The European Union is offering a virtual half-day workshop entitled: "Green & social Impact – New models" under the EaSI Technical Assistance programme for social enterprise finance providers. The workshop will take place online between 13.00 and 17.00 (CET).

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Wolfgang Spiess-Knafl will discuss the general context and the business models that consider environmental and social impact. Examples include ugly fruits, urban farming, carbon footprint trackers, upcycling, waste recovery, energy cooperatives, ridesharing, refurbishments, or ethical fashion. These examples can be classified in different categories depending on how they combine green and social objectives.

Thomas Schiller will introduce the participants to the tools which help to integrate greenhouse gas emissions in the investment-decision process. He will present methodologies but also give a short overview of green finance and selected public instruments to fund interventions.

Anton Gigov will lead the last session of the workshop. This part will cover a development and investment partnership in the Pacific Ocean. It has developed an investment pipeline of $75 million and includes waste and plastics management, fisheries or agriculture. All projects consider multiple environmental and social factors and the insights the team has generated are transferable to other regional contexts.

The three speakers will deliver an interactive online session.

Speakers

• Thomas Schiller is Managing Director of MACS, and works as a financial consultant and development banker. Thomas believes consulting and management services in the utility sectors should gather economists and engineers as well as social scientists in their intenational core teams to develop sustainable solutions. Thomas has experience in micro- and macro-economic policy analysis as well as detailed sector assessments in the fields of finance, water and energy. His background has given him the expertise to develop comprehensive finance strategies for network utilities, which include building institutional and policy frameworks.

• Anton Gigov is a co-founder at Matanataki (Fijian word for ‘action’), a development and investment partnership for blue and green businesses in Fiji. Matanataki works with entrepreneurs and operators to develop businesses and projects contributing to the health of the Great Sea Reef in Fiji, the world’s third longest barrier reef system. Matanataki is partner of WWF’s Great Sea Reef Resilience Programme and UN’s “Investing in Coral Reefs and the Blue Economy” program.

• Wolfgang Spiess-Knafl works at the European Center for Social Finance, which delivers EaSI Technical Assistance support on behalf of the European Commission. He has an engineering background and started his career in investment banking. Wolfgang has been active in the field of social finance since 2009. His current main interests are emerging new technologies and their intersection with social and environmental objectives.

A background paper will be shared ahead of the workshop to help to structure the discussions.

How to participate?

If you are interested in participating in this event, please fill in the participation form.  

The number of participants is limited, therefore we invite you to send your application as soon as possible and at the latest 25 May.

The webinar is financed under the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) and participation is free of charge.

Background

Climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world. To overcome these challenges, Europe put forward a new growth strategy, the European Green Deal, to make the EU’s economy sustainable. The aim of the strategy is to transform the Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. It will also aim to decouple economic growth from resource use; and leave no person or place behind. The European Green Deal intends to turn climate and environmental challenges into opportunities, and making the transition just and inclusive for all.

Social enterprise finance intermediaries are used to putting social impact at the heart of their support. Lately, they are increasingly considering green criteria in their investment decisions, in relation to climate, the environment and biodiversity.

Although we are still at an early stage of this development, this trend is likely to grow. This is because environmental issues and the transition to carbon neutrality are some of the biggest challenges humankind is facing in the foreseeable future. This workshop aims to highlight some of the implications and relevant practices for social enterprise finance intermediaries.