WHY SUSTAINABLE FINANCE HAS NOT (YET) DELIVERED SYSTEMIC TRANSFORMATION?

9 : 30 a.m. - 10 : 00 a.m.

Over the past decade, sustainable finance has grown rapidly, supported by strong narratives, expanding frameworks, and increasing market participation. Yet a persistent gap remains between stated ambitions and actual capital allocation, raising fundamental questions about the incentives, constraints, and blind spots that continue to limit its ability to drive systemic change. Why has sustainable finance struggled to translate commitments and frameworks into meaningful shifts in capital allocation? What structural incentives or constraints continue to prevent financial markets from fully integrating long-term risks? What would need to change for sustainable finance to move from incremental progress to systemic transformation?

KEYNOTE SPEAKER :

Tariq Fancy, Lecturer & Founder, Stanford GSB & Rumie

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE IN TRANSITION: A NEW GLOBAL REALITY

10 : 00 a.m. - 10 : 45 a.m.

Financial markets depend on trust, including trust in pricing, comparability, and institutional coherence, yet that trust is increasingly tested by climate volatility, geopolitical fragmentation, regulatory divergence, and the rapid expansion of sustainable finance frameworks. As taxonomies, disclosure regimes, transition standards, and supervisory expectations multiply across jurisdictions, this evolving architecture aims to strengthen transparency and risk pricing while raising deeper questions about complexity, comparability, and market integrity. Has the proliferation of sustainable finance frameworks improved risk pricing or introduced complexity that blurs market signals? Are jurisdictions converging toward credible global norms, or drifting into fragmentation that weakens investor confidence? What reforms are needed to restore clarity, coherence, and durable trust in sustainable capital markets?

MODERATOR :

Anne-Marie Monette, Managing Director, Sustainability Advisory & Finance, National Bank

PANEL :

Bertrand Millot, Head of Sustainability, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)

Sean Kidney, CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative

Sarah Kapnick, Global Head of Climate Advisory, JP Morgan

10 : 45 a.m. - 11 : 15 a.m.

THE ESG MOMENT OF TRUTH : WHAT MUST BE ABANDONED, FIXED, OR INTEGRATED?

11 : 15 a.m. - 12 : 00 p.m.

As ESG frameworks, standards, and disclosure requirements continue to multiply, financial institutions face growing complexity in assessing what truly drives risk management and long-term value. This session examines whether ESG, in its current form, is strengthening market integrity and systemic resilience or contributing to fragmentation, information overload, and declining credibility. Which elements of today's ESG architecture meaningfully improve financial decision-making, and which create noise without impact? How can regulators, standard-setters, and market participants reduce fragmentation while preserving comparability and rigor? What reforms are necessary to restore confidence that ESG frameworks effectively address systemic risks rather than merely expand disclosure?

MODERATOR :

Marina Severinovsky, Head of Sustainability, Americas, Schroders

PANEL :

Rommie Johnson, Technical Director, IFRS Foundation

Ulric Adom, Chief Financial Officer, Aluminium & Lithium, Rio Tinto

Rosa van den Beemt, Director of Stewardship, Eclipx Family Office

TRANSITION FINANCE IN PRACTICE : LESSONS FROM THE BLUE ECONOMY

1: 00 p.m. - 1 : 45 p.m.

Coastal infrastructure, maritime transport, port systems, and marine ecosystems illustrate the complexity of managing transition in sectors exposed simultaneously to accelerating physical climate risks and deep global economic interdependence. Using the blue economy as a real-world lens, this session examines how capital allocation, operational constraints, and infrastructure planning must align to deliver credible decarbonization while preserving resilience and competitiveness. How can financial institutions, port operators, and freight companies better align investment timelines with operational realities in capital-intensive maritime systems? What distinguishes credible transition pathways in ports and shipping from incremental adjustments that risk prolonging structural exposure? How should private operators, investors, and public authorities share responsibility for balancing trade continuity, energy security, and long-term climate resilience?

MODERATOR :

Romina Reversi, Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Investment Banking Americas, CA-CIB

PANEL :

Matthew Lawton, Head, Impact Fixed Income, T. Rowe Price

Manveer Gill, Sustainable Finance Lead, CDP

Pierre-Luc Lamontagne, Carbon Solutions Lead, McGill St Laurent

AFFORDABILITY, SOCIAL STABILITY, AND FINANCIAL RISK: AN INTERCONNECTED CHALLENGE

2 : 00 p.m. - 2 : 45 p.m.

Social inequalities are increasingly shaping the risk landscape, influencing political stability, economic performance, and the resilience of financial systems. As the transition accelerates, uneven impacts across households, regions, and sectors can amplify vulnerabilities, affect affordability, and create conditions that disrupt markets and challenge long-term risk management. How do social inequalities translate into financial and insurance risk across markets, regions, and asset classes? In what ways can affordability constraints and uneven transition impacts affect market stability, insurability, and capital allocation? What role should insurers, investors, and public authorities play in anticipating and mitigating these risks while maintaining economic resilience and social cohesion?

