“Startups with at least one female founder only received 2.3% of global venture funding in 2020, but they often end up being more profitable. Women founders are underfunded yet they over-deliver.” – Helene Li and Virginia Wilson, two inspiring women leaders shared on our panel at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2021.

Glad to be part of the panel “Women in sustainable finance and ESG efforts”, moderated by the charismatic Osman Ershad Faiz. We believe environmental education should form a core part of corporate ESG strategies to ensure transformative paradigm shift towards net zero.

We shared our views on whether banks are doing enough on ESG after the $130 trillion assets pledge for Paris Agreement by financial institutions at COP26. There is the need for more granular definition of ESG risks in banks, and to integrate ESG fundamentally into the lending policies and due diligence, especially for high-risk sectors.

“Change starts with ordinary people doing extraordinary things”. Although massive financing gaps for the SDGs are yet to be bridged, we see more women emerging in the field to advance sustainable finance in various capacities.

I would like to take this opportunity to honour all women dedicating their efforts to build a more sustainable future. You are contributing to this extraordinary cause, a part of the positive change.

Of course, have to use the #showyourstripes background! The colour bands represent global mean temperature from 1850 to 2020 – you can see the world is on track to warming.

Further reading: Women in Workplace Report

Sibos is an annual banking and financial conference, typically attended by C-suite industry professionals. It was quite a surprise when Nancy Murphy invited me to be part of this conference, speaking in the networking event “Women of Sibos” with the trailblazing woman leader Kristy Duncan.

The paradigm of Sibos is transforming towards diversity and inclusion, women empowerment, sustainable finance and other emerging themes for social good.

In our dialogue, we have addressed the following questions:

• At this pivotal moment for women and for the environment – how can women build back better?
• Being the changemaker – where do you start?
• How to drive positive change in the financial
  industry

Thank you Nancy Murphy, Erin Thornton and many other passionate colleagues for making this happen!