Angus Clelland

Following an insightful presentation from Accuracy’s Noémie Lewertowski and Cyrielle El Fekih, Amanda Young, Board Member, Crown Estate Scotland moderated the summit’s closing panel with Saker Nusseihbeh, CEO, Federated Hermes, Sophie Lu, Global Head Heavy Industry Decarbonisation | Group Sustainability COE, HSBC, and Dr Hayat Sindi, Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge.

The geography of transition capital is shifting as China, the Gulf states and other middle powers increasingly shape clean technology supply chains, industrial investment and sustainable finance. The discussion explored how decarbonisation is being driven by different national priorities, from China’s pursuit of industrial leadership to the Gulf’s economic diversification and Europe’s focus on competitiveness and strategic autonomy.

A central question was how to balance the efficiency and affordability of global supply chains with the growing imperative for resilience and security. While China’s industrial model has enabled clean technology deployment at scale, replicating this approach presents significant challenges for other markets, particularly around cost of capital and expected returns. The panel examined how governments and investors can justify and finance the additional cost of resilience, including through strategic partnerships, diversified ownership and long-term investment. Building domestic innovation ecosystems and transferring capabilities, rather than simply importing technologies, emerged as critical to ensuring that middle powers can participate meaningfully in the transition.

Dame Susan Rice chaired the second panel on Middle Powers and Sovereignty: Redefining Influence Through Energy, Defence and Technology with Henri-Paul Rousseau, Québec’s Delegate General in Paris, Pauline Wood, Head of Inward Investment, UK Government Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and Stanislas de Kertanguy, Head of ESG, LBO France.

As geopolitical competition between the United States and China intensifies, middle powers face growing pressure to strengthen their strategic autonomy while maintaining the international partnerships on which their economies depend. The discussion explored how cooperation between like-minded countries, particularly through trade, industrial policy and investment, could create the collective scale needed to exercise greater influence in an increasingly fragmented global order.

A central theme was that sovereignty does not require self-sufficiency. Rather, it depends on understanding strategic dependencies, diversifying supply chains and investing in capabilities across energy, defence and technology. The panel examined how resilience is becoming an increasingly important consideration for investors, even where it involves higher costs or longer investment horizons. Effective regulation, trusted partnerships and closer alignment between public policy and private capital were identified as essential to translating strategic ambitions into investable opportunities.

Following welcoming remarks from Sophie Chassat, Partner, Accuracy and Dame Susan Rice, Chair, GEFI, Julie Malzac, Director, Accuracy presented latest sustainability trends before moderating the opening panel on Geopolitics Reshaping Sustainable Finance: A Fragmented Global Reality. She was joined by Stanislas Pottier, Senior Advisor to General Management of Amundi,  Richard Folland, Head of Policy, Tracker Group and Arnaud Lajoinie, Climate and Circularity Director, LVMH.

Geopolitical fragmentation is fundamentally reshaping the landscape for sustainable finance. Diverging political priorities, regulatory approaches and industrial strategies are creating an increasingly complex environment for investors and businesses. Yet, despite growing political uncertainty, the underlying economics of the energy transition continue to strengthen, supported by falling clean technology costs, growing awareness of physical climate risks and the increasing importance of energy security.

Gatehouse Capital, sister company to Gatehouse Bank, has underlined its commitment to Scotland’s vibrant financial services sector ahead of the 2026 Edinburgh Finance Festival, outlining plans to build one of the UK’s leading Shariah-compliant bridging finance providers from its headquarters in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Finance Festival 2026, is one of Scotland’s most significant gatherings of financial services leaders, policymakers, academics and innovators, organised by the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI).

Following an inaugural year that attracted more than 3,000 participants across 25 events, the Festival has quickly established itself as a forum for exploring the future role of finance in society and the economy. Gatehouse Capital joins the festival this year alongside Gatehouse Bank, a longstanding GEFI partner, reflecting a shared commitment to advancing ethical finance in the UK and a shared belief that financial services must continue to evolve, balancing commercial success with transparency, inclusion and positive economic impact.

Selecting Edinburgh, Gatehouse Capital was founded on the basis that Scotland offers a unique combination of financial expertise, regulatory excellence and international connectivity. The company believes the city provides the ideal platform from which to serve brokers, investors and customers across the UK while contributing to the continued growth of Scotland’s financial services sector.

Edinburgh has long been recognised as one of Europe’s leading financial centres, with a reputation built on trust, stewardship and innovation, underpinned by a vibrant ethical finance ecosystem that has been strengthened through over a decade of collaboration, convening and thought leadership led by GEFI. For Gatehouse Capital, those qualities align closely with the principles underpinning Shariah-compliant finance, which emphasise transparency, asset-backed investment and responsible growth.

