Advocacy Finalist
Ivey Foundation
Project: Building Sustainable Finance Capacity in Canada
The Ivey Foundation launched its Economy and Environment Program in 2015 to support Canada’s transition to a sustainable economy by identifying opportunities to enhance resource efficiency, foster innovation and advance the field of sustainable finance. Our work on sustainable finance has involved collaboration with financial sector leaders, business, government, academics, NGOs and other foundations to develop the capacity and expertise to align policies and capital to support Canada’s low carbon transition. Our approach to building capacity involves idea incubation, convening and consultation, research and evidence collecting, and setting up a new initiative or organization including governance structures, strategy development, funding support and other contributions.
Examples of sustainable finance initiatives that we have contributed to developing include support for the creation, formal consultation process, communication and ongoing implementation of the recommendations from the Canadian Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, and the creation and launch of the Institute for Sustainable Finance at the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University. These initiatives were started in parallel to raise the profile and importance of sustainable finance for Canada’s economic competitiveness and to provide additional capacity to support Canadian research, expertise and collaboration.