Ethical Finance Global 2024 took place on Wednesday 25th September, with SDG Hive events taking place around the margins of the summit. This year’s gathering carried on the spirit of open, honest debate and frank self-reflection that has come to characterise Ethical Finance Global.

The second ESG Majlis Dubai took place on the 21st May 2024 in partnership with PwC. The session was themed “Decarbonising the Built Environment: the Role of Finance” and heard expert insights from Jonathan Keyes, HSBC and Abdullatif Albitawi, Emirates Green Building Council.

This year’s virtual summit, marked the third edition of Ethical Finance ASEAN, delivered in partnership with the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, brought together experts from across the globe to evaluate the current position and urgent need for scaling up sustainable finance in the ASEAN region.

COP28 saw more than $80 billion in climate finance commitments from countries, development banks, private sources, and philanthropists. This level of financing is below what is needed, but there are real opportunities for this committed investment to spur additional financing for the transition, including through new finance channels. Our event reflected on COP28 and the need to move from commitment to action.

During COP28, our SDG Hive series provides a platform for high-impact discussions around select COP28 themes. The sessions build upon the SDG Hive from our annual Ethical Finance Global summit, and provide finance practitioners with the skills they need to address the climate crisis and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

During COP28, our SDG Hive series provided a platform for high-impact discussions around select COP28 themes. The sessions built upon the SDG Hive from our annual Ethical Finance Global summit, and provided finance practitioners with the skills they need to address the climate crisis and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

During COP28, we explored the work of two famed economists and philosophers in light of the climate crisis. During COP28 on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of December in Dubai, GEFI hosted a series of evening lectures on Scottish Enlightenment economist Adam Smith and famed Arab social theorist Ibn Khaldun, tackling their views on profit and purpose, their understanding of the rise and fall of empires, and their approaches to solving collective problems.

The series built upon our work Glasgow’s COP26, where we hosted a similar series focused on Adam Smith, and published our Wealth of Nations in the 21st Century essay series, which explored how his theories could be applied to contemporary economic challenges such as the climate crisis.

As COP28 came to Dubai, all eyes were on the Islamic finance industry. Interest-free, Shariah compliant finance remains a largely untapped pool of capital for sustainability. This event explored how the two value-driven forms of finance can be aligned through new standards and improved practices.

During COP28, we explored the work of two famed economists and philosophers in light of the climate crisis. During COP28 on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of December in Dubai, GEFI hosted a series of evening lectures on Scottish Enlightenment economist Adam Smith and famed Arab social theorist Ibn Khaldun, tackling their views on profit and purpose, their understanding of the rise and fall of empires, and their approaches to solving collective problems.

The series built upon our work Glasgow’s COP26, where we hosted a similar series focused on Adam Smith, and published our Wealth of Nations in the 21st Century essay series, which explored how his theories could be applied to contemporary economic challenges such as the climate crisis.

The time for gradual changes is over: we need to finance our survival. Wildfires have raged across Europe for a second successive summer. Across the world, pressure is being put on scare water, agricultural land and endangered species.

With the global stocktake having taking place during COP28, we developed our COP28 Climate Finance Summit in consultation with the COP28 team, bringing together leading bankers, asset managers, regulators, multilaterals and more to understand how we can finance survival.

During COP28, we explored the work of two famed economists and philosophers in light of the climate crisis. During COP28 on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of December in Dubai, GEFI hosted a series of evening lectures on Scottish Enlightenment economist Adam Smith and famed Arab social theorist Ibn Khaldun, tackling their views on profit and purpose, their understanding of the rise and fall of empires, and their approaches to solving collective problems.

The series built upon our work Glasgow’s COP26, where we hosted a similar series focused on Adam Smith, and published our Wealth of Nations in the 21st Century essay series, which explored how his theories could be applied to contemporary economic challenges such as the climate crisis.

Our annual in-person summit Ethical Finance Global 2023 tackled the question whether we are in an ESG emergency on Wednesday 20th September 2023 in Edinburgh, hosted by NatWest Group. Across four core thematics of climate, nature, the S in ESG and leadership the summit explored topics including overcoming greenwashing, climate justice, embedding sustainability skills, integrating nature, sustainable food systems and the incorporation of human rights.

The past century has seen the emergence of a new economic and social consensus. Our societies were once ruled by faith values, but in their place now stands the market. With the economic worldview chairing the board, and finance acting as the CEO, neoliberal society has delegated ethical decision making to the commercial logic of the market.

How did this happen? Is it a good thing? What can we learn from once-dominant faith perspectives that might once again place ethical codes above the commercial imperative? This event will bring together commentators and experts from different faith traditions to understand how values can be integrated into finance, and what this might look like in a pluralistic society.

In this Climate Finance Training Series, offered jointly by DIFC Academy and the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) as part of the Path to COP28 campaign, we will help finance practitioners to understand the COP process, global trends in climate finance and best practice approaches to developing and implementing net zero strategies.

As part of our ongoing partnership with DIFC, we will continue our high level discussions relating to the importance of  delivering positive change to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.