Climate Safe Learning Lab
A space for bankers and bank-adjacent stakeholders to explore barriers and enablers to implementing climate finance strategies.
The Climate Safe Learning Lab connects and supports professionals within and influential to banks who are advancing the climate finance agenda within their institutions.
This initiative fills a gap in the climate finance ecosystem, providing a space for banks and bank adjacent stakeholders to come together and explore the organisational, cultural and behavioural changes needed to embed climate strategies into business as usual. Our approach goes beyond the performative and instead builds deep relationships of trust between peers where mutual challenges are unearthed and solutions developed.
Key Activities
Network
Build relationships with climate-focused bankers to explore shared challenges and collaborate on solutions. We bring this global network together through online convenings, training, networking opportunities and bespoke introductions.
Experiential Learning
CSLN hosts experiential engagements tailored to specific needs of the ecosystem. We focus on providing our network not only with content expertise, but also peer coaching, leadership development, network building and training. Our CSLN Fellowship is a great example of a bankers-only experiential engagement that we offer.
Insights
Innovation happens when information flows. We publish resources sharing the collective intelligence generated by our network. Through these, we seek to share what is working to benefit those advocating for change inside and outside banking institutions.
We aim to...
Build connections between diverse change agents to drive climate action
Develop committed bankers’ confidence and capacity to influence the climate agenda internally
Use the power of peer learning to address the organisational, cultural and behavioural barriers that inhibit progress and develop solutions
Share insights with the wider climate finance community to enhance collaboration toward climate goals.
Participants say…
Re-energized, insightful, community-building, nourishing, dedicated, thought-provoking, energizing and engaging
- Words participants used to describe the October 2022 convening
“Fast trust, honesty, BS free conversation.”
— 2019 Participant
“Those kinds of opportunities to pause, consider one’s personal connection to this issue, and explore new ways to advance our work internally are so few and far between—if not totally absent. I can’t tell you how meaningful and useful it was to me.”
— 2020 Participant
“I could tell the convening was unique and really helped recharge many folks working in this difficult space.”
— 2019 Participant
Insights from the Climate Safe Learning Lab banking community
Shifting the financial system: accelerating sustainable finance at banks
Drawing from invaluable insights from banking professionals, the 2023 Shifting the financial system: accelerating sustainable finance at banks report presents broad ranging recommendations to accelerate meaningful climate action across the banking sector.
Catalysing Bank Climate Action - Lessons from the Inside
Out of the 2021/22 Climate Safe Lending Fellowship came significant insights, case studies and practical tools for accelerating climate action, from which we created a powerful report - Catalysing Bank Climate Action: Lessons from the Inside.
Shifting the financial system - Accelerating sustainable finance at banks
In June 2023, the first insights from the Climate Safe Lending Fellowship and a survey of the Climate Safe Learning Lab on the current state of sustainability in banking were published with a reception at London Climate Action Week
Credible Climate Transition - Decarbonisation and energy security
In March 2023, the Climate Safe Learning Lab hosted a convening on credibility and the climate transition, focused on balancing energy security and sustainability.
Credible Climate Transition – Seeing the wood for the trees
At the October 2022 Climate Safe Learning Lab convening themed ‘Credibility in the Climate Transition’, we examined the two questions ‘What is a credible climate transition for a bank?’ and ‘What are the barriers and enablers to achieving that transition?’
Insights from previous convenings
2020
Insights from the October 2020 Climate Safe Learning Lab convening hosted online as part of Climate Week NYC.
2019
Insights from the September 2019 Climate Safe Learning Lab convening held in New York City, coinciding with the launch of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking.
Contributors
The Climate Safe Learning Lab is supported and advised by an international group of climate finance practitioners and sustainable innovation experts.
James Vaccaro
Executive Director
Climate Safe Lending Network
Tjeerd Krumpelman
Global Head of Advisory, Reporting & Engagement
ABN AMRO
Amara Gossin
Vice President - Legal
Barclays
Rebecca Self
Founder and Managing Director
Seawolf Sustainability Consulting
Jon Dennis
Head of Climate-Safe Banking
Finance Innovation Lab
Ivan Frishberg
First Vice President Sustainability Banking
Amalgamated Bank
Celine Suarez
Head of Corporate Sustainability and Reporting
Morgan Stanley