“Now it is all about accelerating”

The world’s climate emergency, and how it translates to corporations on the finance side, was in focus as BNP Paribas’ Norway CEO Claudine Smith gave the introductory keynote of Treasury 360° Oslo on Thursday morning.

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News from Treasury 360° Oslo on 27 May is gathered here.
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Last year, Claudine Smith centered her treasury overview around the metaphor of a race car – where the ability to speed up and down is key to taking curves in an agile way. But the year has led her to emphasize the need for simply speeding up – on the sustainability stretch.

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“In Norway we are seeing interesting initiatives around energy: hydrogen production, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and the promising Northern Light project.”

A rapidly transforming financial market, including new financial instruments, are part of the picture.

“Since COP 21, and the Paris agreement, the regulations have increased. Last summer, we have seen the approval of the EU taxonomy which gives a common framework for companies, for governments and for the financial world to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 – and reached the EU Green Deal. We see central banks reporting the development of sustainable finance, and ECB accepting some sustainably linked bonds as collateral for the financing,” said Claudine Smith.

“We see also the investors and the financial markets being very keen on on investing in companies taking the climate chance very seriously. And we see them influencing on this topic – through governance bodies, whether they are in boards or whether by voting in the general assemblies.”

Claudine Smith pointed out ongoing change on the human resources side too. As professionals are increasingly seeking work and employers that offer them a sense of purpose, a sustainable strategy also makes companies more attractive as employers.

 

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