Sustainable Finance and Human Rights

Over the past few years, and following the adoption of the Paris climate agreement (COP21) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), responsible finance considerations, including Environmental Social Governance (i.e. ESG) factors, have increasingly been in the spotlight.

While environmental issues are very much in the focus and governance is also widely discussed (among others in terms of gender diversity and equality), less light has been shed on the "S" element, which very much relates to human rights issues (social sustainability). The trend is to introduce measurement indicators over the "S" in ESG criteria.

The global momentum around human rights is driven by:

• increased recognition in the financial community that ESG factors play a material role
• understanding that ESG factors are part of inves­tor’s responsibility towards their clients
• increased need to take the "S" in ESG more seriously and to integrate human rights considerations into assessments and decision making processes
• increased political and public pressure to move forward on this issue
• increased legal requirements at EU level to pro­tect the long-term interests of investors, benefi­ciaries and the wider financial system

In order to provide professionals working in the financial and banking sector with fundamental knowledge on Human Rights in finance, the House of Training offer a 4-hours training course that will focus on both the opportunities as well as the risks posed by integrating or failing to integrate human rights into daily business practices. The course will be based on the following topics:

• Underdstanding how human rights can be incorporated into (sustainable) finance
• Understanding the regulators requirements (current and upcoming regulations)
• Understanding the clients expectations (with examples)
• Understanding what you can and should do (with practical guidance)

At the end of the training, a certificate of attendance will be available either on your client account or on demand to the customer service.

Charles Muller is now an Attorney and Independent Director for funds, management companies and depositary banks. During his 30 years of experience in the Luxembourg, Charles started his working life at the time of the implementation of the first UCITS directive and during his time at the Luxembourg Investment Fund Association ALFI followed the coming to life of the AIFM directive. He is hence equally specialised in the mutual and alternative fund space.

Markus Löning, was the German government’s human rights commissoner and a member of the German parliament before where he was focussing on development and international affairs. Markus then founded in 2014 Löning- Human Rights & Responsible Business, a Berlin-based management consultancy and think tank specialised in human rights.