Banking on climate change: How to put a price on your exposure

An opportunity to evaluate where your organisation - and its capital - is most exposed to climate change.

What you learn in this session could well have a big impact on the future projects you choose to get involved in, and those you should steer well clear of.

• How exposed are your customers to climate change - and how could this affect you?
• When should you disclose your own carbon footprint?
• How to integrate climate change risk quantification into your environmental policy: Practical steps towards a standardised, measurable approach
• Energy risk: Is fossil fuel a secure investment or an unacceptable long term risk?
• Clean-tech: Just another bubble? Or worth your time and money?

• ABN Amro Bank, Carsten Schirmeisen, Head of Sustainable Risk Advisory
• London Bridge Capital Limited, Mark Campanale, Associate Director
• Carbon Disclosure Project, Kate Levick, Head of Government Relationships

Moderator: Michael Parks, Consultant, Corporate Citizenship

Extra-financial reporting: How to go beyond box ticking

Whose reports - and methodology should you request when you need to accurately quantify your risk?

Book your place at this session to discover how Fortis and ABN Amro are leading the way.

• The Global Reporting Initiative: Is it the best way to rate your Environmental Social and Governance risks?
• Transparency and accountability in reporting: How can you be sure you're getting the full picture?
• CSR reporting: Why it's essential to insist on 100% accuracy
• Early warning signs: How often should companies update their reports in order to avoid any nasty shocks?

• Fortis, Eric Bouwmeester, General Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility
• West LB AG, Hendrik Garz, Executive Director

Moderator: Daniel Waistell, Standards and related services manager, Accountability

Risk management red alert: What do you do when it doesn't go according to plan?

Case Study: Environmental aggression. That was the charge from the Argentinean government in 2007, when Finnish pulp company Botnia built a pulp mill on the river Uruguay.

Here, you'll get a detailed assessment of the Botnia project from three perspectives: the bank, the company and the NGO.

You'll discover how to:

• Review and categorize your own project risks
• Assess the potential impacts of your projects on local communities and the environment
• Develop effective communications with all stakeholders - and avoid controversy before it can start
• Ensure your ethical standards are applied all the way down the supply chain
• What to do when things don't go according to plan

• Crédit Agricole SA, Brigitte Drège, Head of Sustainable Development
• Botnia, Marko Janhunen, Vice President of Communications and Public Relations for the Uruguay Project
• CEDHA, Jorge Daniel Taillant, President
• SGS, Jean Francois Roche, Business Development Manager, Project Finance Services

Moderator: Penny Shepherd, UKSIF, CEO

Time to take another look at carbon trading

Now you've no choice other than to get involved in carbon markets.

So come and review this simple strategy that works for you and your customers.

• Should you take a country-by-country or a global approach to your carbon reduction strategy?
• Can you offset internally?
• Overview of the best emission management schemes: Can you achieve emissions reductions and still make a profit?
• What's the best way to manage your carbon footprint in line with regulations?
• How do public policy and regulations affect carbon prices and trading methods and what will happen after Kyoto?

• ING Wholesale Banking, Stirling Habbits, Vice President of Natural Resource
• Barclays Capital, Trevor Sikorski, Head of Environmental Markets

Moderator: Marie-Athena Papathanasiou, Barrister and Legal Counsel, Global Sustainability Challenge

Sustainability indexes: Why some are more useful than others - and how to identify the one that's best for you

It's costly to comply with an index. It takes time, money and sweat. Even more important, choosing the wrong index could be an expensive mistake.

Here's where you'll find out how to choose - and implement - a sustainability index strategy that's definitely worth all the effort.

• The connection between financial performance and sustainability: What does latest research show - and who believes it?
• How to incorporate measuring into your day-to-day activities, without devoting unnecessary resources to it
• Why the relationship between sustainability indexes and company reports is so vital
• The importance of measurement on your reputation: What you absolutely must do to score well on a CSR index

• FTSE, Will Oulton, Head of Responsible Investment
• Dexia Asset Management, Gaëtan Herinckx, Head of Sustainable and Responsible investment
• SAM Indexes, Alexander Barkawi, Managing Director

Moderator: Hugh Wheelan, Responsible Investor, Co-founder

NGOs and banks: How to make friends and influence people

It's easy to dismiss NGOs as a bunch of interfering busybodies who can make your life hell. But it doesn't have to be like that.

NGOs can do plenty of things to help you and in this session, you'll get valuable pointers on making your relationships with them work out, long-term.

• How to use NGOs to develop an effective environmental and social policy
• How NGOs can help you establish a realistic set of standards
• How to ensure NGO activities act as an accelerator to your progress, not an inhibitor
• The do's and don'ts of dealing with an NGO
• Why do NGOs like some banks more than others?
• Real life examples: NGO-Bank collaborations that have succeeded beyond expectations

• Bank Track, Johan Frijns, Coordinator
• Calyon, Eric Cochard, Head of sustainable Development
• Transparency International, Jermyn Brooks, Director of Private Sector Programmes

Moderator: Penny Shepherd, UKSIF, CEO

Microfinance: How to make a dollar here and a dollar there add up to significant new revenue

Microfinance is an effective way to be a good corporate citizen - it definitely qualifies as responsible banking, underlines your CSR commitments, and impresses your stakeholders. But that's not all: Your participation can generate substantial extra revenue.

