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Department of Finance

Rising Scholars Conference on Sustainable Finance 2024

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.

Keynote Speech by Caroline Flammer

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.

Short-term Thinking and Risk Disclosure

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.

Effective Strategies vs. Surface-Level Actions

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.

The Role of Public Pension Funds

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.

 

Program

Time

 

Program Location

09.00 – 10.30

Session 1: Corporate Climate Strategies and Disclosure

Different Shades of Green Promises: Estimating their Real Impact
Authors: Emanuela Benincasa (UZH, SFI), Jonathan Fu (UZH) and Mrinal Mishra (University of Melburn)
Discussant: Aaron Black (HSG, SFI)

The Anatomy of Corporate Climate Exposure
Authors: Weiwei Hu (Peking University), Kai Li (Peking University), and Tingyu Yu (UZH)
Discussant: Kornelia Fabisik (University of Bern)

KOL-F-118
Rämistrasse 71
8006 Zurich

10.45 – 12.15

Session 2: Regulatory Impact on the Green Transition

Mandatory Sustainability Reporting and Project Selection
Authors: Hui Chen (UZH) and Fulvia Oldrini (UZH)
Discussant: Konrad Adler (HSG, SFI)

Consumer Preferences and Green Transition
Author: Florian Perusset (EPFL, SFI)
Discussant: Igli Bajo (UZH, SFI)

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
Authors: Emanuela Benincasa (UZH, SFI), Olimpia Carradori (UZH, SFI), Miguel Ferreira (Nova, CEPR, ECGI), and Emilia Garcia-Appendini (UZH, Norges Bank)
Discussant: Annette Krauss (UZH)

Does Nature Matter for Stock Returns?
Authors: Glen Gostlow (UZH) and Markus Leippold (UZH, SFI)
Discussant: Zacharias Sautner (UZH, SFI)

KOL-F-118

15.30 – 16.45

Keynote Presentation by Caroline Flammer

KOL-F-118

17.00

Apéro to mingle and connect

Lichthof

More Information

Contact:

Thea Katharina Kolasa

thea.kolasa@df.uzh.ch

See also:

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

2023 Event with Caroline Flammer

https://www.gleichstellung.uzh.ch/en/ueber_uns.html

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