Sustainable Finance & the Business of Low Carbon Economic Growth

Business leaders from a variety of industries
have joined with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to launch a new initiative
to identify breakthrough sustainability solutions for businesses. The Next
Practice Collaborative will focus on business and finance models for low-carbon
economic growth in major markets like the US, China, Mexico, India and Brazil.
And sustainable finance will be at the top of the agenda for policy makers,
asset owners, fund managers, advisers and corporations from across the value
chain when they meet in Hong Kong for the Association for Sustainable and Responsible
Investment in Asia (ASrIA) 10th Anniversary Conference on 28-29 September 2011.

HONG KONG, 25 July 2011 — Sustainable
finance will be at the top of the agenda for policy makers, asset owners, fund
managers, advisers and corporations from across the value chain when they meet
in Hong Kong to explore common ground and mark a significant industry milestone
at the ASrIA 10th Anniversary Conference on 28-29 September 2011, at the Grand
Hyatt Hong Kong Hotel.

International leaders and experts from the
Asia Pacific region will examine the progress, share perspectives on key
challenges facing the industry to shape Asia’s next decade. ASrIA is at the
forefront of sustainable growth, providing industry leadership, in-depth
studies and valuable resources to sovereign wealth funds, regulators, asset
managers, corporates, service providers and policy groups.

“As the global centre of gravity shifts
towards Asia, this unique opportunity will examine how Asian financial markets
are approaching sustainability and highlight best practice and innovation in
both the developed and emerging economies,” says ASrIA chair Alexandra Tracy.
“Participants from across the financial eco-system will debate key issues to
explore the opportunities and challenges for scaling up sustainable finance in
Asia Pacific region. We hope ASrIA’s 10th Anniversary Conference will chart the
path for the next ten years of responsible investment and sustainability
practice.”

“Investing in a socially and environmentally
sustainable way has emerged as a winning value proposition in Asia — it’s
prudent risk management and leaves lasting benefits for communities and
investors,” says Sérgio Pimenta, East Asia and Pacific Director at IFC,
the member of the World Bank Group focused on private sector development in
emerging markets. “We are a key sponsor of ASrIA’s 10th Anniversary
Conference because we need to discuss how to scale-up sustainable investments
dramatically. Our future depends on it.”

Delegates will identify and address issues
that are common to and unique within markets across this diverse region, such
as China, India, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia and Vietnam. Respected industry leaders
will tackle climate change, shareholder engagement and disclosure,
environmental, social, minority rights and discuss the current status of the
sustainable finance industry in industrialised, maturing and emerging markets
across Asia. Attendees include senior executives and decision makers comprising
representatives from listed equities, debts, alternative assets and impact
investing, regulators, capital markets, SRI pioneers, corporates, civil society
and NGOs.

IFC is a major sponsor and other sponsors
include SAM (founding ASrIA member), Dow Jones Indexes,  Bloomberg LP, Sindicatum Carbon Capital and
NewForests enabling participants to seek industry agreement on key priorities
for the next decade when setting goals for sustainable finance in the region
and beyond. Details about sustainable finance are available at www.ASrIA.org,
providing the latest information, online resources and the 10th Anniversary
Conference registration.

Sponsors:

Rodrigo Amandi of Sustainable Asset
Management (SAM) “The conference allows for discussion of balancing the
economy, society and environment, and the advancement of international best
practice in sustainable finance in Asia. I am confident that in the next
decade, Asia’s financial markets will become increasingly aware of the
opportunities from sustainable investment and financing.”

“We are delighted to be a sponsor of ASRIA’s
10th Anniversary Conference,” said David Brand, Managing Director of New
Forests, Pty Ltd.  “The conference
will showcase best practice in sustainable and responsible investment and
demonstrate that the Asian economy is not only a great growth opportunity, but
a place where economic, social and environmental issues will need to be
integrated.  These opportunities are not
solely in the debt and listed equity markets, but also in alternative assets
such as natural resources and infrastructure.”

Delegates:

“I believe it is important to understand how
our institutional investor peers work with their investment managers to
incentivise inclusion of corporate governance issues in asset allocation and
portfolio construction for the future sustainability and growth of Asia’s
investment industry, especially investments for the pension plans/funds.  I look forward to working with ASrIA to
advance the industry’s development,” said Ka Shi Lau, Vice-Chair of the Hong
Kong Trustees’ Association.

