Sustainable Finance Summit 2025
At the 2nd Hamburg Sustainable Finance Summit, 140 participants from finance, business, academia and politics gathered at the Patriotische Gesellschaft von 1765 to discuss concrete solutions for sustainable transformation.
Opening with insights for Hamburg’s Green Economy
Dr Jennifer Kowallik of the Ministry for Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture opened the event by outlining Hamburg’s role in the Green Economy and setting the thematic framework for the day.
Senator for Finance Dr Andreas Dressel and Second Mayor and Senator for Environment Katharina Fegebank then opened the programme with current perspectives on sustainable urban development.
How banks support companies through transformation
In his keynote, Torsten Jäger of the German Banking Association gave practical insights into how financial institutions can support companies through transformation, even in challenging times.
“ESG backlash? Or all the more reason to act now?”
Moderated by Yvonne Zwick of BAUM e.V., Mieke Lindner of Hamburger Sparkasse, Viviane Pfennig of HGV, Gabriele Maurer of Jungheinrich and Andreas Gründemann of SIGNAL IDUNA discussed how companies can find viable paths for sustainable development despite regulatory uncertainty.
International perspectives on ESG and pragmatism
After lunch, Prof. Dr Robert Eccles of Harvard University, KKR, Saïd Business School and the University of Oxford connected perspectives from the real economy and academia.
His international perspective on the ESG debate and the need for so-called “Sustainability Pragmatists” provided further food for thought for the subsequent discussions moderated by Prof. Dr Timo Busch of the University of Hamburg.
Expert insights to close the programme
Further perspectives came from Katharina Beck, Prof. Dr Wolf-Georg Ringe, Prof. Dr Kerstin Lopatta, Georg Lanfermann, Kay Bommer and Prof. Dr Alexander Bassen, covering financial policy, regulation, reporting, capital markets and sustainability.
A summary and closing remarks by Dr Karl-H. Witte rounded off the day.
Our sincere thanks go to all participants, to the joint event team from UmweltPartnerschaft Hamburg, the Sustainable Finance Research Group and FCH, and to the supporters Finanzplatz Hamburg and the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.