The Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Forum, an online conference organised by Luxembourg for Finance on 23 April 2024, featured a keynote speech from the grand duchy’s finance minister. (CSV) presented a 10-point action plan that aims to guide the finance ministry’s efforts over the next five years to develop the country’s sustainable finance ecosystem. He also emphasised the need to act quickly and collectively to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and transition to net-zero.

“As a leading international financial centre, Luxembourg is uniquely positioned to support these global efforts,” Roth commented in a press release. “We thus foresee a number of concrete actions and initiatives that my ministry will implement under these 10 priority areas over the coming months and years, together with public and private stakeholders."

Here’s what the plan includes.

1. Developing innovative solutions for global impact by expanding on Luxembourg’s blended finance activities and accelerate the financing of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through de-risking mechanisms and technical assistance.

2. Strengthening global connectivity by linking sustainable finance “thought leaders” and developing strategic partnerships.

3. Amplifying Luxembourg’s role as a sustainable finance hub by mainstreaming sustainable finance, improving the “toolbox” for sustainable investments, fostering innovation and attracting entities to the grand duchy.

4. Boosting gender finance and driving increased gender equality through its Women in Finance Charter, delivering “actionable outcomes” through the Gender Finance Task Force, increasing representation of women in the financial sector and innovating gender finance products and services. Luxembourg also aims to become a “hub” for gender lens investing.

5. Developing and attracting talents through specialised sustainable finance education programmes and expanding on the chair in sustainable finance with the University of Luxembourg.

6. Leveraging finance, mobilising capital and working with industry partners to identify opportunities and develop solutions for transitioning to a net-zero economy.

7. Going “beyond green” by building on Luxembourg’s existing strengths in climate investments to accelerate the social and governance dimensions of ESG, as well as positioning Luxembourg in areas such as biodiversity and natural capital finance.

8. Mobilising private capital for sustainability by leveraging Luxembourg’s position as an international financial centre to help direct financial flows towards achieving the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals by working with the private sector. The finance ministry will actively seek partnerships to mobilise private capital and expand partnerships within the SDG Impact Finance Initiative in order to scale catalytic capital.

9. Driving digitalisation of sustainable finance through fintech and digital solutions to improve the impact and efficiency of sustainable finance.

10. Strengthening the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative so that it can better accompany the industry’s transition towards sustainability, focusing on awareness-raising, data and implementation of international frameworks.

Day 2 of the forum will take place on Wednesday 24 April. Follow along .