Impact Economy on SDGs and Urbanization in ASIA-PACIFIC

5 PM to 7 PM ICT (Bangkok Time) / 11 AM to 1 PM BST (London time) / 6 AM to 8 Am (Toronto Time)

Introduction

In this webinar, a select panel of speakers from Urban Economy Forum (UEF) and Top Tier Impact (TTI) will come together to discuss the effectiveness of impact economy in catalyzing urban and sustainable development to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in emerging Asian-Pacific Markets, in areas such as affordable housing, clean & accessible Water and Habitat (WATHAB) and municipal finance & banking. Impact economy is an economy, in which governments and companies balance profit and impact, in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. The businesses generate profits in a way that positively contributes to the sustainability of social, environmental and/or cultural dimensions of society. In other words, it is possible and expected to achieve both financial returns and social impact through investments into companies that do good while doing well return wise. Impact investing is investing with a focus on social, environmental, and financial returns, or a balance of the three Ps: “People, Planet and Profit”.

This collaborative webinar will be a preparatory meeting for UEF 2021, which will be held on October 4 & 5, 2021.

Urban Economy Forum (UEF)

Urban Economy Forum (UEF) is a multi-stakeholder international non-governmental organization primarily focused on promoting urban economy and sustainable urban resources at the local and global level to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UEF is designed to create the space where local and global dialogues can intersect to identify and share urban opportunities and challenges and innovative solutions to sustainable urbanism. Critically, it is the interaction between city leaders, financial institutions, urban developers, communities and academia that must occur and establish a shared vision for the urban future. While establishing shared knowledge platform is important, UEF also seeks to bridge the gap between knowledge and implementation. UEF, collaborating with its global networks, works closely with cities and urban stakeholders to establish global pilot and pioneer projects and transfer these learnings to other cities and urban settlements around the world.

UEF advocates for affordable housing through dialogue with investors seeking to create a positive impact by increasing the number of affordable housing units in cities. UEF collaborates with REITs or real estate investment trusts in this regard. UEF engages in raising the awareness and interest in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles in the investment strategies of city developers and real estate investors. In Canada, UEF is actively monitoring impact investments in this regard in both new developments being launched in the social housing space, as well as helping to address the sector’s need for redevelopment and new market-based investments.

For Further Information on UEF: https://www.ueforum.org/

Top Tier Impact (TTI)

Top Tier Impact (TTI) is a global private network of impact investors and entrepreneurs. TTI is a members-only impact investing community for the investors, entrepreneurs and professionals who are focused on solving the critical issues of our time, thus envisaging financial returns meeting clear impact metrics. TTI’s mission is to accelerate the mainstream adoption of impact & sustainability as the way of running companies and investing in companies. It provides unique advantages, contacts and opportunities to leading investors, entrepreneurs and professionals in the impact investing space. It also creates synergies among its members. This mainly includes investments, partnerships, active working groups for members in all its main industries, regular dinners and events across the world. TTI’s membership base is 400 members-strong in more than 30 countries, covering a wide range of locations across the US, UK, Europe and Asia. These “TTIers” oversee some of the leading impact funds and run some of the most impactful companies. Many are based across its hubs (London, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Sydney, Singapore) and others all around the world. For further information on TTI: https://www.toptierimpact.com/

Key Takeaways

1. A brief yet succinct introduction into Impact Investing, specifically (albeit not exclusively)
2. The nexus on the current dynamics and future trajectory between impact investing and sustainable urban development.
3. Scope of impact investments in the housing sector

Speakers (Alphabetical):

• Anantha Krishnan, Secretary General, Urban Economy Forum
• Barry Palte, Founder of EQ Capital Partners
• Frank D’hondt, Secretary General, International Society of City and Regional Planners
• Joe MacDonald, Founder A&O Design and former Associate professor of Harvard University.
• Yunqing Xu, Director of University Research Centre for Urban and Environment Studies and Associate Professor at Design School of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), China