Deutsche Börse AG and the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) announced their strategic cooperation on a sustainable financial sector on Wednesday. The two partners are to pool resources and coordinate joint activities to promote development of the sustainable finance sector. They will review regulatory issues, determine criteria and develop market incentives and instruments to support the development of sustainable finance.

A new Hub for Sustainable Finance (H4SF) will coordinate joint activities between the two partners. The founding members of the steering committee will be Prof Dr Alexander Bassen, member of the Council for Sustainable Development, Kristina Jeromin, Head of Group Sustainability at Deutsche Börse, Michael Schmidt, Managing Director at Deka Investment and member of the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, and Dustin Neuneyer, Head of Continental Europe at PRI Principles for Responsible Investment and the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development. Promoting an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the business world and civil society will be also be main focus of H4SF activities.

“Collaboration with the German Council for Sustainable Development provides a major opportunity to jointly promote concrete change in economics and politics and thereby drive the transformation essential to a sustainable financial system more vigorously. We can only meet such a challenge – both nationally and internationally – by pooling resources. We are very pleased to collaborate with the German Council for Sustainable Development on the Hub for Sustainable Finance,” said Kristina Jeromin, Head of Group Sustainability at Deutsche Börse and member of the Hub for Sustainable Finance.

Prof. Dr Alexander Bassen, RNE, added, “Our joint aim is to establish the concept of sustainability on the financial markets and to integrate it into the financial system. Predominant market logic has thus far ignored material risks that result from ignoring sustainability-related issues. We will discuss the recommendations currently under simultaneous debate at international, national and German federal state level with players representing all relevant stakeholders. We will also urge them to initiate the most appropriate and effective measures.”

The Hub for Sustainable Finance's first public event, the “German Sustainable Finance Summit”, will be held at the German Society of Investment Analysts and Asset Managers (DVFA) in Frankfurt on 23 October. The discussion will centre on the key aspects of the interim report published by the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance in July. The report and an RNE discussion paper on a sustainable financial sector are open for comment until mid-September.

This interim report by European Commission experts set out the cornerstones that must be laid for member states' implementation of financial sector sustainability criteria. It addresses aspects such as systemic stability of the financial markets in terms of environmental risks, financing sustainable growth, and the financial policy conditions under which criteria are implemented. The summit will discuss key items for an agenda of sustainable German financial sector development to serve as a basis for specific recommendations to the federal government. In addition to aspects of the High-Level Expert Group's interim report, recommendations will also be debated from the PRI's Germany Roadmap also published in July 2017, which compares Germany's regulatory framework with those of other countries.

A press conference will also be held in Berlin at noon on 27 September to present information on the background to the collaboration as well as the main objectives and issues of concern to the H4SF steering committee and its members to interested media representatives. A press release will also be issued following the news conference.

Information regarding the Hub for Sustainable Finance's activities will be published in future at www.h4sf.de.

As one of the leading global providers of capital market infrastructure services, Deutsche Börse co-launched its “Accelerating Sustainable Finance” initiative this year with other key players from financial centre Frankfurt. The aim is to join forces to develop sustainable solutions and new structures for the capital market. The “Frankfurt Declaration” attests to the commitment of the 44 signatories' to definining a sustainable financial sector framework and putting in motion a variety of initiatives and projects currently being prepared by project groups. A follow-up conference is scheduled for the start of 2018. Further information on Deutsche Börse Group's commitment to sustainability is available at: http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbg-de/nachhaltigkeit.

The German Council for Sustainable Development is an advisory body to the German Government whose functions include presenting proposals for the implementation and advancement of the German Sustainability Strategy. Its task is to present specific areas for action and foster social dialogue on the issue of sustainability. One current focus of the RNE agenda is also a sustainable financial sector. RNE is preparing recommendations on advancing the issue, with the involvement of interested public parties, in a “living document” in development since March 2017. One basic idea at the heart of the document is to create a hub for sustainable finance in Germany. Further information on the German Council for Sustainable Development is available at www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is a UN-supported international network of investors working together to put the six Principles for Responsible Investment into practice. Its goal is to understand the implications of sustainability for investors and support signatories to incorporate these issues into their investment decision making and ownership practices. For more information please visit https://www.unpri.org/about