Category: Blogpost

Today the UN-convened International Network of Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) welcomed its 36th member with Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association (MSFA), officially joining the network.

The Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association was founded by the Mongolian Bankers Association in December 2017, as a member-serving NGO. Today, the MSFA collaborates with all 12 banks, 7 NBFIs, 2 asset management companies, 1 Insurance firm, 1 business entity, and 1 NGO operating in Mongolia.

MSFA strives to promote sustainability and green growth by creating a green financing system and assisting Mongolian finance and business sectors to adopt activities that benefit both the environment and society. Current aims include directing Members’ activities to issues facing sustainable finance, proposing guidance to establish Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Risk Management Systems, and contributing to a balanced equilibrium between environmental, social, and economic growths.

Currently, FC4S collaborates on the development of an ESG reporting framework at the Mongolian capital markets, in collaboration with the Financial Regulatory Commission, Mongolian Stock Exchange, UNDP, UNEP, and IFC, which is expected to contribute significantly to the alignment of private sector operations with the SDGs.

“It is a great honour for MSFA to join the FC4S community. The MSFA has an ambitious goal to become a knowledge hub of sustainable finance. Green finance is in our genes rooted in our nomadic heritage” said Boldoo Magvan, Acting CEO of MSFA.

“FC4S is pleased to welcome MSFA as a new member. As we approach COP26 and discuss the role of sustainable finance, the perspectives of emerging economies such as Mongolia are very important. FC4S looks forward to MSFA making a valuable contribution to our various initiatives to accelerate the expansion of green and sustainable finance” said FC4S co-chair Jennifer Reynolds.

 

“By joining the FC4S Network, MSFA reinforces Mongolia’s willingness to support the implementation of commitments and policies under the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our network will allow MSFA to share experiences and exchange information with global leading financial centres and enhance the implementation of projects and initiatives in the field of sustainable finance” said Stephen Nolan, FC4S, Managing Director.

 

About UN convened Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S)

Established in late 2017, the Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) Network is a collective of 36 financial centres working together to achieve the objectives set by the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. As of July 2021, the 36 FC4S members include Abidjan, Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Beijing, Busan, Cairo, Casablanca, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Kigali, Lagos, Liechtenstein, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Malaysia, Mexico City, Milan, Mongolia, Montreal, Nairobi, New York, Nur-Sultan, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Stockholm, Tokyo, Toronto, and Zurich. It is estimated the network represents 82% of the global equity market and US$83.8 trillion equity market capitalization. The global scale of the collective’s vision is best represented by the regional variety of members, who all belief in driving convergence, exchanging experiences, and acting on shared priorities to accelerate the expansion of green and sustainable finance. FC4S is hosted by the UNDP.

 

About Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association

Founded by the Mongolian Bankers Association in December 2017, the Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association (MSFA) aims at introducing sustainable development, create sustainable finance, green credit and investment infrastructure, and leading sustainable development and green economic growth. To this end, it brings together members to establish ESG risk management systems and recommendations on issues related to sustainable finance and the development of a green economy. For more information, visit here.

 

By Cecilia Serin

 

Last weekend I took part in my first ‘Hackathon’ organized by Open Geneva, in partnership with the University of Geneva. It was refreshing to tackle one of my daily tasks from a completely different angle with people from varied backgrounds and areas of expertise. As the manager of FC4S’s Skills Project I submitted a challenge to discuss “How to bridge the sustainable finance gap.”

At the beginning of the week, along with other organizations that proposed challenges, I presented the results of FC4S’s Sustainable Finance Skills Gap research at the “Sustainable Finance Bootcamp” so that we could kick the ground running once we all “met” on Friday.

Then on Friday 13th, we kicked off. And yes, I know, the ‘Hackathon’ started on Friday the 13th! Open Geneva set up a slack channel for each challenge and gave us access to several online tools which helped us collaborate. This was exciting as I really enjoy using virtual whiteboards, it’s such a fun way to work together while being apart.

What I really enjoyed the most though, was analyzing my challenge through different lenses of my teammates. In my team, we had a few brilliant students (some of them are considering studying finance) and they made clear to me that before the hackathon they didn’t realize that they could study Sustainable Finance.

This was an eye-opening experience for me. As manager of FC4S’s Skills project I always knew that was a skills gap between what employers wanted and the talent available in the sustainable field. But only after brainstorming with these students/teammates did I realize while the demand for sustainable finance skills exists many young people didn’t even know that it was a career option. There is often a mismatch between demand and supply, but this was a classic case of lack of information creating that asymmetry.

Like many millennials and those from Generation Z, sustainability is uber important and they don’t want to only two choices, either studying finance or doing something good for the planet. Sustainable finance bridges that gap and more people need to know that.

By the end of the Hakathon it become obvious that we in the sustainable finance field need to work hand-in-hand with universities and other “knowledge-providers” to really show how careers in finance and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. This is one of the very few instances in life when we can have our cake and eat it too. At the end of the Hackathon my team came up with the idea of a “Sustainable Finance Brain Bridge”, which in my humble opinion is the perfect place to start this conversation.