In this session, you'll find out why you should care about microfinance - a sector that's growing by 40 per cent a year - and how to incorporate it into your CSR strategy:

• Securing buy-in for microfinance from your board of directors: Why the bottom-of the-pyramid approach works so well
• The role of microfinance in your wider CSR strategy: How to strengthen your commitment to being a responsible bank
• Practicalities of involvement: Why it's so vital that impact assessments of microfinance are at the heart of your strategy

speakers to be announced

Human rights and banking: Vulnerable stakeholders, human displacement - and your institution

Case Study: The UN's John Ruggie is turning the thumbscrew on banks to address their impact on human rights wherever they do business.

Join this session for a deeper understanding of how EIB handles its responsibilities - and the implications for you.

• How to implement clear, consistent, ethical standards and procedures that will prevent controversy and reputational risk
• Best practices in accountability mechanisms for resolving disputes and complaints
• Positive obligations: What are they and do they apply to you?
• Why EIB incorporates European regulations into its internal policy
• Your bank's role in the protection of cultural property and heritage

• European Investment Bank, Evelyn Lehis, Social Expert in the Sustainable Development Unit, Direction Générale des Projets
• Amnesty International, Natalia Alonso, Deputy Director, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dennis de Jong, Human Rights Advisor

Moderator: Reg Green, Currently Senior Sustainability Advisor to Schuttelaar & Partners in Brussels and member of the Ethical Corporation Advisory Board

Tapping into Central and Eastern Europe: How to be a global bank in a local market

Central and Eastern Europe is ripe for substantial further investment from Western banks.

• How do you overcome the challenges to set up branches? And what about the huge CSR issues? Come armed with your questions!
• The benefits: Why are so many banks looking to Central and Eastern Europe?
• The methodology: What does it mean to deliver socially responsible banking in the region?
• What are potential new customers expecting - and how should you customize your products?
• Developing your range of CSR products: Where is the competition and which business areas should you focus on?
• Business strategy: How to balance responsible banking with the region's religions, politics and human factors
• How to customize your current ESG model to fit the region

• European Policy Center, Hans Marten, Chief Executive
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Anne Maria Cronin, Principal Environmental Specialist

Moderator: Silvia Scoppeliti, CSR Manager, Intesa San Paolo

Emerging Markets

The Chinese Challenge: It's a fact. China is one of the world's biggest consumers of pretty much everything. While being a huge contributor to world pollution, its 1.3 billion population also provides a tremendous platform for business profits. As the Chinese government is attempting to appeal to Western banks with new regulation and policies on the environment, many European banks are already moving into the Chinese market.

If it is your turn soon, you had better be prepared. In this session, find out how to be:

• How to shape your ESG business model to the Chinese market
• The challenge of transparency - How to maintain your ethical standards while complying to the Chinese regulatory framework
• Making your job easier - how to take advantage of the latest Chinese governmental policies on emissions reduction and green energy

• Fortis Investment, Florian Sommer, Head of Sustainability Research
• Utrecht University, Elinor Tao, Visiting Scholar of Utrecht School of Economics

Moderator: Herman Mulder, ABN Amro, Former Head of Group Risk Management

Implementing the Equator Principles and Social Impact Assessments

No-one wants a nightmare project like Sakhalin II or to become a case study, like Botnia in Uruguay. And yet the social impact of the projects you finance is a source of massive reputational risk.

In this session, learn the most effective ways to implement the Equator Principles, limit your bank's social impacts and protect its reputation.

• Transparency: Are you implementing the Equator Principles and reporting your progress as much as you should?
• Social risk equals long-term financial risk: Why it's essential to monitor your project beyond the financial close
• Resettlement: How to mitigate your impact on indigenous people's cultural heritage and values
• Bribery and corruption: How to assess your borrowers' compliance with social covenants

• EIRIS, Stephanie Maier, Head of Research
• Global Fair Banking Initiative, Maryellen J. Lewis, Chair

Moderator: David Glenister, International Sales Manager, SGS

What are the best ways to engage your customers in ethical products?

Financial institutions are queuing to introduce a wealth of green products - for example, Barclays' Breathe credit card, HSBC's green account, and Brittania's Planet Save. How do you differentiate your own green products, and successfully secure customer engagement? Join this session to find out.

• Understand your audience: What do your customers really want?
• Engage your consumers on the environment: What benefits should your products deliver for mass appeal?
• Create and deliver the right message: Secrets of devising effective communications that produce results
• Beyond short term goals: How to create long-term customer loyalty

• Triodos, Frans de Clerk, Senior Advisor to the Executive Board
• Utopies, Stan Dupré, Executive Director
• Friends of the Earth, Yann Louvel, Campaigner

Moderator: Marie-Athena Papathanasiou, Barrister and Legal Counsel, Global Sustainability Challenge