8th Edition of the Ethical Finance & Sustainability

Human civilization faces an existential threat in the 21st Century from ecological breakdown and anthropogenic climate change. To tackle these threats there have been various international efforts carried out under the auspices of the United Nations and especially since the early 1990s the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The first UNFCCC Conference of the Parties convention took place in Berlin in 1995. The Paris agreement of 2015 signals a further development in global cooperation to tackle the problem of climate change. Paris was a major symbolic milestone, involving agreement from major emitters and most sovereign nations to work to reduce carbon emissions, ideally to maintain average global temperatures to 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels, but if not then 2° C. Each country has set “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs) and set out plans to (in some cases eventually) achieve reductions in accordance with these NDCs. Moreover, many countries have subsequently committed to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century. The critical question today focuses on the adequacy of targets and policies to achieve them. Technology transfer, rapid investment, and abundant finance are widely considered crucial, though many other questions remain regarding “just transition” and other issues. In any case, it seems highly likely that achieving targets will require a major shift in socioeconomic and financial activity. Clearly, there is great need for academic engagement across the sciences and social sciences. It is also important to keep in mind that climate policy does not occur in a vacuum. Societies and economies already have existing infrastructure, economic foci, and ingrained structures. Transitions risks conflicts with some of these, exacerbating manifest problems, which in turn may reduce public commitment to change and fragment any emerging political consensus. The recent cost of living crisis induced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine is only the latest and most high profile of possible problems. With all of this in mind, contributions to the conference are expected to yield formative findings which will have profound implications for a wide range of stakeholders including policymakers, corporate decision makers, national and supranational organisations and civil society. We cordially invite academics, practitioners, and policymakers to submit proposals and papers covering these and related issues.