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Spatial Finance - Transparency Beyond Disclosure

'Spatial finance’, where geospatial data is integrated into financial theory and practice, creates a significant opportunity to increase transparency within the financial system for practitioners and data providers alike. How can the finance industry harness the opportunities that geospatial data brings?

Join Refinitiv, The Future of Sustainable Data Alliance and the Spatial Finance Institute for a webinar on Thursday 25 June, where we will discuss new technology and datasets that support a just transition to sustainable development. 

Key take-aways include:

  • Understanding what spatial finance is, and how geospatial data is collected
  • How can AI and geospatial data increase transparency within the financial system?
  • Innovation in Earth observation, remote sensing and AI, and how we can apply them across industries
  • Practical applications of geospatial data in financial decision making

Event Info
Date: This webinar is over. You can still access the webinar on-demand through the form on the right.
Time: -
Location: Complete the form on the right to access the recording
Speakers:
  • Ben Caldecott, Director, Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme & Associate Professor, University of Oxford
  • Christophe Christiaen, Sustainable Finance Lead, Satellite Applications Catapult; Co-Founder, Spatial Finance Initiative
  • Susanne Schmitt, Nature and Spatial Finance Lead, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-UK)
  • Adina Gillespie, Director, Business Development (Europe), GHGSat Inc

Moderator:
  • Julia Walker, Global Head of Government and Industry Affairs, Sustainable Finance and Risk, Refinitiv

Ben Caldecott
Director, Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme & Associate Professor
University of Oxford

Dr Ben Caldecott is the founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme. He is an Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, a Supernumerary Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford, a Visiting Researcher at The Alan Turing Institute, and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. Ben is also Senior Advisor to the Chair and CEO of the UK Green Finance Institute and the COP26 Strategy Advisor for Finance based out of the Cabinet Office.

Ben specialises in environment, energy, and sustainability issues and works at the intersection between finance, public policy, and academe, having held senior roles in each domain. Ben has authored and edited a substantial number of publications related to sustainability and is an experienced media commentator and public speaker. He has a number of board and advisory panel appointments, including with the University of Oxford Socially Responsible Investment Review Committee, The Prince of Wales’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, ATLAS Infrastructure Partners Ltd, Impact Lens Ltd, the British Standards Institution, and the Green Alliance.

He has conceived and initiated a number of initiatives related to sustainable finance. Ben founded and co-chairs the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment (GRASFI), an alliance of global research universities promoting rigorous and impactful academic research on sustainable finance. He established and leads the Sustainable Finance Theme at The Alan Turing Institute and initiated the Spatial Finance Initiative, which aims to mainstream geospatial capabilities enabled by space technology and data science into financial decision-making globally. He co-founded the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI), which is examining the legal basis for directors and trustees to consider, manage, and report on climate change-related risk, and the circumstances in which they may be liable for failing to do so.

Ben chairs the International Green Finance Coordination Group on behalf of the UK Green Finance Institute and the UK Government. He currently serves on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee and the UK Department for International Trade’s Export Guarantee Advisory Council. In his capacity as a Member of the UK Green Finance Taskforce, he chaired its Workstream on Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures (TCFD) Implementation.

Christophe Christiaen
Sustainable Finance Lead, Satellite Applications Catapult;
Co-Founder, Spatial Finance Initiative

Christophe Christiaen is the Sustainable Finance Lead at the Satellite Applications Catapult and worked with the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme to establish the Spatial Finance Initiative. He is responsible for the Catapult’s sustainable finance activities, engaging with sustainable finance stakeholders and promoting the Spatial Finance opportunity across finance and geospatial communities. Christophe started his career in corporate finance for an FMCG multinational, then joined the European Space Agency as a business analyst before joining the Catapult’s Business Strategy team.

Susanne Schmitt
Nature and Spatial Finance Lead
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-UK)

Susanne is a conservation professional with more than 20 years’ experience at the intersection of the fields of biodiversity, sustainable finance, geo-spatial intelligence, the extractives industries and sustainable natural resource management.
She is one of the founders of the WWF-SIGHT tool and approach and until recently headed the WWF-UK Conservation Intelligence team. Following her innovative work on biodiversity and extractives, sustainable finance and conservation intelligence, Susanne is now focusing on developing the exciting new area of Nature and Spatial Finance for WWF.
Working closely with other members of WWF-UK’s Sustainable Finance team and the Conservation Intelligence team, she advocates for greater use of geo-spatial and asset-level data and tools to support more sustainable financial decision making that contributes to protecting and restoring nature.
Adina Gillespie
Director, Business Development (Europe)
GHGSat Inc

Adina is responsible for GHGSat business development and expansion in Europe. She also leads on European institutional engagement and strategic partnerships with the European Space Agency and others.

Adina has nearly 20 years’ experience delivering programs and strategic advice in the application of Earth observation technology, including for governments and commercial users. For three years she headed the UK’s operational contribution to the International Charter for Space & Major Disasters, delivering situational awareness for the UK Cabinet Office and civil protection authorities around the world. In this role she also facilitated one of the International Charter’s first ever contributions to a national exercise – “Exercise Watermark” had more than 10,000 players, from blue light emergency responders to the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBRA), and remains the largest ever peacetime exercise held in the UK.

During her time with the satellite manufacturer, SSTL, Adina helped commercial customers define their Earth Observation needs for delivering specific services (e.g. infrared imaging for ocean plastic assessment, multispectral imaging for agricultural health assessments, and radar/optical satellite twins for security and defence).

She served 5 years on the EO Advisory Committee to the UK Space Agency and chaired the Industrial Advisory Group on Commercial EO Regulations. She currently serves on the Satellite Applications Catapult Advisory Group, the Regional Catapult Advisory Board, the UK Space Growth Partnership and the Advisory Board to the Spatial Finance Initiative. 
Julia Walker
Head of Government and Industry Affairs
Refinitiv

Julia is currently the Global Head of Government and Industry Affairs focusing on Sustainable Finance and Risk at Refinitiv. She is also Author/ Editor of 'Sustainable Development Goals; Harnessing business to achieve the SDGs through Finance, Technology and Law Reform' published by Wiley Uk, 2019, and contributor to 'The RegTech Book'.


The Future of Sustainable Data Alliance

Launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020, The Future of Sustainable Data Alliance was formed to ensure investors and governments have the data they need to meet the requirements of regulators, citizens and market demand for sustainable investments and portfolios.

Together with our partners, we aim to achieve the following goals:
  • Articulate future data requirements of investors and governments to accurately integrate ESG data into decision making
  • Determine data needs and how to satisfy them for investors wanting to take greater account of SDG related risks and impacts
  • Promote new capabilities - highlight the key role that new technology and data sets must play in the transition to sustainable development
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