Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards function that was held on July 5 in Germany. The awards were jointly instituted by the European Organization for Sustainable Development, the City of Karlsruhe, Germany and the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific and were presented at the Global Sustainable Finance Conference 2013. Yes Bank was the only Indian bank to have received the award in this category out of the 30 applications received globally. Yes Bank was adjudged the winner for its outstanding success in incorporating sustainability within its corporate strategy and business processes. Namita Vikas, President and Chief Sustainability Officer received the award on behalf of Yes Bank from Dr. Frank Mentrup, Lord Mayor of the City of Karlsruhe, who was the Chief Guest for the awards ceremony. While presenting the Award, Arshad Rab, CEO of the European Organization for Sustainable Development said, "Yes Bank clearly stands out from the crowd. It is a role model for integrating all the three dimensions - economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability in its DNA."

Infos: Conference