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Keynote speaker: Caroline Flammer, A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics at Columbia University on 11 July 2024 at the University of Zurich
The Department of Finance at the University of Zurich (UZH) proudly hosted the first Rising Scholars Conference in Sustainable Finance. The event is part of our department's Initiative in Sustainable Finance.
At this full-day event on 11 July 2024 at the University of Zurich PhD students and postdoctoral scholars presented their research work and interacted with faculty from UZH and other institutions.
The conference aims to help rising scholars gain research insights, valuable exposure, and potential faculty mentorship that will benefit them for years to come. During three sessions six researchers presented their papers and received feedback from Professor Flammer, experts and the discussants.
We were delighted to host Caroline Flammer, A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics at Columbia University, as our keynote speaker. Her presentation focused on key considerations in sustainable finance and investing.
Professor Flammer began by presenting substantial evidence that environmentally and socially responsible actions can enhance a company's competitiveness across various dimensions. She then proposed a rethinking of how companies approach their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) engagement, suggesting that the Environmental (E) and Social (S) dimensions should be an integral part of the Governance (G) of companies.
Flammer identified short-term thinking as a major challenge. She highlights ways to overcome short-termism such as the provision of long-term incentives to executives, or the linking of executive compensation to environmental and social criteria.
She also discussed challenges pertaining to the disclosure of climate risk exposure. Currently, due to the lack of mandatory disclosure, companies that disclose information on their climate risks do so on a voluntary basis. Yet, voluntary disclosure can disadvantage companies by revealing short-term vulnerabilities, despite long-term benefits to shareholders. Flammer suggested mandatory disclosure as a solution.
The presentation highlighted that many popular strategies may appear beneficial but have limited real-world impact. For example, focusing solely on scope 1 emissions can lead to outsourcing, shifting emissions to scope 3. Flammer also noted that divestment especially by public pension and sovereign funds may be suboptimal, as these investors are best positioned to drive real change while remaining shareholders.
Finally, Caroline Flammer emphasized the importance of public pension and sovereign funds, noting their long-term horizons and ability to provide long-term capital. She explained that their ESG investing strategies often influence other investors, which further increases their influence over management decisions.
The presentation concluded with the introduction to and call for more research on system-level investing. She encouraged our students to engage in cross-disciplinary research in system-level investing and push forward the research frontiers.
We thank Professor Flammer for her comprehensive and insightful presentation, combining academic rigor with practical applications. We look forward to building on this success at next year's Rising Scholars Conference.
| Time
|
Program | Location |
|---|---|---|
|
09.00 – 10.30 |
Session 1: Corporate Climate Strategies and Disclosure Different Shades of Green Promises: Estimating their Real Impact The Anatomy of Corporate Climate Exposure |
KOL-F-118 |
|
10.45 – 12.15 |
Session 2: Regulatory Impact on the Green Transition Mandatory Sustainability Reporting and Project Selection Consumer Preferences and Green Transition |
KOL-F-118 |
|
12.15 – 13.45 |
Lunch Break with Sandwiches |
Lichthof |
|
13.45 – 15.15 |
Session 3: Climate Risks in Supply Chains and Asset Pricing Rewiring Supply Chains Through Climate Policy Does Nature Matter for Stock Returns? |
KOL-F-118 |
|
15.30 – 16.45 |
Keynote Presentation by Caroline Flammer |
KOL-F-118 |
|
17.00 |
Apéro to mingle and connect |
Lichthof |
Thea Katharina Kolasa
Prof. Flammer at last year’s “Talk on Women in Academia” at University of Zurich in collaboration with the Office for Gender Equality and Diversity of UZH