Gatehouse Capital has set ambitious targets, aiming to become a major participant in the UK bridging sector and has established a long-term objective of reaching £500 million in annual turnover within five years. This will create up to 35 new roles while supporting the wider professional services ecosystem that makes Edinburgh such an attractive destination for financial services firms.

Commenting ahead of the Edinburgh Finance Festival, Mark Dyason, Managing Director at Gatehouse Capital, said:

“Our decision to establish Gatehouse Capital in Edinburgh was a strategic one. Scotland’s capital combines centuries of financial expertise with a forward-looking approach to innovation and investment. It is a city that understands the importance of trust, responsibility and long-term thinking, values that sit at the heart of our business.

“We have ambitious plans for growth and a clear objective to become a significant force within the UK bridging market. Achieving that ambition will require investment in people, technology and partnerships and we believe Edinburgh provides the ideal environment in which to build that future.”

The company believes Edinburgh is a natural home for a modern ethical and Shariah-compliant finance provider. Islamic finance is one of the fastest-growing segments of global financial services, with increasing demand from investors seeking transparent, ethical and asset-backed financial solutions. By locating its headquarters in Scotland, Gatehouse Capital aims to contribute to the continued diversification of the UK’s financial services landscape while strengthening Edinburgh’s position as a globally connected centre for investment, innovation and specialist finance.

The Edinburgh Finance Festival will provide an opportunity to discuss the role that innovative finance businesses can play in supporting economic growth, attracting investment and creating high-quality employment opportunities across Scotland and the wider UK.

Omar Shaikh, Managing Director of GEFI, said:

“Gatehouse Bank has been a longstanding partner of GEFI, and we are delighted to welcome Gatehouse Capital to Edinburgh, the natural home for green and sustainable finance. Their decision to establish and grow the business here reflects the city’s strength as a globally connected centre for ethical finance.

“Edinburgh’s reputation is built on people, purpose and long-term thinking— qualities that align closely with the principles of Islamic and faith-based finance. Gatehouse Bank, one of the UK’s largest Islamic banks, has been a regular participant at our Ethical Finance flagship global summit and their investment in the city is a strong vote of confidence in Scotland’s financial services sector and its future growth potential.”

Dame Susan Rice, Chair of GEFI’s Global Steering Group, said:

“Two hundred and fifty years after the publication of The Wealth of Nations, many of the questions Adam Smith grappled with remain highly relevant. How do markets create prosperity? What responsibilities accompany wealth? And what role do institutions play in maintaining trust?

This publication brings together a diverse range of perspectives to explore those questions and encourage a richer conversation about the future purpose of markets and finance. Our hope is that it contributes not only to reflection, but to practical action.”

The publication builds on GEFI’s 2021 publication, The Wealth of Nations in the 21st Century, launched during COP26 in Glasgow, and forms part of the organisation’s Radical Old Idea series exploring the relationship between finance, ethics and long-term societal wellbeing.

Barry O’Dwyer, Group CEO of Royal London, said:

“The question is no longer simply how markets can grow, but how they can continue to function effectively over time. Seen through that lens, purpose and profit are not competing objectives. The task before us is not simply to look backwards with reverence, but to look forwards with moral imagination: to ask what kind of economy we are building, whom it serves, and whether it is capable of enduring. The essays in this report examine responsible investment and stewardship not as trends or labels, but as approaches to address the real, material challenges facing the financial system.”

The publication was launched at Ethical Finance Global 2026 in Edinburgh and supported by launch events during London Climate Action Week, bringing together contributors and senior leaders to discuss how the ideas explored in the collection can be translated into practical action.

The second SDG Hive session shifted the focus from Islamic finance specifically to a broader question: what is finance ultimately for?

Opening the session, Dame Susan Rice delivered her keynote, Wealth of Nations, Health of the Planet, marking 250 years since Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. She reminded participants that Smith was not only an economist, but a moral philosopher. Markets, she argued, are not morally neutral. Without trust and conscience, they drift.

Reflecting on ESG backlash, greenwashing, and speculative cycles, Dame Susan emphasised that culture, not compliance, determines whether finance serves society.

From Moral Framing to Market Practice

The panel discussion that followed, moderated by Omar Shaikh, explored what this means in practice across Southeast Asia.

Rafe Haneef, Group CEO of MBSB, described how development-focused banking increasingly requires acting as an ecosystem builder for SMEs, not simply a capital provider. Success must be defined by resilience and long-term value creation.

Rima Dwi Permatasari, Group Head ESG at Bank Syariah Indonesia, highlighted that Islamic finance does not automatically produce inclusive outcomes. Risk-sharing models and sustainability sukuk must be deliberately structured to support real-economy resilience.

