The Inaugural Sir Roger Gifford Lecture

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The inaugural Sir Roger Gifford lecture was delivered by Mark Carney OC, Co-Chair, GFANZ and UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.

Climate change and sustainability are driving the international policy agenda and - over the next decade - private finance is going to play a critical role in funding the necessary transformation in every aspect of our lives to avoid climate change's worst consequences.

COP26 in Glasgow demonstrated that governments globally and the financial services industry are hardening their commitments to tackling the climate crisis. The summit saw members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, representing balance sheets of over $130 trillion in private capital, commit to drive this whole economy transformation to net zero.

While this shift represents a significant opportunity, events of 2022 – including war in Ukraine, rising energy prices, and cost of living crisis – all threaten to derail momentum.

It is essential that private and public sectors collaborate to keep driving this agenda, accelerating flows of net zero-aligned private capital. Commitments must be backed up by concrete measures.  To achieve this the global market needs better transparency, comparability, and credibility in sustainable finance activities.

This is a unique opportunity to hear from the global leaders in sustainable finance about these priorities, the journey to COP27 and the horizon afterwards.

This event was hosted by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Vincent Keaveny, and joined by Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas, CEO of the Green Finance Institute.

About Sir Roger

Sir Roger Gifford, who died in May 2021, was a former Lord Mayor of the City of London, and had a distinguished City career with SEB. Sir Roger was in the forefront of encouraging investors to follow a more ecologically aware investment policy. He inspired large City institutions and fund managers to concentrate their investments in companies that upheld sound ecological principles. Sir Roger was instrumental in establishing the Green Finance Institute and driving its success at the nexus of the public and private sectors. His contribution to the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss and advancing green finance in the UK was enormous.

The annual Sir Roger Gifford Lecture honours his legacy and promotes continuing innovation and progress in the field of sustainable finance.

Speakers

Mark Carney
Co-Chair of GFANZ and UN Special Envoy, Climate Action and Finance

Mark Carney is currently the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. Mark was previously Governor of the Bank of England (from 2013 to 2020), and Governor of the Bank of Canada (from 2008 to 2013). Internationally, Mark was Chair of the Financial Stability Board (from 2011 to 2018), He chaired the Global Economy Meeting and Economic Consultative Committee of the Bank for International Settlements (from 2018-2020), and was First Vice-Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board (from 2013-2020). He is a member of the Group of Thirty, the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, as well as the boards of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Hoffman Institute for Global Business and Society at INSEAD. Mark was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada in 1965. After growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, he obtained a bachelor degree in Economics from Harvard and masters and doctorate degrees in Economics from Oxford. After a thirteen-year career with Goldman Sachs, Mark was appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003. In 2004, he became Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance. He held this position until his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Canada in February 2008.

Alderman Vincent Keaveny, The Rt Hon. the Lord Mayor of the City of London

Vincent is a partner in the international business law firm, DLA Piper. He advises on banking, finance and capital markets in the UK and internationally. He is listed as a leading practitioner in his area of practice by all of the principal legal directories and is included in the legal ‘500’ Hall of Fame for securitisation practitioners.

Until May 2019 he was International Co-Chair of the Financial Services Sector at DLA Piper. In 2014/15 he served as President of the City of London Law Society. He is an Honorary Bencher of Gray’s Inn. Vincent was elected as Alderman for the Ward of Farringdon Within in 2013 and served as Sheriff of the City of London in 2018-19.

Since his election, he has served on a number of City of London Corporation Committees. He is currently a member of the Policy & Resources Committee and the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Sub-Committee. He also a Governor of the City of London School. Vincent is Co-Chair of the HMT & BEIS Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce.

He is a Liveryman of the City of London Solicitors’, the Woolmen’s, Distillers’, Spectacle Makers’, Stationers’, Framework Knitters’, Upholders’ and Security Professionals’ Companies. He served as Master Solicitor in 2014/15.

Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE
Chief Executive, Green Finance Institute 

Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas is Chief Executive of the Green Finance Institute, backed by the UK Government and City of London Corporation. Rhian spent 20 years in investment banking and corporate finance and was awarded an OBE for services to green banking. She is an Emeritus Member of TCFD and co-chaired the launch of the TNFD. Rhian sits on numerous advisory groups across UK Government including the Net Zero Expert Group, Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, Global Resources Initiative, Department for Transport Expert Panel, Her Majesty’s Treasury Green Technical Advisory Group and the UK Voluntary Carbon Markets Forum. Rhian was also a commissioner on the Zero Carbon Commission and a member of the Climate Change Committee’s Net Zero Finance Advisory Group. 

A fluent Welsh speaker, Rhian holds a PhD in Physics from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.