May 17, 2023
Programme
16:00 Introduction
Prof. Frédéric Vrins - Président of LFIN
16:15 – Pathways towards net zero & sustainable investments
Philippe Wallez & Frédéric Degembe – ING
Pathways towards net zero - Climate change represents the most important challenge for our society for many years to come. New regulations and country targets make it imperative to act as a company but also as a human being to preserve our future. Banks have a central role to play as they finance the transition with the aim to help reaching net zero target.
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Philippe Wallez is Head of ESG, Public Affairs and Senior Client Advisor. He is Managing Director Business Banking for ING Belux and joined ING Belgium Executive Committee in 2016. Philippe was awarded Marketeer of the Year in 2009 and Advertiser of the Year in 2011. Philippe holds a degree in commercial Engineering from the UCLouvain and a MBA from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
Investing in sustainable companies: lots of challenges, lots of opportunities - Sustainable investment is a relatively new trend, generating interest from many stakeholders and attracting massive inflows in the asset management industry. Sustainability has dramatically changed for the better over the last years and is now offering a true and compelling alternative for investors, from retail to institutionals. It did not happen overnight and is in fact the consequence of many private initiatives, regulation and general awareness.
16:45 – Climate stakes : learn from our past to create our future
Dr Marie Cavitte, F.R.S.-FNRS researcher - Heart and Life Institute, UCLouvain
Our planet’s climate has always fluctuated between cold period and warm periods, and we know this through the precious archives that are polar ice cores, which can preserve a record of the composition of past atmospheres. In 800,000 years of climate history, our atmosphere had never reached above 300 ppm. However, since the Industrial Revolution, we have doubled the concentration of carbon dioxide, quadrupled the methane concentrations, resulting in a 1°C increase in global temperatures. What does this mean for us humans inhabiting this planet ? What are the levers that could be used to create change and make sure we don’t cross the 1.5-2°C threshold?
17:15 – The economic consequences of the energy transition
Prof. Hervé Jeanmart – Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain, UCLouvain
The biophysical foundations of socio-economic systems are underrepresented in the vast majority of macroeconomic models. This lack is particularly troublesome when considering the links between energy, matter and the economy in the context of the energy transition. As a remedy, we present here a biophysical stock-flow consistent macroeconomic model calibrated at the global scale, that combines detailed bottom-up estimates for the high capital intensity of renewable energies and the decreasing energy return on investment (EROI) of fossil fuels. We find that the completion of a global energy transition scenario compatible with the 1.5 °C objective of the Paris Agreement leads to a decrease of the system’s EROI and to high investment share, employment and inflation trends, characteristic of a “war economy”. Our results further indicate that a slower growth rate eases the transition, and call for further work on post-growth scenarios studies.
17:45 – Because and Within
Jean Boissinot – Banque de France
This keynote will provide an insight into the momentum toward climate action in the central banking community and examine the motivations of central banks in considering climate change. It will reframe these actions within the broader context of the development of green finance and highlight what can but also what should not be expected from such developments.
Since 2021, Jean Boissinot is Deputy Director of Financial Stability at the Banque de France and Head of secretariat of the Network for Greening the Financial System, an initiative through which 125 central banks and supervisory authorities collaborate on taking climate and environmental issues into account in their activities. Prior to joining the Banque de France in 2018, he held various positions in the Treasury (French Ministry of Finance) and HM Treasury (UK Ministry of Finance), including responsibility for the climate agenda for the financial sector at COP21. He is the author of "La Finance verte, climat, secteur financier et transition net zéro" published by Dunod in November 2022.
18:15 Round table - Q&A
18:45 Closing & farewell drink
Practical information
The event will take place from 4:00 PM to 6:45 PM in the Auditorium Socrate 11, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) and will be followed by a cocktail.
The event will be broadcasted to Local 15 of the UCLouvain Fucam Mons campus, Mons (Belgium).
Organization & Sponsors
