It was time for Interview Day #5 and it was also time to go green with our Sustainability stream.
With organisations around the world doing their best to grapple with the race to Net-Zero, increasing ESG regulations and caring consumers, we loved hearing from the FinTechs around us and their innovative solutions to the biggest problems.
Our 5th Stream spotlight will give you an idea of where we might be heading to achieve a greener world.
Sustainability: Moving Beyond Net Zero and Building our Future
Refreshing Sustainability: Beyond Net Zero
Net zero is critical, but it needs to be tackled in conjunction with resilience and adaptation, involving a just transition for all species. The scale to which this is needed requires:
1.Technology to catalyse solutions accurately and efficiently;
2.Finance to enable rapid and fair deployment. This presents a vast opportunity for sustainability and FinTech to intersect on so many challenges, from predicting the next pandemic to protecting endangered fauna.
By embracing sustainability holistically, businesses can unlock tremendous commercial potential.
Untapped Potential: A Plethora of Opportunities
By embracing sustainability holistically, businesses can unlock tremendous commercial potential. From incentivising responsible behaviour to analysing reef damage and measuring cybersecurity risks, the possibilities are endless. This extends beyond the “usual suspects” of decarbonisation and green finance to encompass a spectrum of areas, many are indeed still undefined and waiting to be formed and tackled.
Businesses that embrace FinTech are able to forecast and manage risks and harness new business opportunities more nimbly and appropriately.
FinTech: The Catalyst for Transformative Change
With their ability to revolutionise accuracy, accountability, and audit-ability of data critical to a business’s responsible journey to net zero, businesses that embrace FinTech are able to forecast and manage risks and harness new business opportunities more nimbly and appropriately. They are also often able to tap into capital more economically and widely, thereby helping to accelerate progress towards a sustainable future.
Empowering Sustainability Champions: The Financial Innovation Lab
I am proud to serve as the sustainability sponsor at the Financial Innovation Lab . We have the privilege to support exceptional founders to navigate the critical early stages of starting a business. By joining the Hub, these incredible individuals and the businesses they lead become part of a rich ecosystem of entrepreneurs, partners, and mentors, fostering learning, growth, and collaboration.
A Call to Action: Build Our Sustainable Future Together
Reaching net zero through a just transition requires a seismic shift in mindsets, operating models, and capital allocation. Governments and private markets must prioritize investments that support and accelerate our sustainable future. Only by harnessing technology, particularly the transformative power of fintech, we may be able to achieve our goals at the pace needed.
Welcome to the Lab: We Look Forward to Meeting You
We are excited to meet the 2024 FIL cohort. Which of these will make headlines with their phenomenal additional and authentic positive impact on our world in the next three to five years? These founders’ innovative ideas and commitment to leaving no person nor other species behind in our global race to net zero are crucial to enabling a just transition to net zero. Together with Accenture’s brilliant people, partners and clients, we can build a more resilient and equitable future for all.
Tasneem Mayet, Financial Services Sustainability SME, Accenture
Keep an eye out for some exciting Future Tech offerings as we reveal our FinTech cohort for 2024!