Climate adaptation and the necessity of UK green growth emphasized at Guernsey Sustainable Finance Seminar
The Guernsey Sustainable Finance Seminar 2025, held in London earlier this week, brought together industry leaders and experts to discuss the crucial role of the financial sector in supporting transition pathways for climate mitigation, adaptation, and green growth.
The Rt Hon Lord Alok Sharma KCMG delivered a keynote address, emphasising the urgency of sustained international action and the responsibility of the financial sector in this regard.
Two expert panels discussed the mobilization of private capital for climate-related initiatives. The first panel focused on insurance and investment in climate adaptation and disaster response. The second panel, titled "Supporting UK Green Growth and Climate Mitigation", delved into sustainable infrastructure investment, innovations in alternative proteins, and the regulatory environment needed to scale new solutions.
Justin Sykes, Managing Director at Innovest Advisory, emphasised the importance of financial engineering in blended finance for moving from proof-of-concept to scalable solutions. He encouraged the finance sector to stick to commitments, generate investment, jobs, and growth, and collaborate internationally to scale up innovative financing mechanisms.
Andreas Hadjiyannis, Director of Finance and Operations for Synthesis Capital, praised Guernsey's support of scaling climate investment and noted its ability to move at pace without compromising quality.
Petra Demarin, Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships to the Under-Secretary General, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, stressed that an investment in disaster risk reduction before anything happens is seven times cheaper than the response after the fact. She added that financial centres such as Guernsey can provide frameworks to channel investment where it is needed most.
Karen Hill, Head of Sustainable Investing for Concession Infrastructure, Aberdeen Investments, expressed support for the alignment of standards across the globe to simplify compliance.
Guernsey Finance highlighted the island's role as a hub for sustainable innovation, with a combined net asset value of over £5 billion in regulated sustainable fund regimes and robust ESG frameworks. Blended finance, which combines government funding, grants, guarantees, insurance/reinsurance, and commercial capital, was noted as a key strategy for de-risking projects in fragile markets across the world and crowding in mainstream investment.
The event reinforced Guernsey's position as a partner in global sustainable finance, offering responsive structures and regulatory support for investors and managers aligned with climate adaptation and net zero objectives. It was noted that climate finance is shifting from ad hoc responses to pre-arranged, scalable mechanisms, with anticipatory disaster finance, which protects more people at lower cost, gaining momentum.
Stephanie Glover, Strategy and Sustainable Finance Director at Guernsey Finance, emphasised the collaborative financial services community in Guernsey and its role in delivering climate-positive finance. Panellists throughout the event discussed the evolving role of financial centres in accelerating the global transition.
Moneyval has recently confirmed Guernsey's robust financial system, further solidifying its status as a trusted partner in sustainable finance. The seminar concluded with a call to action for the financial sector to embrace its role in driving positive change for the planet.
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