More than 160 sustainability professionals and consultants joined executives and entrepreneurs last week for a digital sharing and discussion of the latest insights from the world of sustainable finance and reporting. 

This fifth Sustainable Finance & Reporting Seminar was opened by Sustainability Hub's Executive Director Andreas Friis, who said “2021 has been an amazing year, especially the explosive development we have seen within ESG,” before lightheartedly thanking everyone for “giving him a good excuse to put on a shirt and tie again.”

Day 1: Trends, impact, growth and value 
The three sessions on Day 1 focused on core issues, such as sustainability and finance trends, impact, growth companies and sustainable value creation. 

Speakers included Aksel Mjøs from the Norwegian School of Economics, Hortense Bioy from Morningstar, Martin Skancke from Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Eloy Lindeijer from Global Impact Investment Network, Idar Kreutzer from Finance Norway, Eirik Høiby Ausland from Euronext Oslo Børs, Birgit Marie Liodden from TOOL, Reynir Indahl from Summa Equity, Cilia Holmes Indahl from EQT Foundation, Nicolai Lundy from SASB, Jeanett Bergan from KLP, Melanie Brooks from CARN Capital, Kate Byrne from Katapult X and Ulrika Hasselgren from Arabesque.

New data from Morningstar reveal that a new era for European ESG Funds has begun, as also demonstrated by the emerging flurry of regulations, standards and frameworks, such as the EU taxonomy, EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Indications are that we are shifting focus from financial reporting to value reporting and from the short-term to long-term risks and strategy. 

Day 2: Reporting, regulations, roles and rights 
The sessions on Day 2 began by focusing on sustainability reporting essentials and the reporting journeys of five companies. The gathering then split into interactive parallel sessions to explore issues such as regulations, standards and frameworks, human rights and value chains and the evolving role of the CFO. 

​Speakers included Hussnain Bashir from Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), Marco van der Ree from GRI, Hanne Thornam from EY Norway, Anna Göhlman from Statkraft, Øystein Kolstad from Equinor, Ellen Skarsgård from DNV, Nicolai Prytz from Tomra , and Ingeborg Gjærum from Volue AS in the main session.

​Marco Van der Ree’s comment captured the mood of the day; “Although the global community is facing great challenges, more and more companies are trying to get ahead of the curve; not to be merely compliant, but to go the extra mile and focus on seeing the opportunities, creating new business models and embarking on a truly transformational journey.”

​2021: The Year of awakening?
Reflecting upon Sustainability Hub's fifth Sustainable Finance & Reporting Seminar, Andreas Friis, makes an appeal: “We are now starting to wake up and it’s time to step up our game to a new level of quality that goes beyond just puzzling with the ESG path. To those who have not started the sustainability journey, I say now is the time - and the time to do it properly; to those already paving the way, I say go beyond internal hygiene and take a systemic, ecosystem approach to your journey!”
 
The seminar was organized by Sustainability Hub in collaboration with Corporate Communications and supported by Euronext Oslo Børs, Scatec Solar, Accounting Norway, ATEA, Statkraft, Finance Norway, GRI, Equinor, UNGC Norway and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). 

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Kevin Reeder is driven by two com-passions: Sustainability and Mindfulness. As Storytelling Consultant at Sustainability Hub Norway he identifies, develops and communicates conversations and narratives vital for supporting sustainable and ethical business. Kevin is an experienced corporate storyteller, content strategist and copywriter. He is also Founder & Awareness@Work/Wellbeing Consultant at MindLAB Oslo.