Interview with Katharina Beck, Member of the Bundestag, Spokeswoman for Financial Policy and Member of the Extended Executive Committee of the Green Party in the Bundestag

Dear Ms. Beck, the conference “Shifting the trillions – Financing the economy of the future” will take place on November 22 – who can participate and what are your objectives?

Our main question is how to reach a breakthrough in financing the sustainable transformation of our economy. This is of interest for a great number of people: CEOs in the quest for a future-proof business model, asset managers who want to align their portfolio with a science-based 1.5-degree target and benefit from the investment opportunities involved; NGOs and scientists who rightly believe that making finance flows consistent with low emissions and a climate-resilient pathway is an important contribution to achieving climate goals. Green Members of Parliament, who have been working on these topics for years, will also be widely involved. We want to bring all these different perspectives together for a productive exchange on the best way forward to a sustainable, climate neutral and prosperous future.

The event is scheduled between the Sustainable Finance Summit Germany and COP 28 in Dublin. How does the conference take up the national Sustainable Finance discourse and what impulses do you want to send in the direction of the international climate negotiations?

The economy of the future is going to be climate-neutral and will only prosper within the planetary boundaries. From an economic point of view, it pays off for Germany to be a pioneer in the international climate negotiations and in the transformation of our economy. The basis of our future well-being, prosperity and competitiveness of the German economy is at stake.

What challenges and key topics do you see with regard to the development and expansion of sustainable financial market structures in Germany and how will they be addressed in the context of the conference agenda?

From a technical point of view, improving data availability is an important topic that we will address at the conference. But I know from my time as a business consultant that transformation will only pick up speed if there is also a financial benefit in contributing to a fair and environmentally friendly society. To achieve this, we have to change the incentives in the system – through new accounting rules and performance measurement, tax policies, subsidies, and regulation. Also, the state should act as a role-model by setting a good example, for instance as an investor or through sustainable procurement practices. These are all topics we want to discuss in greater depth with our guests in different workshops.

What are you most looking forward to and when do you consider the conference as having been successful?

I’m looking forward to bringing together people with many different perspectives and expertise who care equally about the future of our planet and the prosperity of the economy. I hope that we will all leave the conference with new inspiration and encouragement for our contributions to realizing the economy of the future.

The conference is part of a series of public discussions organized by the Green Party in the German Bundestag under the title “Shifting Finance – Capital for the Social-Ecological Transformation”. What other events are planned?

That’s right – sustainable economy and finance is one of the main topics of the Green parliamentary group for the current legislative period.  The very first event will be on “World Bank reform as a key to global socio-ecological transformation?”, on 27^th September. In the run-up to the major World Bank reform meeting in October, we would like to discuss with experts, together with Deborah Düring, the Group’s development policy spokesperson, how the World Bank can be reformed to better fulfil its mission of poverty reduction and at the same time play a key role in financing the global transformation towards climate-neutrality. Another event on sustainable investments and how to move from greenwashing to real impact is already planned for next year. Further events are being planned and we would be very pleased if the readers of this newsletter would also like to contribute with suggestions.

Event note: Shifting the Trillions – Financing the Future Economy

Hybrid Congress on November 22, 2023

How can the financing of fossil energies be quickly made unattractive and dismantled? How can we specifically promote and incentivize technological leadership in CO2-neutral production processes and climate-regenerative products? How do we reliably anchor sustainable management in politics and set an example as a public authority? How do we take the special concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises into account?

The Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group wants to discuss this with numerous experts from business, science and civil society.

The event will also take place online as a video conference.