Farrakh Ashraf, Senior Investment Specialist at Aegon Asset Management (Aegon AM), offered the asset management perspective. ESG frameworks, he argued, are not simply ethical overlays but tools for assessing systemic risks, climate, governance, and social instability, that directly affect long-term portfolio resilience.

The session concluded with a clear message: shared prosperity will not emerge from capital flows alone. It requires redesigned incentives, stronger institutional culture, and a deeper alignment between finance and moral purpose.

On Thursday 5th February 2026, alongside Ethical Finance ASEAN 2026, senior practitioners, scholars and policymakers gathered at the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB) in Kuala Lumpur for the first SDG Hive session: Unlocking Islamic Sustainable Finance

Participants were welcomed by Ashraf Gomma Ali, Group Chief Shariah and Sustainability Officer at MBSB, and Shireen Kandiah, Director of Sustainability, Marketing and Communications at AICB, setting the tone for an interactive, debate-style session focused not on theory, but on market reality.

The central question was clear: how can Islamic finance move beyond compliance-based screening toward a more holistic, impact-driven approach anchored in Maqasid al-Shariah and the principles of tayyib, purity, responsibility, and societal wellbeing?

The Maqasid Journey So Far

The opening fireside discussion, moderated by Dame Susan Rice, Chair of GEFI, explored how Malaysia’s Maqasid-aligned guidelines have begun shifting the conversation from form to purpose.

Dr Azrul Azlan Iskandar Mirza of the Securities Commission Malaysia reflected on the intent behind the guidelines: to embed Maqasid not as a marketing label, but as a framework shaping governance, product design and capital allocation.

From a practitioner’s perspective, Arshad Nuval Othman, Head of Sustainable Finance at CIMB Islamic, highlighted the operational realities of implementation. Translating Maqasid into day-to-day decision-making requires more than aspiration, it demands internal capability, board-level buy-in, measurable KPIs, and alignment with emerging sustainability frameworks, including carbon market developments across ASEAN.

Reassessing Coal in Islamic Finance: The Scientific Case

The session then turned to one of the most pressing test cases for Islamic sustainable finance: coal.

Hamizah Shamsudden, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Malaysia, presented the scientific underpinning of the Reassessing Coal in Islamic Finance report..

Her presentation drew on peer-reviewed medical research, IPCC and IEA climate science, and economic data from the World Bank and WHO. The argument was not framed as activism, but as evidence-based analysis.

Key findings included:

• Health impacts: Coal-related air pollution contributes to millions of premature deaths globally. A 2023 US study linked coal emissions to approximately 460,000 deaths between 1999 and 2020, with coal-based particulate pollution found to be more than twice as deadly as other sources. Globally, air pollution causes 6.7 million premature deaths annually, comparable in scale to tobacco.
• Disproportionate burden: Pregnant women, children, and low-income communities bear the heaviest impact.
• Economic costs: Pollution-related damages amount to an estimated $8.1 trillion annually, around 6% of global GDP.

The presentation closed with a stark ethical parallel: Islamic finance prohibited tobacco once its harm became clear. The question now is whether coal presents a similar moment of moral clarity.

Scholar Debate: Translating Evidence into Screening

The final segment, moderated by Omar Shaikh, Managing Director of GEFI, brought together Prof. Dr Mohamad Akram (INCEIF), Ashraf Gomma Ali (MBSB), and Umer Suleman (Wahed/UKIFC).

This was not a forum for issuing rulings, but for surfacing where consensus may be emerging, and where tensions remain.

From a juristic and Maqasid perspective, the discussion examined whether contemporary scientific evidence fundamentally alters the classification of coal. If harm is now systematic, multidimensional and preventable, does that change the threshold for permissibility?

Umer Suleman reflected on areas of convergence from the earlier scholarly workshop, particularly around acknowledging material harm. However, practical implementation raises complex questions: should stock screening remain binary, or move toward a graduated framework that distinguishes between pure-play coal exposure and transitional contexts?

Ashraf Gomma Ali offered the banking lens. As both Shariah and sustainability leader at MBSB, he emphasised the importance of translating evolving scholarly thinking into credible board guidance, product design and portfolio decisions. The challenge is not only theological consistency, but operational clarity.

Beyond Screening: A Broader Trajectory

The Unlocking Islamic Sustainable Finance session made one thing clear: the debate is no longer about whether Islamic finance should engage sustainability. It is about how deeply and how credibly.

Maqasid alignment demands more than excluding harm, it requires proactive alignment with human flourishing, environmental stewardship and long-term resilience. Coal has become a litmus test for that ambition.

As Islamic finance continues to mature across ASEAN and beyond, its credibility will increasingly rest not only on compliance with form, but on its willingness to confront systemic harm with intellectual rigour and moral consistency.