Event Review: Global Impact in Finance Summit

Release time：2022-04-29    

The Global Impact in Finance Summit (GIFS), organized by the first cohort of the FMBA FT+ program at Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University (FISF) took place online April 16th and attracted high level speakers and the best students from prestigious MBA schools from around the world.

GIFS is an action-driven symposium that brings together MBA students from around the world to focus attention on thought leadership to support our ever challenging and changing planet.

For this groundbreaking event, participants came from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Nankai University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Cornell University, London School of Economics and Political Science, University College London, University of Glasgow and  as well as those from different schools of Fudan University.

The one-day virtual gathering featured keynote speeches by top academic and industry leaders in green finance, a deep dive workshop in Climate FinTech and a Practitioner Stage that highlighted companies in the launch, growth and maturity stages of development with innovative technology solution focused on decarbonization.

Timothy Spillane, member of the student organizing committee, kick off the event as host of the morning session and highlighted the interactive focus of GIFS by engaging participants in an online networking session. Vivian Zhang, the head of MF, MBA and PhD program, shared the story behind GIFS as a student-led initiative driven by thought leadership and passion for learning and development.

Opening with a series of interactive questions, Professor Nedopil provoked students’ thinking of how environmental problems, caused by excessive carbon emissions, triggered economic and political crises and how to view the business and investment opportunities behind these crises from an international and financial perspective.

Mr. Joe Tian focused on China’s domestic carbon neutralization investment, Mr. Lixin Tian shared Detong’s investment philosophy in ESG field and analyzed investment cases in hydrogen energy industry in detail. At last, Mr. Tian gave students of business schools his suggestions on career development in the field of carbon neutrality.

The New Energy Nexus workshop was hosted by Andrew Chang and Yafu Zhao, the China program director and head of climate fintech respectively and was designed as a highly interactive session for the full-time FMBA students. The speakers led a deep dive into New Energy Nexus’ mission to accelerate climate innovations, leverage fintech for change, and galvanize people to act. After covering exciting applications of climate fintech in China, the students discussed their personal experiences of green innovations and possible ways to increase traction. With this established call to action, the students drafted a pledge of how as financial professionals they can promote a community of mindful investing and decarbonization.

Student-led pledge

As Fudan Fanhai students we strive to develop more sustainable and economically responsible solutions in support our ever challenging and changing planet. Take actions to promote and support the rapid deployment of decarbonization thought leadership, improved disclosures, creating community, improving tracking, and increasing global cooperation.

Trancy Wu, member of the student organizing committee and the host of afternoon session, launched the Practitioner Stage and invited four entrepreneurs and practitioners in the field of advanced manufacturing onto the virtual stage. Their sharing touched upon carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), electric vehicle, energy, high-performance materials and corporate green capital deployment respectively.

The first speaker was Mr. Yingtian Yu, CEO of Roxyl Carbon. Mr. Yu introduced the current CCUS technology, R&D and its business model, and answered students’ question of market competition and Roxyl Carbon’s technical advantages of deploying CCUS.

The second speaker was Andrew Chen, a global sustainable procurement expert from Polestar. He shared Polestar’s concept of sustainable design and plan of achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

The third speaker was Zhiwei An, director of the Office of Investment and Assessment Management of China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC). Mr. An shared CMEC’s strategic planning within the framework of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the thoughts on enterprise transformation and development in the context of carbon neutrality.



And the fourth speaker was Dr. Shuang Liu, Senior Manager at NOVA Ventures of Saint-Gobain. Dr. Liu introduced the sustainable development layout of Saint-Gobain, as well as its roadmap and strategy in carrying out material R&D and maintaining innovation as a mature enterprise with a long history.

Lastly, congratulations to our winners of vlog competition: the first prize went to Wanting Du from Tongji University!

As a member of the GIFs organizing team, I really enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with the New Energy Nexus team on a topic that I’m passionate about. It’s been a great introduction to an enthusiastic community of climate driven finance professionals, and I hope to continue to collaborate further in the future.
Timothy Spillane

It is my great honor to participate in this summit as a member of the organizing committee and event host. In Shanghai where it is deeply affected by the new waves of epidemic, we have successfully completed the GIFS. Even though we chose the online format, working closely with my teammates, the experience still made me feel the intimacy: even though we are physically far apart, we are still closely connected in spirit. This summit was held by our FMBA full-time inaugural class. There were gains and regrets, but also memories to be cherished. Lastly, I would like to send a message to the next class of junior students, hope you will make the summit more meaningful and impactful, and make it a tradition to be proud of in our school!
Trancy Wu

Special Thanks
We would like to express our deep appreciation for the support offered by the following individuals and organizations.