Sustainable Finance: Ringing in a Second Chance

There can be no Green Deal without sustainable finance. The good news is that the sustainable finance entered the Covid-19 crisis holding a strong hand. Since 2008, sustainable finance has overcome its first hurdle by taking shape, earning its stripes and demonstrating its ability to create value. Today, a new opportunity stands out against the backdrop of the global pandemic – to become the central axis in a transformation of the financial system, a critical component to renewing the rest of the economy.

In his new book ‘Sustainable finance: ringing in a second chance’, Mirova’s Philippe Zaouati argues that sustainable finance should underpin a green and inclusive economic reset and outlines what a roadmap to effective transformation might look like.

Key Highlights

• In 2008, it was finance that precipitated the crisis. Roundly castigated for its opacity, its arcane complexity and its lack of connection with the real economy, finance found itself alone in the dock.
• The crisis we are currently experiencing is somewhat different, as it is due to an exogenous shock. Once again, however, it highlights the shortcomings of financial capitalism.
• Market finance remains the symbol of these malfunctions, but it is not a direct cause of this crisis. This time, it stands alongside all the other industries affected by the current situation.
• Never before have authorities, whether political or economic, placed so much emphasis on the need to invest in a sustainable and inclusive economy.
• The post-Covid world will need sustainable finance more than ever. Today is no time for half-measures. A second chance is here. Let’s not allow it to slip away.