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The Inaugural ESG/Sustainable Finance Fall Conference is hosted by the CIBC Office of Sustainable Finance under the Auspices of ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ’s Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI) and ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ Business Law Platform.

This conference brings together experts in sustainable corporate governance, management, and finance, responsible investment consulting, and civil society sustainability advocacy and policy-making. This event aims to foster a day-long conversation addressing challenges in these domains, with a focus on three concrete spaces of organizational and conceptual transformation.

Our event aims to provide the space for a deep and engaged dialogue on how to effectively advance ESG and sustainability goals and how to best coordinate public and private activities in that regard. Realizing that climate change is a societal problem, the responsibility lies with governments and markets, with citizens, consumers, corporations, regulatory and quasi-regulatory agencies, and with all of us. Our Fall Conference is the first in a series of events meant to facilitate a long-term dialogue that allows for a cross-sectional stock-taking of learned lessons – what works, what doesn’t, and why? – and for the exploration of concrete steps that can be taken in the public and private sectors and in coordination between both.

Theme: Sustainable Finance and ESG: From Policy Concerns to Transformative Tools

Date/Time: Friday, November 24, 2023 from 10:30am – 5:45pm

Location: Room 365/370, Armstrong Building, ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ, 3420 Rue McTavish, Montréal, QC H3A 0E2

Agenda:

• 10:30 - Arrival and Registration
• 10:45 - Welcome Remarks: Zahoor Chughtai, Peer Zumbansen, ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ's Sustainable Growth Initiative, the Office of Sustainable Finance and the ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ Business Law Platform
• 11:00 - PANEL 1: Climate Change Challenges for Public and Private Actors: How to Put Sustainability from Theory into Action
  • Panelists: Chloe Soucy (GI Quo Vadis), Ryan Hillier (Founder & Partner, Novalex), Rosella Carè (University of Waterloo), Hope Moon (Climate Reality Canada)
  • Moderator: Marvin Shahin (Spiegel Sohmer)
• 12:30 - Lunch
• 13:30 - PANEL 2: Sustainability as Cognitive Challenge: Developing and Implementing Robust Sustainability Strategies within your Organization, across your Value Chain, and with key Collaborators in the Academy and Civil Society
  • Panelists: René Demers (Banque Nationale), Delia Cristea (Power Sustainable), Marc Barbeau (Air Canada); Amr Addas (John Molson School of Business – Concordia University).
  • Moderator: Professor Robert Yalden (Queens University, Faculty of Law)
• 15:00 - Coffee
• 15:15 -  PANEL 3: Sustainable Finance – A ‘zero-sum game’ or an opportunity to transform the economy for future generations? Public expectations, governmental interventions, and Fiduciary Duties of Pension Fund and Asset Managers
  • Panelists: Kevin Skerrett (OMERS); Olaf Weber (Schulich School of Business); Simon Archer (Goldblatt Partners); Sebastien Betermier (ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ, Desautels Faculty of Management); Krystel Papineau (Sortons la Caisse du carbone).
  • Moderator: Shivani Salunke (ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ, Faculty of Law)
• 16:45 - Global Reflections
• 17:00 - Networking
• 17:45 - End of Conference