Speakers:

“There seems to be an emerging consensus that
ESG issues need to be at the heart and centre of the plan, as India embarks on
the growth journey for the next decade,” says Sumantra Sen, Founder and
Principal Researcher at Responsible Investment Research Association (RIRA). “It
may be great opportunity for the domestic institutions, policy makers and other
key stakeholders to participate in ASrIA’s
‘Across the Value Chain’ conference in September this year to learn and
share some of the best practices with peers in the region.”

“As the market regulator, we want to
strengthen ESG reporting among listed companies for their own benefit, and also
for the benefit of investors,” says Mark Dickens, Head of Listing Division,
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.

“At ASrIA’s 10th Anniversary Conference I
look forward to sharing our experiences in responsible investing with my
institutional investor peers in Asia,” says David Russell, Co-Head of
Responsible Investment at Universities Superannuation Scheme. “USS helped
establish the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change a decade ago. We
hope to provide insights into effective investor collaborations and believe
climate and environmental concerns remain critical – no more so than in Asia.”

“This is an exciting time to invest in
Pakistan,” says Haroon Askari, Deputy Managing Director & Chief Operating
Officer of the Karachi Stock Exchange. “As we move towards becoming a
demutualised publicly-traded company, KSE is looking for insights into not only
how to manage that transition but also to explore ways to encourage Pakistani
companies to disclose more environmental, social and corporate governance
information to investors and other stakeholders. By gathering stock exchange
representatives, the ASrIA 10th Anniversary Conference will be of tremendous
value to share practical experiences.”

About ASrIA

Launched in 2001, The Association for
Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA) is a not for profit,
membership association taking a leadership role in promoting corporate
responsibility and sustainable finance practice in the Asia Pacific region.
Members are drawn from the Asian and international financial services industry
with an interest in sustainable investment. ASrIA’s goal is to build market
capacity for SRI by fostering the creation of SRI products and services and
providing training and support services, including conferences, seminars,
workshops, research projects and publications to raise the standards of SRI
practice and build momentum for SRI in Asia and beyond.

Source:
www.asria.org and www.conference.asria.org/2011/

Business Leaders Join to Identify Breakthrough
Sustainability Solutions

News from SustainableBusiness.com (29 July
2011):

Business leaders from a variety of industries
have joined with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to launch a new initiative
to identify breakthrough sustainability solutions for businesses.

The Next Practice Collaborative will focus on
business and finance models for low-carbon economic growth in major markets
like the US, China, Mexico, India and Brazil.

Founding members of the collaborative are
Alcoa, AkzoNobel, CEMEX, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Staples and United
Technologies Corporation.

“The Next Practice partnership is about
re-imagining the bar for corporate leadership,” says Manish Bapna, interim
president, WRI. “While it has been encouraging to see more and more
companies improving their environmental performance and reaping the business
benefits, leading businesses understand that it is time for real innovation and
new thinking, not just incremental improvement.”

CK Prahalad, the late business thought leader
and WRI board member coined the term “next practices,” to describe
business strategies that generate innovation, competitive advantage, and
industry transformation by seizing opportunities in tomorrow’s markets. Next
Practice is founded on that vision.

CEMEX, for example, wants to pioneer new
financing models in rapidly urbanizing areas in Latin America and other
developing countries that create sustainable housing at the lowest cost of
acquisition and total ownership, through energy-efficient design and materials
use.

“By developing environmentally sound
homes that are inexpensive and accessible to low-income families, we can make a
breakthrough in the sustainable solutions marketplace,” says Luis Farias,
Sr. Vice President of Energy and Sustainability at CEMEX.

Companies will draw on insights from a group
of advisors to refine and advance these next practice project ideas. This group
includes individuals such as ,Carter F. Bales chairman, NewWorld Capital Group
LLC; David Blood, co-founder and senior partner, Generation Investment
Management; Stefan Heck, Director, McKinsey & Company; Rebecca Henderson,
Senator John Heinz professor of Environmental Management, Harvard Business
School; Charles O. Holliday, Jr., former CEO of DuPont and Chairman, Bank of
America; and Jigar Shah, CEO, Carbon War Room.

For WRI, Next Practice represents the next
stage in the organization’s long history of working with the private sector to
develop and advance innovations for practical, cost-effective business
strategies for a sustainable future.

Source: www.wri.org
and www.sustainablebusiness.com