Day 2: Insights on Innovation from our Sustainable Finance Summit
At our innovation-themed summit event, expert speakers explored the power of technology to make impactful changes to nature and biodiversity, as well as how the climate crisis affects GDP, business and local communities.
Read on for a summary of the key takeaways.
Leveraging Technological Innovation
Silvia Savini-Elborne, an advisor at Sunstone Impact Advisory – a global strategic advisory firm – highlighted the important role businesses play in leveraging technological innovation to prevent catastrophic loss to biodiversity. She shared hard-hitting statistics on the intrinsic links between nature and GDP , including:
of global GDP is dependent on nature
projected cost each year by 2050, due to the decline of nature (Source: WWF, 2020)
is poised to be a landmark year for nature-positive finance with nature tech innovation and blended finance models driving investments in biodiversity
A cautionary note was made surrounding the impact of the rise of AI. Training a single AI model uses as much carbon as five cars do in their lifetime. Silvia highlighted the significant steps the EU is taking in this area, before examining case studies of excellence from Brazil and Singapore. She left the audience with the message that Jersey is in a prime position to establish itself as a nature-focussed sustainable finance hub.
Gender and the Great Wealth Transfer
World-renowned expert on inclusive economics and finance Andrea Castaño de la Torre gave an impassioned presentation on the opportunities that the Great Wealth Transfer—a phenomenon expected to see trillions of dollars passed from baby boomers to the present-day generation—poses for financial services providers.
in investable assets will be controlled by women in the USA by 2030 (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2020)
of transferred wealth over the next two generations will be inherited by women (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2020)
funding gap between female-founded and male-founded businesses
Andrea explained how the Great Wealth Transfer is more than a generational shift; it is a gendered shift and this is perhaps where the greatest opportunities lie.
- For the first time, women will control a level of wealth almost equivalent to the GDP of France, the UK and Italy combined
- Research shows that women are twice as likely as men to invest in causes they care about, highlighting an opportunity for financial services firms to better engage with this demographic
- Companies that prioritise diversity, equality and inclusivity (DE&I) and that actively listen to their female employees, are best positioned to connect with female investors by aligning with their values and priorities
- When firms prioritise gender investing, the byproduct is that they are investing in nature and biodiversity
Aligning to the Sustainable Development Goals
Michelle Ryan, from TrueESG, who is also on Jersey Finance’s Board, took to the stage to demonstrate our SDG Alignment Tool – an online platform designed to help finance professionals discover the impact of investments and financial activities on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
She talked the local audience through the benefits of using the tool and urged them to make it part of their training, particularly for employees new to sustainable finance or the industry.
The Power of Solar
Marc Deschamps, Founder and CEO of Awendio Solaris, concluded the individual presentations. He advocated strongly for the solar power industry, explaining why this largely untapped, competitively priced, and fully traceable source of power has the potential to dominate the world’s power solutions and how it is, therefore, perfectly placed to provide strong returns for stakeholders.
According to the US Department of Energy, solar will grow from 3% of the US electricity supply in 2021 to 40% in 2035 and 45% by 2050
Solar is 29% cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuel alternative
Technology is enabling speed of growth – Improvements in technology mean that solar is 23% more efficient year-on-year
Andrew shared insights on how governments around the world are embracing solar solutions and how Jersey is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this opportunity too. Adopting more solar solutions would reduce the Island’s dependency on energy from other countries and develop a future economy.
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12 March 2025
