What We Do

Environment.  Social.  Governance.  These are not just finance industry buzzwords.  They are more than mere marketing.  Rather, ESG, and the corresponding concept of stakeholder capitalism, are at the heart of making sure that our society continues to flourish.  Yet, ESG cannot be the responsibility of a single employee or even an entire department.  In order to achieve real, meaningful, and lasting change, these concepts need to be embraced and championed by an organization’s most senior executives so that they are embedded in its corporate philosophy and strategy.  Moreover, ESG cannot be the focus of only the largest organizations who have the resources to dedicate an entire team to sustainability issues.  Indeed, leaders at both small hedge funds and $100 billion pension funds share the same responsibility to pursue growth that is both profitable and sustainable.

Finance has long been an engine that drives economic growth and innovation.  We must leverage the industry’s enormous  capital, influence, and most of all talent -- to make the world a better and more sustainable place.  Other ESG organizations exist that focus broadly on bringing together companies.  Finpublica, by contrast, concentrates on curating, cultivating and enabling individual senior finance leaders (not just sustainability experts) – to elevate ESG within their own organizations, and to work together and pursue collective ESG action throughout the financial services industry more broadly.  Finpublica will focus on encouraging and aiding individual leaders to implement new, specific, and tangible ESG projects – tailored to their specific organization.  Once implemented, ESG Encouragement will develop plans so such projects can be replicated at other organizations.  In addition to working on company specific projects, Finpublica will organize and enable finance executives to work collectively on industry-wide ESG actions that would leverage the expertise and resources of several organizations acting together.  To do all this, Finpublica will:  create and curate a community of sustainable finance leaders, provide that community (as well as the public generally) with the resources necessary to quickly understand key ESG issues without having to spend months of study, and work with finance executives, through the ESG Action Tank, to promote specific sustainable development ventures in their organizations and across the industry.   

“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth… these are one and the same fight.”

– Ban Ki-moon, former United Nations Secretary-General

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

— Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

A Community of Sustainable Finance Leaders  

Finpublica cultivates a community of senior leaders from throughout the finance ecosystem to focus on promoting sustainable change within their organizations and throughout the industry more broadly.  Finpublica captures and shares the views of industry leaders on the challenges, opportunities, and ideas for process improvements in implementing ESG initiatives (serving as a conduit not only for members but to ESG standard setters and industry bodies).  The community is connected through Finpublica’s website and social media channels (which allow members to communicate and share with one another).  It is cultivated through monthly events – including expert panels and presentations on a variety of ESG topics of interest to the membership, as well as working sessions where members can convene to discuss ESG issues within their organizations and work together (as part of the ESG Action Tank) to promote specific ESG projects across the industry more broadly.    

An Accessible ESG Resource Library   

Achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals will be hard. Having a good working knowledge of ESG shouldn’t be.  Yet, there is a literal alphabet soup of ESG abbreviations, standards, regulations, organizations, and commitments.  To become an expert on impact investing or corporate sustainability can involve hundreds of hours of learning.  But the world will not be changed by ESG experts alone.  Rather, finance leaders must be able to easily obtain a foundational understanding of ESG in order to incorporate sustainable development into their organization’s corporate philosophy and strategy.  Finpublica provides members a myriad of resources – including education,[1] news[2], and tools[3] – so that they can have the solid working understanding of key ESG issues (in a matter of minutes, not months) necessary to enable executives to promote environmental, social and governance solutions at their organizations and beyond.  

The ESG Action Tank

Through its ESG Action Tank, Finpublica unites and assists finance industry leaders to take tangible ESG action at their organizations and beyond.

Finpublica works with finance leaders to help them set and achieve new ESG goals within their organizations and to focus on ways to embed sustainable stewardship into their organization’s philosophy, mission, and business.  Based upon the initiatives implemented by leaders at individual organizations, Finpublica will create how-to manuals to provide guidance regarding how similar ESG projects can be replicated by other financial institutions.  In addition to focusing on work at individual organizations, Finpublica spearheads initiatives to promote new ESG actions across the finance sector more broadly – focusing on industry-wide projects that can promote sustainable development leveraging the talents and resources of multiple organizations.  In addition, Finpublica fosters alliances with other non-profit organizations devoted to specific ESG topics (e.g., carbon reduction, economic inclusion, political transparency) in order to connect them with finance industry leaders who will further support their programs and initiatives.  

In promoting ESG action, Finpublica leverages existing ideas, projects, and frameworks that support sustainable development.  At the same time, Finpublica explores novel and even experimental initiatives that can result in new approaches that will add to the ESG landscape.  Such initiatives can be tested and refined at a single organization and, once proven and perfected, rolled out to other institutions whose leaders are a part of the Finpublica network. 

Finpublica works collaboratively with its members to identify individual organization and industry-wide projects to pursue.  Such ESG Action Tank initiatives could include:

  • Working with finance leaders and their organizations to implement new sustainable operations projects (like powering operations through clean energy, focusing on achieving a carbon neutral supply chain, reducing waste/water consumption, or establishing a green traveler program)

  • Working with finance leaders and their organizations to develop sustainable product offerings (e.g., social finance bonds, funds where a percentage of revenues are donated to ESG-related causes, loans/credit lines/deposit accounts where interest rates are linked to achieving ESG goals)

  • Spearheading financial inclusion/economic justice projects (such as working with landlords and credit agencies to address credit invisibility by reporting rental payments or working with banks to eliminate overdraft fees in order to help the under-banked)

  • Working with finance leaders and their organizations to encourage voluntary sustainability reporting, using such frameworks as CDP, GRI, or CDSB/SASB/TCFD (which are likely to ultimately be incorporated into global ISSB standards)

  • Encouraging finance leaders and their organizations to join industry sustainability alliances (e.g., the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, the Net Zero Financial Services Provider Alliance, the Net Zero Insurance Alliance, and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero) – which commit organizations to significant carbon reduction and other sustainability goals

  • Working with financial institutions to become signatories to industry commitments, such as the UN Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, the UN Principles for Responsible Digital Payments, and the SBTi Finance science based targets

  • Encouraging finance leaders and their organizations to join subject matter alliances (e.g., 1% for the Planet, the Conservation Alliance, the Sustainable Oceans Alliance, and others) and assess what organizations best fit their goals

  • Promoting sustainable corporate governance initiatives like tying management and/or employee compensation to achieving ESG goals

  • Working with finance leaders and their organizations to support other creative initiatives, like the Priceless Planet Coalition (focused on restoring 100 million trees by 2025) and Urban Bees programs