Many of us will already be actively into our pre-holiday workload, mentally reviewing what we’ve achieved this year and tentatively weighing up all we must address in 2020.
At The Association of Corporate Treasurers’ (ACT’s) Annual Dinner in November, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, communicating via video, tabled as a matter of priority an agenda item for these kinds of reflections: namely, climate change and the role sustainable finance can play in heading off environmental catastrophe.
In a speech recorded at Birkhall in Scotland and broadcast at the dinner, His Royal Highness took the opportunity to address the greatest threat faced by humankind – climate change – and to set out the three steps he believes corporate treasurers could take to address this challenge. He advocated, firstly, that treasurers ensure they understand the sustainability factors affecting corporates and stay up to date on how financial markets and lenders are adapting and innovating. Secondly, that they consider debt providers who share their organisations’ perspectives and commitment to sustainability. And thirdly, that they actively engage with debt providers and credit rating agencies to demonstrate that level of commitment. “Without truly decisive and urgent action, there will be no person, nation or company that will not be affected,” he said.
Finance and investment are a crucial part of the armoury that can be deployed against climate change and in promotion of decarbonisation, he said. “In the simplest of terms, capital urgently needs to be allocated away from activities that generate negative impacts such as global warming and loss of biodiversity, and towards those that will have a positive impact on one or more of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
All of this, he went on, actually adds up to an investment opportunity. “The Business & Sustainable Development Commission estimates that achieving the UN’s goals could open up $12 trillion of market opportunity – not a number to be ignored.”
The dinner marks the drawing to a close of the ACT’s 40th anniversary year. We celebrate some of the highlights from this year on page 8 and provide an overview of key presentations from this year’s ACT Forum on page 10.
In this issue, we also take a close look at the technology evolution taking place around us – at the treasury technology already reaching the front lines in our digital treasury feature on page 20, and on the technological megatrends shaping the wider world on page 24. In our profile on page 16, we talk to Stuart Wray, head of implementation future finance at RBS, about his work incubating future technology and advocating for technology engagement among tomorrow’s finance professionals.
I hope you enjoy this issue.
- Liz Loxton
