It is a real pleasure to be here with all of you once again, at the now traditional IESE banking conference, which brings us together every winter to review the state of the sector. And frankly, despite being a mature sector, as the title of this conference rightly suggests, it continues to face enormous challenges and transformations. In short, we have not been bored in recent years.
The title of our talk today refers precisely to one of these new challenges: the United Nations 2030 Agenda. This is a very broad agenda, embodied in what are known as the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. These goals, which number 17, may come as a surprise to the layperson on first encounter. Indeed, they are very wide-ranging in scope because the United Nations designed and developed them with not only developed countries such as Spain in mind, but also emerging countries and even fragile countries, with still insufficient economic development. In any case, Spain also has outstanding tasks with regard to these goals, particularly those relating to action against climate change, with all that this entails.
The SDGs also include goals such as “reducing inequalities” or “peace, justice and strong institutions”. These goals, which seem to fall more within the political-institutional sphere than a purely economic one, are an integral part of the SDGs and will undoubtedly shape the actions of both governments and the private sector in the coming decades.
Within these goals, preserving the environment—and, consequently, the fight against climate change, as set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement—poses the most complex challenges. As a result, the actions of economic agents and, above all, the banking sector in this area will be vital to safeguarding the future of the planet itself. Why does the financial sector become so relevant in this context? It seems obvious that a substantial element in achieving these targets will be financing. Sustainable finance thus becomes a fundamental lever for this challenge, but it will not be enough to invest in transforming a social and productive model; it will also be necessary to require that financing be subject to strict compliance with ESG criteria, that is, Environment, Social and Governance (or Environment, Social and Governance). Sustainable finance is therefore the financial sector’s tangible commitment to the SDGs, and the response to the challenges they represent.
José María Roldán, Chairman of the Spanish Banking Association
