The conference started by ringing the opening bell together at the stock exchange, where a number of issuers of green or sustainable bonds listed on the Nasdaq Sustainable Bond Market were gathered.
Handelsbanken’s CEO, Anders Bouvin, began with a brief speech on the subject of climate change, sustainability at Handelsbanken and new green financing opportunities. The agenda also included a wide range of topics, such as an inspirational but alarming speech on climate change by Sean Kidney, CEO and founder of the Climate Bond Initiative organisation. For example, he said that we may already have passed the limit for a rise in temperature of at least two degrees.
Other speakers included Charlotte Sillén from Handelsbanken Fonder, Erika Wranegård from Öhman Fonder, Helena Lindahl, SPP Fonder, and Ulf Erlandsson from the Glacier Impact Climate Fund, who gave their view of the green bond market from an investor perspective. In a panel discussion, Filip Elland from Castellum and Rebecka Yrlid from Humlegården discussed how the property sector has been affected by green bonds, life cycle analyses, and fraud linked to the environmental certification of buildings. Rounding off the day were Tobias Lindbergh and Fredrik von Platen from Handelsbanken, who spoke about the trend in the market for green bonds in 2017 and about sustainable financing in general.