Luxembourg, Kenya and Kazakhstan to address the RFI Summit
Summit will identify ways for responsible finance to facilitate a $12 trillion opportunity
April 12, 2017, Zurich, Switzerland – The organizers of the Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Summit 2017 are pleased to announce that H.E. Marc Bichler, Ambassador-at-Largefor Climate Change and Human Rights at Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs will deliver a keynote address during the Summit.
Ambassador Bichler joins a diverse lineup of keynote speakers bringing their experience in promoting green finance, Islamic finance, FinTech and financial inclusion. The Summit’s packed line-up of keynote speakers includes H.E. Governor Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre, and Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.
In his current role, Ambassador Bichler’s remit covers two issues of critical importance to responsible finance which are at the heart of international cooperation to support positive environmental and social impact. For many years, these issues have been advanced within the business and finance community through the United Nations Global Compact.
The Global Compact has more recently been supplemented by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which brings private and public sector actors from developed and emerging markets together to channel their sizeable resources to deliver positive impact for society-at-large. These shared values are represented in the RFI Summit’s theme of “Building Bridges, Expanding Impact” and are driven by an opportunity that the Business Commission on Sustainable Development estimated to be worth more than $12 trillion.
Commenting on the Summit, Ambassador Bichler said: “I am honored to be invited to deliver a keynote speech during the RFI Summit 2017. I look forward to fruitful discussion of the role for finance as a catalyst to connect private and public sector efforts to address issues relating to climate change and human rights.”
Blake Goud, CEO of the Responsible Finance & Investment Foundation (RFI) commented: “The addition of Ambassador Bichler will enhance the discussion at the RFI Summit by bringing his deep experience with managing challenging global issues. Our keynote speakers together bring decades of experience from the highest levels of government, diplomacy and policy-making specifically focused on the role that finance plays in delivering environmental and social benefits.”
Mounir Khouzami, Co-founder and President of Swiss Arab Network, added: “We are excited with the addition of Ambassador Bichler to our outstanding line-up of speakers that will make the RFI Summit 2017 a successful bridge between different areas with the responsible finance industry. At the conclusion of the Summit, we hope there will be a better understanding of how various areas of responsible finance can work together to better address expectations of society-at-large.”
Please visit the RFI Summit website at www.rfisummit.org to register for one of the limited remaining tickets!
