Professor Ulrich Volz appointed to the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the German ...

21 June 2022

Dr Ulrich Volz, Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance , has been appointed to the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the German Federal Government. The Advisory Council comprises 34 members from the real economy, the financial sector, civil society and academia.

The Advisory Council operates as an independent multi stakeholder dialog platform and advises the German government on the further development and implementation of its sustainable finance strategy. In order to reflect the broadest possible spectrum of knowledge and to ensure optimal advice, the honorary advisory board members are supported by observers, including the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, KfW, and GIZ.

The Advisory Council held its inaugural meeting at the Federal Ministry of Finance on 10 June 2022. The meeting was led by Dr Florian Toncar, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Stefan Tidow, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.

For over a decade, Professor Volz has been advising governments, central banks and financial supervisors, international organisations, and development agencies on matters of sustainable finance and investment. He was part of the UN Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System that was launched in 2014 and has published widely on topics including the role of central banks and supervisors in address climate and environmental challenges and approaches to scaling up sustainable finance. Professor Volz is a director of the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment and a member of the CEPR Sustainable Finance Research and Policy Network. He serves on the advisory panel of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for German Net Zero (GFANZ) and the World Bank’s Green Recovery Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Working Group. He recently contributed to the NGFS-INSPIRE Study Group on Biodiversity and Financial Stability. He has also led numerous capacity building programmes on climate risks and sustainable finance for central banks, supervisors, and financial institutions.

About the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the German Federal Government

The German government established the first Sustainable Finance Advisory Council in 2019. As set out in the coalition agreement, the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council will continue to advise the German government during the 20th legislative term and support it in developing Germany into a leading location for sustainable finance in line with the guiding principle of financial stability.

Within the framework of the German Sustainable Finance Strategy, the financial sector is to contribute to financial market stability and finance the real economic activities necessary to achieve the United Nations’ sustainability goals and the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Sustainable Finance also makes an important contribution to strengthening Germany’s competitiveness.

The background to the initial convening is a decision taken by the State Secretaries’ Committee for Sustainable Development on February 25, 2019, at the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and in close consultation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

© German Federal Ministry of Finance / Photothek.jpg

About the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance

The SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance aims to advance the transition to an equitable, low-carbon economy by providing a forum for interdisciplinary research and teaching on sustainable finance and investment. Located in the SOAS Department of Economics, it seeks to enhance the knowledge and understanding of sustainable finance in both the Global North and South and act as a focal point for policy debates in this area. Located at SOAS, University of London, in the heart of one of the world’s leading financial hubs, the Centre’s research and policy work addresses pressing issues including green financial governance; the impact of climate risks on public and corporate finances; the scaling up of low-carbon and resilient investment in vulnerable countries; climate risk insurance; mobilising financing for the Sustainable Development Goals; inclusive green finance; low-carbon innovation policy and renewable energy investments; and the role of public financial institutions in advancing the green transition.

Researchers at the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance are working with national and international partners, with funding from different institutions, including the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the United Nations Environmental Programme, the MAVA Foundation, the ClimateWorks Foundation, the European Climate Foundation, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, and the World Resources Institute.

The Centre is running an annual ‘Summer School on Sustainable Finance and Climate Change’ and a master’s course on ‘ Green Finance ’. Centre staff have convened major capacity building and executive training programmes in sustainable finance and climate risk for numerous central bank and commercial financial institutions. Centre staff have also convened courses in climate negotiations, and climate and sustainable finance for the UK FCDO and the UK Cabinet Office.