BU and ICC collaborate on Multi-stakeholder Sustainability Workshop

BU and ICC collaborate on Multi-stakeholder Workshop to advance practical approaches to boost sustainability in export finance

Last week, on 27 and 28 February a joint workshop on sustainability organised by the Berne Union and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) brought together a multidisciplinary group of practitioners from across the industry to address practical implementation of sustainability in export finance from policy and strategy through technical analysis to delivery in concrete transactions.

• The 100 workshop participants from 24 countries included an even mix of practitioners from ESG and sustainability along with transactors in business origination and underwriting representing some 60 ECAs, banks, exporters and EPC contractors, the Berne Union, ICC, LMA and OECD
• Across the two days, discussions ranged across strategic issues around policy, sustainability frameworks multilateral initiatives through a stocktake on sustainable deal-flow to real-world perspectives from exporters, underwriters and E&S specialists on implementation in transactions
• The meeting was hosted in London by global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright and follows previous cooperation between the Berne Union and ICC around sustainability in a series of workshops which took place in 2018 and 2019
• Paul Heaney, Secretary General of the Berne Union said “This workshop served to affirm the growth of sustainable lending activity in the market as well as the critical relevance of sustainability for the future development of the industry”
• Chris Mitman, Chair of the ICC Export Sustainability Working Group said “The workshop underscored the importance of pragmatic and simplified implementation with more focus needed on impact outcomes to balance the current risk based approach ”.
• David Milligan, Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright said “Open communication and the exchange of ideas are essential to achieving real progress. It was wonderful to see so many senior stakeholders take the time to come together for a practical workshop to discuss how to best tackle some of these global challenges and enact meaningful change.”
• Participants agreed to continue engagement through future workshops online and in person

Please click here for a summary of key take-aways from the workshop