MODERATOR :

Pauliina Murphy, Engagement and Communications Director, World Benchmarking Alliance

PANEL :

Brian J. Kernohan, Senior Vice President & Senior Managing Director, Environment & Policy, Chief Sustainability Officer, Manulife Investment Management

Christelle Lim-Severe, Sustainability Practice Leader, Beneva

Simon Rawson, Executive Director, Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD)

Carolyn Whitzman, Adjunct Professor and Senior Housing Researcher, School of Cities, University of Toronto

2 : 45 p.m. - 3 : 15 p.m.

SECURITY, DEFENCE AND SUSTAINABLE FINANCE : THE NEW FRONTIER

3 : 15 p.m. - 4 : 00 p.m.

As geopolitical tensions rise and governments reassess strategic autonomy, defense investment is rapidly moving back to the center of economic and financial policy. In Canada, recent initiatives aimed at strengthening defense innovation and investment illustrate a broader shift that is forcing financial markets to confront how sustainability frameworks intersect with security imperatives, fiduciary duty, and systemic resilience. This shift raises fundamental questions for the sustainable finance community. How is the renewed focus on defense investment, including emerging Canadian initiatives, reshaping capital allocation and financial risk assessment? Should defense and strategic resilience be reconsidered within sustainable finance frameworks, or do they challenge their underlying principles? What role should financial institutions, investors, and public authorities play in reconciling fiduciary duty, national security, and long-term systemic stability?

MODERATOR :

Laura Wood, Partner, Global Government Defence Leader, PwC Canada

PANEL :

Hélène V. Gagnon, Chief People and Sustainability Officer, CAE

François-Joseph Khoury, Executive Director - Private Equity, Tikehau Capital

Priti Shokeen, Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Investment, TD Asset Management

THE CLIMATE ALLOCATION OPPORTUNITY: 2026 REALITY CHECK

4 : 00 p.m. - 4 : 45 p.m.

The climate opportunity is broad, but capital is anything but uniform. This discussion will explore how different investor archetypes are navigating the landscape in 2026, building long-term conviction, and adjusting investment strategies in a fast-evolving, more complex market.How are different investor types underwriting the same transition risks and opportunities? Where are the biggest gaps between narrative and actual investment and Which strategies are proving resilient as volatility persists? Which segments are crowded, and which remain undercapitalized?

MODERATOR : 

Delia Cristea, Partner, Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, Power Sustainable

PANEL : 

Saloua Benkhouya, VP, Private Equity and Impact Investing, Fonds de solidarité FTQ

Seth Kirkham, Chief Investment Officer, Global Equities, Galvanize

This theatre production is presented as part of the Sustainable Finance Summit. Admision is free for Summit participants. Non-participants may purchase tickets through the Summit's registration platform.

5  : 30 p.m. - 7 : 30 p.m.

The eighth episode of Porte Parole’s acclaimed Assembly series tackles polarization around Canada’s energy transition. In 2023, four real people with starkly opposing views — a Calgary oil and gas entrepreneur, an Indigenous engineer working at a pipeline company, a Toronto environmentalist lobbying for divestment from fossil fuel production, and a BC climate activist canvassing in rural areas — sat down for an unscripted dinner conversation. Their raw exchange became the foundation for The Assembly – Energy in Canada, a play crafted entirely from their words, capturing the conflict and humanity at the heart of the energy debate.

The play will be presented for the first time in its full-length version, in a staged reading format (approx. 1h40).

ABOUT THE ASSEMBLY

The Assembly is a documentary theatre series by Porte Parole that brings together real people with sharply opposing views on divisive social issues for an unscripted conversation over dinner. The dialogue — recorded, transcribed, and edited — becomes the verbatim script for a stage play.

Since 2018, The Assembly has travelled from Canada to Germany, Brazil, and Lithuania, staging eight editions that each reflect their local context and explore what it takes to find common ground in a polarized world. 

ABOUT PORTE PAROLE

Founded in 2000 by Annabel Soutar and Alex Ivanovici, Porte Parole creates and produces original documentary plays about Canadian contemporary life (J’aime Hydro, Projet Polytechnique, Seeds, The Assembly series, and more) that inspire diverse audiences to think critically together about current social issues.

In a world marked by polarization, misinformation, and social isolation, the company strives to be a living agora where people come together to engage with divergent points of view and enrich public debate. Based in Montreal, Porte Parole’s productions tour across the world.

To learn more, porteparole.org.

9 : 30 a.m. - 10 : 15 a.m.

10 : 30 a.m. - 12 : 00 p.m.

IMPACT INVESTING AND FIRST NATIONS : BUILDING A SHARED FUTURE

1 : 00 p.m. - 1 : 45 p.m.

This session explores how investment can unlock economic opportunities for Indigenous communities, with a focus on entrepreneurship and business succession. Through the IPNQ experience, speakers will highlight socio-economic gaps, investment strategies, and opportunities tied to major infrastructure projects. A grounded discussion on how investors can support Indigenous entrepreneurs and drive long-term impact.

MODERATOR :

Sophie Robillard, Vice-President, Private Equity and Impact Investing - Business Advisory Services and Chief Sustainability Officer, Fonds de solidarité FTQ

SPEAKER :

Askan Sioui, General Manager, IPNQ

2 : 00 p.m. - 2 : 45 p.m.

3 : 15 p.m. - 4 : 00 p.m.

4 : 15 p.m. - 5 : 00 p.m.