Gender Equality and Capital Markets

We were very excited to offer you an opportunity to elevate your organisation's impact with our CPD-certified training programme on Gender Equality in Global Capital Markets. This free training session, facilitated by top experts from the UN SSE, UN Women, and the World Bank’s IFC, was designed to empower companies and market participants with the knowledge and tools to drive meaningful change.

Gender equality is a critical yet complex topic that is too often overlooked in the workplace. As a core element of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 5) and a fundamental human right, it is increasingly vital to capital markets and businesses worldwide. 

Duringt his session, participants built awareness of sustainable finance through understanding the financial implications of gender (in)equality, identifying ways to improve corporate reporting and literacy on gender equality, and evaluating the market opportunities that these improvements afford.  

The training provided a step-by-step practical guidance to help participants build the foundations needed to:

• Prepare your organisation by understanding the landscape, language and purpose of gender equality
• Align your organisational objectives to global principles, local requirements and peer practices
• Implement your objectives in a way that capitalises on market promotion and products
• Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders for maximum value realisation

Participants also had the opportunity to learn from guest speakers sharing their insights: 

• Heather Larson, Associate Director of Research, Equileap.
• Nitharshini Thevathas, Senior Index Business Developer, Euronext.
• Judith Stein, Investor Relations Senior Manager, Euronext.

Format: A two-part online interactive workshop in English, with Q&A and live facilitation. 
The first two modules (Prepare and Align) were presented in Part 1 of the training, and the second two modules (Implement and Communicate) were presented in Part 2 of the training. 
Participants had to join both parts of the training, as the second part built on concepts developed in the first.

To receive the certificate of participation, attendance at both sessions was mandatory.

Date: 

• Part 1: Wednesday 11 September 2024, 14:00 CET.
• Part 2: Monday 16 September 2024, 14:00 CET.

Audience: This training has been developed to benefit staff at leadership level (Board and C-suite) as well as operational level or management staff at any organisation. No prior experience or expertise on the topic is necessary, and male participants are particularly encouraged to join.

Summary: During the webinar, Helena Viñes Fiestas, chair of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance (PSF), introduced the Platform's role in advising the European Commission on sustainable finance policies. She reflected on the key achievements of the past five years, such as the development of the EU Taxonomy, SFDR, and CSRD, while also noting areas where the next Commission should pursue. Helena discussed the important advisory role the PSF has played in shaping these policies and looked ahead to the priorities for the newly appointed Commission. Transition Plans, a crucial topic for companies under CSRD and the upcoming CS3D, were highlighted, with Helena explaining the current work being done to develop credible transition plans for companies. She also addressed the upcoming reporting requirements for SMEs in 2027 under CSRD, explaining the PSF’s work to help SMEs reporting on environmental topics. Finally, Helena spoke about the ongoing review of SFDR, explaining the reasons behind the consultation and outlining the PSF’s recommendations to reshape the regulation.