| |
Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness hosts workshop on Carbon Leadership Strategies for the Financial Sector
 The new Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness (SERC) at UMass Boston’s College of Management, hosted its first major event Friday, May 8, 2009 on the topic Carbon Leadership Strategies for the Financial Sector. Nearly fifty attendees from finance, accounting, consultancy, law, the policy world, and academia gathered at the impressive UMass Club overlooking the harbor in downtown Boston to wrestle with the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents to business and the financial sector, in particular.
The overarching message of the workshop was that business is going to inhabit an increasingly carbon-constrained economy in which emissions will carry a price tag. Indeed, climate change could well be the single most important strategic issue facing business this century. Despite considerable uncertainties regarding the pace of climate change, the regulatory response, or the rate of innovation in low-emission technologies, it is clear that climate change is going to transform entire industries. Markets for renewable energy and clean technology are growing rapidly, and will benefit from the ‘green’ character of federal stimulus funds. However, nearly every sector will be challenged to redesign processes and products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
 The financial services industry holds center stage because of its key role in allocating capital, valuing assets, measuring performance, and assessing risk. Banks need to find new ways to incorporate carbon risk into their loan portfolios, accounting firms need to develop expertise in counting carbon, equity analysts need to incorporate climate change into their asset valuations, and venture capital firms need to channel funds to promising clean technology companies. Large numbers of new “green and white” collar jobs will be generated and the Boston region should benefit if local firms respond to the challenge. A focused dialog on some of these topics will continue online using the 2degrees networking platform.
Speakers at the event included David O’Connor, Senior Vice President for Energy and Clean Technology, ML Strategies; Donald Reed, Chief Financial Analyst, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Daniel Goldman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of GreatPoint Energy; and Helen Sahi, former Senior Vice President in Bank of America's Environmental Services Department.
|
|
