EJQ3 - Winter 2025 - Journal - Page 45
Hot Sector News
THIS EDITION we’re putting the spotlight on the topic of sustainable 昀椀nance. The federal government recently announced its plan to develop a
green and transition “taxonomy” to provide a clear de昀椀nition for a green
or transition investment, helping eliminate confusion and prevent misleading claims about environmental bene昀椀ts. Supported by Canada’s 25
largest 昀椀nancial institutions, this initiative is crucial for accelerating capital 昀氀ows to climate solutions.
With this in mind, we engaged Maya Saryyeva, interim executive director
at the Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF) at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University to provide her perspective on the key issues surrounding the state of sustainable 昀椀nance.
The ISF, a pan Canadian hub of expertise and collaboration for advancing sustainable 昀椀nance, focuses on developing research, education, and
collaboration that support the shift to a low-carbon economy. What are
some key initiatives ISF focused on for 2025
According to Saryyeva, ISF is getting nature on the balance sheet. “ISF’s
ongoing work will help Canadians understand the full value of the services nature provides us, which are currently severely underappreciated.
According to our preliminary research, wetlands in Canada alone provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of water 昀椀ltration and carbon sequestration
services every year,” states Saryyeva.
There are also some important collaborations underway. ISF is working with
the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures to encourage companies
in Canada to voluntarily disclose their impacts on nature and risk from loss of
natural assets, as many now do on climate. Nature is becoming a prevalent topic
in sustainability reporting.
The organization is also collaborating on a three-part series on Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs). Carbon credits have signi昀椀cant potential to scale investment in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, but there have been questions
about quality, veri昀椀cation and actual emissions reductions. ISF’s work informs
users about the workings of VCMs and assessing the quality of credits, and makes
recommendations to improve the credibility of markets going forward.
A decision-useful “playbook” for 昀椀nancial institutions is also being built to help
accelerate investments in transition 昀椀nance in Canada. Additionally, ISF will
launch a data portal that consolidates important datasets and insights related to
natural assets and nature risk, and tracks industrial greenhouse gas emissions
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • W I N T ER 2 02 5 • P AGE 4 5
