21 January 2021

“ESG on the road” is a pan-European events programme featuring external and UniCredit experts

2:00 min

Over 1,100 clients attended the fully-digital events held in Italy, Germany, Austria and the CEE, to listen to experts from issuers, investors, rating agencies and UniCredit.

 

The discussion was focused on the impact of ESG on the future of corporate financing and practical issues relating to green financing, including regulation, ratings and reporting.

 

Insights included:

"Banks act as a transmission belt and have a pioneering role, providing local advice and innovative solutions to accompany companies on their way to more sustainability".

Jan Kupfer, Deputy Head, UniCredit CIB

"I believe that it is absolutely crucial for companies not to see sustainability as a burden or a cost factor, but rather as an opportunity that opens up, not only to do good, but also to position the company".

 Andreas Helber, CFO, Baywa

“There are many companies that may not be good today, but that want to improve themselves or others that are already on their way to becoming better”.

Stephan Ertz, Head of Corporate Bonds, Union Investment

“ESG and credit ratings are equally important – each providing its own value and information. The underlying KPIs and messages of a credit rating are different from those of an ESG rating and may be contradictory for a company in the transition phase. But we do not see a contradiction providing a high credit rating to an oil producing company that has inherent ESG challenges”.

Tobias Mock, Country Head Germany, S&P

“Sustainability has become a key criterion in commercial decisions”.

Antonio Keglevich, Head of Sustainable Finance Advisory, UniCredit

“Taxonomy is especially important to capital markets because they can’t perform efficiently when everyone has the opportunity to define what sustainability actually means”.

Aldo Romani, Head of Sustainability Funding, EIB

“The transparency obligation is very important. Investors want to know what they are buying and we are very clear about it. This means if we bring a green product in the market it must be a green product also on the inside”.

Georg Grüner, Senior Finance Manager, Verbund AG

“Our strategy firmly believes in the central role that green gas and existing infrastructure can play in the transition to a fully decarbonised world”.

Sergio Molisani, SNAM Finance Insurance and Tax Director

“At the start of the year, our objectives was to be among the top 5 players in Europe by 2023 for bonds and loans linked to the ESG world. Thanks to our focus and commitment, we achieved this goal in June this year”.

Alfredo Maria De Falco, UniCredit Deputy Head of CIB and Head of CIB Italy