This quarter's webinar featured a discussion about the “Blue Economy” with guest speakers from Euronext and UNEP Finance Initiative. As usual, we had two call options to accommodate the many time zones of our partners. Hold quarterly, the SSE webinar is organized twice in one day to accommodate the many time zones of our partners.
According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.” There is increasing evidence that losses in the oceans’ natural capital resulting from unsustainable economic activity are eroding the resource base on which growth depends. Euronext exchange is the first and only exchange to sign up to the United Nations Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles. Euronext's stated goal is to be a leader in advancing the Blue Economy in order to address the threats to the oceans and contribute to enhanced ocean and coastal resilience.
During this quarterly webinar, we heard from Sara Lovisolo, Head of Group ESG, Euronext and Karla Martinez Toral, Sustainable Blue Economy Program Consultant at UNEP-FI, about the importance of our planet’s ocean resources and actions that exchanges can take to create more awareness for their market’s dependence on them.
The UN SSE Consultative Group Quarterly Calls allow partner exchanges, regulators, investors, issuers and other key market stakeholders to share their experiences and to contribute to the SSE's work plan.
This is an invitation-only event for members of the SSE Consultative Group. If you are interested in joining the SSE Consultative Group please contact us at [email protected]
- Summary and Presentation
Opening remarks and an overview of the agenda were provided by the SSE. The SSE team welcomed three new exchanges who joined in Q1 2022: The SIX Swiss Exchange, the Barbados Stock Exchange and the Muscat Stock Exchange of Oman. There are now 116 SSE Partner Exchanges plus 12 members of the SSE Derivatives Network.
The SSE team provided an introduction to the topic “Blue Economy”. UNEP FI speaker, Karla Martinez Toral, explained how the Sustainable Blue Economy Program views the Blue Economy and explained how the initiative works together with banks, insurers and investors to further investment in healthy oceans. She also indicated useful resources to learn more about the initiative’s work:
- Sustainable Blue Economy Principles
- Turning the Tide: How to Finance a Sustainable Ocean Recovery
- Further guidance documents provided by UNEP-FI can be found here
Sara Lovislo, Head of ESG at Euronext provided an overview of the exchange’s market monitoring, awareness-raising and product development action on Blue Economy. Being the first, and so far only, exchange signatory of the Global Compact’s Sustainable Ocean Principles, Euronext is a pioneer in this space. She provided an overview of:
- Euronext’s Blue Economy Report - A Snapshot of Blue Economy companies listed on Euronext
- The Blue Challange
Suzanne Johnson from UN Global Compact (first call only) spoke about the organisation’s work on the Blue Economy and presented the Sustainable Ocean Principles and explained how exchanges can get involved. She spoke about the opportunities and challenges related to Blue Bonds.
Slides
- List of Participants
We had the participation of a variety of sectors from 29 markets, totaling 48 participants.
