The 7th Edition of Ethical Finance and Sustainability (EFS) Conference (EFS-2024), jointly organized by the University of Leeds (UK), EDC Paris Business School and CY Paris Cergy University, will take place on 15-16 May 2024 at the University of Leeds, (UK). 

Human civilization faces an existential threat in the 21st Century from ecological breakdown and anthropogenic climate change. To tackle these threats there have been various international efforts carried out under the auspices of the United Nations and especially since the early 1990s the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The first UNFCCC Conference of the Parties convention took place in Berlin in 1995. The Paris agreement of 2015 signals a further development in global cooperation to tackle the problem of climate change. Paris was a major symbolic milestone, involving agreement from major emitters and most sovereign nations to work to reduce carbon emissions, ideally to maintain average global temperatures to 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels, but if not then 2° C. Each country has set “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs) and set out plans to (in some cases eventually) achieve reductions in accordance with these NDCs. Moreover, many countries have subsequently committed to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century. The critical question today focuses on the adequacy of targets and policies to achieve them. Technology transfer, rapid investment, and abundant finance are widely considered crucial, though many other questions remain regarding “just transition” and other issues. In any case, it seems highly likely that achieving targets will require a major shift in socioeconomic and financial activity. Clearly, there is great need for academic engagement across the sciences and social sciences. 

It is also important to keep in mind that climate policy does not occur in a vacuum. Societies and economies already have existing infrastructure, economic foci, and ingrained structures. Transitions risks conflicts with some of these, exacerbating manifest problems, which in turn may reduce public commitment to change and fragment any emerging political consensus. The recent cost of living crisis induced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is only the latest and most high profile of possible problems. With all of this in mind, contributions to the conference are expected to yield formative findings which will have profound implications for a wide range of stakeholders including policymakers, corporate decision makers, national and supranational organisations and civil society. 

We cordially invite academics, practitioners, and policymakers to submit proposals and papers covering these and related issues.  

Prof. Richard S.J. Tol

Richard S.J. Tol is a Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Sussex and the Professor of the Economics of Climate Change, Institute for Environmental Studies and Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is the Editor in Chief of Energy Economics. He is a member of the Academia Europaea. Previously, he was a Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, the Michael Otto Professor of Sustainability and Global Change at Hamburg University and an Adjunct Professor, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. He has had visiting appointments at the Canadian Centre for Climate Research, University of Victoria, British Colombia, at the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, University College London, and at the Princeton Environmental Institute and the Department of Economics, Princeton University. Richard received an M.Sc. in econometrics (1992) and a Ph.D. in economics (1997) from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is ranked among the top 150 economists in the world, and has over 200 publications in learned journals (with 100+ co-authors), one book, three edited volumes, and many minor publications. He specialises in the economics of energy, environment, and climate, and is interested in tourism and scientometrics.

Prof. Marcin Kacperczyk 

Marcin Kacperczyk is a Professor of Finance at Imperial College London with research interests in the areas of sustainable investments, climate finance, information economics, financial intermediation, and financial stability. He is a Research Associate at the Center for Economic Policy Research and the managing editor of the Review of Finance. Marcin’s work has been widely covered by media, such as CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, WSJ, FT, NYT, Business Week, U.S. News, and Washington Post. He is a past holder of the European Research Council research grant and former President of the European Finance Association

For registration please click at the following : 

Ethical Finance and Sustainability Conference (EFS-2024) | University of Leeds

Prof. Muhammad Ali Nasir (co-chair), Leeds University (UK)

Prof. Annie Bellier (co-chair), CY Cergy Paris University, (France) 

Prof. Younes Ben Zaied (co-chair), EDC Paris Business School, Paris (France)

Prof. Zied Ftiti (founder & co-chair), EDC Paris Business School, Paris (France) 

VSI: Economic & Financial implications of stringent climate policy: Energy Economics

Guest Editors: Prof. Ali Nasir, M. & Prof. Ftiti, Z., & Prof. Soytas, U. 

Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility

VSI: Business Ethics & CSR: Perspectives in a Time of Crisis

Guest Editors:

 Prof. Douglas Cumming & Prof. Zied Ftiti

Journal of Cleaner production

VSI: Natural capital accounting for sustainable society: Do natural resources matter?

Guest Editors: Prof. Younes Ben Zaied & Prof Managi Shunsuke 

Journal of Environmental Management

Articles submitted and presented at the EFS-2024 that fall in the scope of the Journal of Environmental Management (JEMA) are invited for submission to the regular issue.

The British Accounting Review

Articles submitted and presented at the EFS-2024 that fall in the scope of the British Accounting Review (BAR) are invited for submission to the regular issue.

Editors: Prof. Wenxuan Hou & Prof. Jason Zezhong Xiao

European Financial Management

VSI :  Navigating the Financial Landscape of a Just Transition: From Sustainable and Human-Centered Development Perspectives

Guest Editors: Prof. Muhammad Ali Nasir, Prof. Alina Cristina Nuta Prof. Xihui Haviour Chen