Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance

What is Sustainable Finance?

In its interim report, the Panel defined ‘sustainable finance’ as: Capital flows (as reflected in lending and investment), risk management activities (such as insurance and risk assessment), and financial processes (including disclosures, valuations, and oversight) that assimilate environmental and social factors as a means of promoting sustainable economic growth and the longterm stability of the financial system. The conditions for sustainable economic growth are to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future.

Panel member Barbara Zvan, in her interview with Pivot Magazine, described sustainable finance as: "Trying to get mainstream finance to help us with the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

Expert Panel Members, Final and Interim Reports

The Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance presented its final report on June 2019. The panel consulted with members of the business community about the opportunities associated with sustainable finance. It also explored the opportunities and challenges for companies facing voluntary standards for corporate disclosure of the financial risks associated with climate change. The panel members were:

- Tiff Macklem, Dean, Rotman School of Management and member of the Board of Directors, Scotiabank
- Kim Thomassin, Executive Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Secretariat, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
- Barbara Zvan, Chief Risk and Strategy Officer, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Member of the Board of Directors of Cadillac-Fairview, and member of the Board of Directors, Global Risk Institute
- Andy Chisholm, member of the Board of Directors, Royal Bank of Canada