The BMCC was pleased to continue our collaboration with the British High Commission to promote climate change action and sustainable finance through the “UK Green Investment Landscape: Outlook for Malaysian Investors” webinar on 31 March 2021, the fourth and final instalment of a four-part webinar series under the Great for a Sustainable Future campaign.
The webinar was headlined by a conversation with the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell, which was chaired and moderated by the British High Commissioner to Malaysia, H.E. Charles Hay MVO. It also featured a panel of distinguished experts comprising Allan Walker (Green Finance Specialist, Financial and Professional Services Group, UK Department for International Trade) and Federica Giacometti (Business Development Senior Associate, Multi-Asset Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group) in a discussion on the growing relevance of ESG investing for sustainable value creation amid the pandemic-driven global economic crisis.
In his opening address, Abrar A. Anwar, Chairman of the BMCC and Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Standard Chartered Malaysia said the BMCC is committed to playing an active role in encouraging our members of both Malaysian and British heritage to make their commitments towards lowering carbon emissions. He added that the Chamber is looking forward to further collaborations with the British High Commission to engage Malaysian businesses on climate change action, leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP26 in November 2021.
H.E. Charles Hay MVO said in the past two years, there had been a growing realisation that climate change is no longer simply a risk or cost to deal with, but rather a business opportunity. His Excellency added that the UK is planning to create up to a quarter-million high-quality green jobs in the climate sector over the coming years.
Lord Mayor Alderman Russell remarked that with the UK holding presidencies of the COP26 and G7 this year, the role of green finance has become his top priority. Perceiving climate change to be a bigger threat to the world than the COVID-19 pandemic, he said climate needs to be part of every financial and investment decision – and that this will be the future of finance, where all finance will be green.
The Lord Mayor added that the City of London as a global financial hub is shouldering its responsibilities to support the transition to net zero and bring together the many different efforts on green finance, specifically in supporting the COP26 private finance agenda to provide the right framework for climate reporting, risk management and returns. He also urged Malaysian corporates to sign up to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) as it is the standard that is gaining more traction than the others.
Jennifer Lopez, Chief Executive Officer of the BMCC, was the host and emcee for the event. The BMCC thanks the British High Commission Kuala Lumpur as well as our esteemed speakers for the successful delivery of the webinar.
Watch the webinar replay here:
