Interview: Isabelle Delas Discusses Upcoming Hybrid LuxFLAG Sustainable Investment Week

This week, Chronicle.lu had the opportunity to sit down with Isabelle Delas, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LuxFLAG, ahead of the fourth edition of the LuxFLAG Sustainable Investment Week (#LSIW22), which is taking place from Monday 17 to Wednesday 19 October 2022 at Mudam - The Contemporary Art Museum of Luxembourg.

The first edition of LSIW took place across various venues in Luxembourg City in October 2019. This three-day in-person event was designed to raise awareness of sustainable finance through a series of stand-alone events focused on topics ranging from climate finance and environmental, social and governance (ESG) to impact investing and the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Finance Goals (SDGs). #LSIW19 attracted more than 475 participants and some 35 speakers, and the event was renewed for a second edition, taking place across five days in October 2020. More than 1,000 participants from over 50 countries virtually attended #LSIW20, which took the form of 22 digital events (due to COVID-19 restrictions). The third edition took place as another fully digital five-day event in October 2021, with attendance numbers exceeding 1,500. #LSIW22 will go ahead as a three-day hybrid event, with most attendees of this year's 24 sessions expected to be on site at Mudam.

In terms of how the event has evolved since 2019, Isabelle Delas, who has a background in law and asset management and who joined the LuxFLAG team as CEO in May 2022, noted that LSIW has built on its initial success as an innovative event to become a well-established platform for sustainable finance players in Luxembourg. She explained that the goal of this event is to give LuxFLAG's Associate Members (89 at present) visibility and a platform to showcase their efforts in the field of sustainable finance – a goal which she believes LSIW has achieved over the years.

Elaborating on the first edition, Isabelle Delas said: "It was really something innovative, in the sense that we were all going to different locations of the different Associate Members of LuxFLAG to listen to their best practices and potential solutions to fight climate change, in particular". Since then, LSIW has established itself as an important annual appointment for the sustainable finance industry in Luxembourg. Ms Delas added that the event is "a unique possibility" for attendees "to listen to what is being done by all the players of the industry".

Feedback from previous editions of LSIW has been mostly positive; not everyone was satisfied with the digital format chosen for the past two editions but such decisions were made in the context of COVID-19 restrictions. Commenting on the 2021 digital edition, Isabelle Delas explained: "It was planned like that in advance and difficult to change it at the last minute". Overall, however, LSIW has proven successful, in part, according to Ms Delas, due to its variety of speakers (asset managers, law firms, audit firms, etc.) and topics.

In terms of the choice of LSIW topics, it is primarily up to participating LuxFLAG Associate Members to decide on which topics they would like to speak each year. One topic that comes up time and time again is ESG. Commenting on this, Isabelle Delas noted that there had been a strong focus on ESG in recent years, but this is just one part of the sustainable finance transition, which LuxFLAG aims to support. She recalled that "LuxFLAG was created mainly for microfinance and impact labels", adding that the independent non-profit organisation has since created a range of ESG labels within the framework of this transition. She added that ESG has become particularly relevant in the context of the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) ESG regulatory framework – one area to which certain Associate Members intend to bring clarity as part of #LSIW22.

For its part, LuxFLAG relies on its own expertise in the field of sustainable finance, developed by collaborating with asset managers, banks and insurance companies over the years, to coordinate and manage the LSIW sessions.

When asked whether #LSIW22 would focus on the current energy crisis or the ongoing war in Ukraine, Ms Delas clarified that the overall agenda did not have a "crisis" focus, although some of the speakers may choose to discuss such topics in their respective sessions. She added that the organisers felt it was important each year to do "something special" at the end of LSIW. For example, this year's closing session will feature remarks both from representatives of Luxembourg's financial regulator, the CSSF, and from the Deputy Director for Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – thus presenting different perspectives related to the subject of "Putting sustainability at the forefront of finance". The latter will address topics ranging from food insecurity and poverty alleviation to gender equality and human rights.

Overall, the hope is that #LSIW22 will "bring clarity and transparency" to attendees regarding the direction in which the sector should go, based on some of the best practices and potential solutions showcased at these events, noted Isabelle Delas.

Whilst LSIW speakers are exclusively LuxFLAG Associate Members, anyone is welcome to attend. LSIW events are free of charge, but online registration is mandatory. Speaking about the decision to keep these events free, Ms Delas explained that the goal was to reach as large an audience as possible: "Our mandate is really to support sustainable finance. If it starts to be expensive, we may not have everyone attending it and the idea is really to reach [as many] people as possible, so this is also why it stays free".

Regarding the decision to hold a hybrid edition this year, she explained that this was one of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 health crisis: the value of hybrid events. "Now, especially organising an event in October, we are still not fully out of the pandemic", she noted, adding that whilst the main idea was to bring most attendees together at Mudam, the option is there, for instance for those abroad, to tune in remotely, even if hybrid events pose additional organisational challenges.

The full programme and registration details for #LSIW22 are available online at https://luxflag.org/luxflag-sustainable-investment-week-2022/.