Watch the event highlights here.
While COVID-19 proves that it is hard to go back to “business as usual”, a green future envisioned in the 2030 Agenda becomes more imperative and critical at this point.
Investments can make a difference, but their mechanism needs to be upgraded and investors should raise their awareness for a sustainable future. However, without proper governance, the investment could become a source of environmental devastation, social degradation, government corruption, and other countless negative outcomes.
Columbia Global Centers | Beijing hosted a panel discussion led by Martin Dietrich Brauch, Senior Legal and Economic Researcher at Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), and Yigu Lin, Vice President at China Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Forum (CSEIF), as they discussed the opportunities and challenges of sustainable investment. The panel discussion was moderated by Xiaochen Guo (SIPA '21), currently an investment analyst at a private equity fund, and was supported by CCSI and Global Shaper Community Beijing.
Lin presented some examples of sustainable investments in China fueled by state capital and national policies, and in the later discussion, Brauch brought insights into comparative regulatory policies in the United States and the European Union. Both of them addressed Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and analysis, and the responsibilities of multiple stakeholders to be more ethical and sustainable in choices of investments and consumption.
"Investing for a sustainable future requires sound policies and practices," said Brauch, "The current regime is not conducive to attracting the powerful development enablers."