The Luxembourg Stock Exchange gathered the financial and political community to celebrate its annual highlight “The Stock Exchange Day” on Thursday 23 May. This year, the event zoomed in on change in all its forms under the catch-line “It’s not just climate change, it’s everything change!” The event presented the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and had a UN representative participate through the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative.
Deputy Secretary of UNCTAD, Ms. Isabelle Durant, spoke at the event, encouraging the audience to contribute on an individual level to bringing positive change to the world. “Our model must change, everything must change: the way we invest, the way we produce, the way we trade, the way we consume. Investments in real economy, in innovation and in green sectors, which provide stable and remunerative jobs, must be given priority to eventually lead to sustainable and inclusive development. And guess what? This is also profitable,” Ms. Durant said.
Frank Wagener, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Luxembourg Stock Exchange, opened the conference with a call for more concrete action in his address: “It takes a lot of work to set up a solid framework for sustainable finance with definitions, standards, and common control mechanisms. This is why we should not just sit and wait for proposals, but become more active. In 2018, the European Commission made fundamental steps to build a solid sustainable finance framework. This is a first step and we need ambitious leaders to achieve these objectives.”
“What we are facing now is not just climate change, it’s everything change. There is a huge gap in knowledge and understanding, and we need to promote inclusive education. Luxembourg Stock Exchange is contributing to this effort through the creation of the LGX Academy for market professionals. This needs to become a continued effort of the entire financial centre of Luxembourg,” said Robert Scharfe, CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
More than 600 delegates registered for the 37th edition of the Luxembourg Stock Exchanges’ Stock Exchange Day, which took place at the European Convention Center in Luxembourg. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange has been an SSE Partner Exchange since 2016.
