September 8, 2025
Date: September 8, 2025
Workshop organized by UCSC Center for Analytical Finance and UC Washington Center
with additional support from UC Investments, UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, and the Institute for Social Transformation
Program
8:00-8:15 Registration, coffee and pastries
8:15-8:30 Welcome remarks: UCDC Director of Academic and Student Services Dr. Jimmy Ellis
8:30-8:45 Introduction to the workshop: Galina Hale, UCSC
8:45-9:15 Opening remarks: Adair Morse, UC Berkeley, “Financing Solutions”
9:15-9:30 Coffee
Session 1. Latest in mainstream private climate funding: Green Debt, Green Capital
9:30-9:50 Simon Oh, Columbia, “Climate Capitalists”
9:50-10:10 Tomas Williams, GWU, “Green versus Conventional Corporate Debt: From Issuances to Emissions”
10:10-10:30 Zak Weston, Market Shaping Initiative, “Structured Markets, Structured Finance: Market Shaping Strategies for Climate”
10:30-11:00 Brainstorm 1: “What do financial intermediaries need to fund more climate solutions?” (Moderated by Galina Hale, UCSC)
11:00-11:15 Coffee
11:15- 12 Keynote: Caroline Flammer, Columbia, “Blended Finance”, introduced by Nirvikar Singh, UCSC
12-1 Lunch
Session 2. Capturing co-benefits: role of philanthropy and governments
1:00-1:15 Kelly McNamara, Food System Innovations, “Philantropic Landscape in Climate Finance”
1:15-1:35 Nirvikar Singh, UCSC, “Financing India’s Green Transition”
1:35-1:50 Chetan Hebbale, The Nature Conservancy, “Debt for Nature Swaps”
1:50-2:10 Sarah Duffy, Oxford, “Climate Change, Adaptation, and Sovereign Risk”
2:10-2:30 Piyush Gandhi/Drishan Banerjee, UCSC “Stakeholders of Nature-based Adaptation”
2:30-3:00 Brainstorm 2: “What are old and new possibilities to coordinate all stakeholders to accelerate investment in scaling climate solutions?” (moderated by Jesus Palacios, S&P Global)
3:00-3:15 Coffee/refreshments
Breakout sessions:
- Select an existing climate solution (existing technology, needs scaling)
- List major stakeholders
- How to coordinate them?
- What is needed to incentivize participation?
- What are the data/measurements gaps to make it happen?
- What are the barriers and how to overcome them?
3:15-4:30 Brainstorming
Breakout 1: Adaptation solutions – Moderator Michael Beck, UCSC
Breakout 2: Mitigation solutions – Moderator Barbara Haya, UC Berkeley
4:30-5:00 Breakout session reporting and open discussion: session moderators
5:00 – 5:30 Closing remarks, Galina Hale, UCSC
6:00 – dinner for speakers at Fava Pot, 1817 M St NW, Washington, DC 20036
This is our third conference on these issues. The first was held in June 2023. You can read about it in our bulletin or Forbes coverage. The second conference is summarized in this bulletin. This year, we particularly want to encourage participation by University of California faculty, researchers, and affiliates.
Meet our keynote speakers and organizers:
Opening Speaker: Adair Morse, William A. and Betty H. Hasler Chair in New Enterprise Development and Professor of Finance at the Haas School of Business, UCSC
Adair Morse is the William A. and Betty H. Hasler Chair in New Enterprise Development and Professor of Finance at the Haas School of Business. She is the Founding Faculty Director of the Sustainable and Impact Finance Initiative, and she is also a fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Business(opens in a new tab).
From February 2021 through February 2023, Morse served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Capital Access in the Office of Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Morse’s research spans multiple areas of finance: climate finance and sustainable investing, household finance, discrimination and corruption, venture capital, and pension management. Her work is driven by her interest in leveling economic playing fields. Recent work includes papers on algorithmic discrimination, small business policy during the pandemic, impact and sustainable investment, pension governance, and communication from the Federal Reserve. Her publications appear in the top economics and finance journals, and she has won a number of top finance research prizes, including the Brattle Prize, the Jensen Prize, prizes at the EFA and WFA, the Moskowitz Impact prize, among others.
Many of Morse’s works have been directly implemented into policy, including actions by the U.S. Congress, the State of California, the Greek Parliament, and many state banking regulators. She holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Michigan.
Morse sits on the Governance and Allocation Committee of the California Rebuilding Fund, a public-private partnership of the State of California to provide affordable small business loans. She is also an Expert Panel Member of the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, for oversight of the $1 trillion sovereign fund.
Keynote Speaker: Caroline Flammer, A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics, Columbia University
Caroline Flammer is a leading voice in sustainable finance and impact investing. She holds joint appointments at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), the Climate School, and a secondary role at Columbia Business School, where she also serves as SIPA’s Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs. Her award-winning research explores how financial markets and firms can address pressing global challenges—from climate change to inequality—through sustainable investing and ESG integration.
Dr. Flammer directs Columbia’s Sustainable Investing Research Initiative (SIRI) and is affiliated with NBER, CEPR, and ECGI. She was recently named one of the top 100 most-cited researchers in economics and business by Web of Science. She also serves as President of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, a WEF Global Future Council member on responsible investing, and a Trustee at Domini Impact Investments. Caroline brings both academic rigor and real-world relevance to the conversation on financing a more sustainable future.
Galina Hale, Professor of Economics and Coastal Science and Policy, University of California, Santa Cruz
Galina Hale is a Professor of Economics at UC Santa Cruz. She served as a Research Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and as an assistant professor of economics at Yale University. Galina’s current research interests focus on attracting mainstream finance to climate solutions, the sustainability of the global food system, and international financial stability, especially with respect to climate risks. Galina has published over 30 articles in leading economics and finance peer-reviewed journals. She serves on multiple editorial boards and presents her work regularly at scholarly and policy meetings worldwide.
Nirvikar Singh, Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Nirvikar Singh is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he also co-directs the Center for Analytical Finance. He has been a member of the Advisory Group to the Finance Minister of India on G-20 matters; a consultant to the Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India; and a member of an Expert Group of the Government of Punjab for revitalizing the state’s economy.
Call for Papers (closed)
Climate change is already affecting our everyday lives, and mitigation and adaptation actions need to be taken now. Many technical advances have been made in climate solutions, but their implementation and scaling up need funding. Private financial institutions are still underrepresented among climate solution investors—what structured financial instruments and public-private partnerships will help incentivize the mainstream financial institutions to seek profitable investment opportunities in climate mitigation and adaptation solutions?
We will discuss evidence, theory, and brainstorm practical solutions. Join us!
The following questions are of particular interest:
- What have we learned from existing structured finance projects such as Debt-for-Nature Swaps?
- What kinds of private-public partnerships can facilitate and incentivize private investors’ participation in climate solutions?
- How broad is the potential of advanced market commitments in climate space?
- How can private markets help finance nature-based solutions, sustainable agriculture, and community investment?
- What are the gaps in the metrics of climate-related risks and opportunities?
- How can private financial markets address climate justice issues domestically and internationally?
Conference format: Each brainstorming session will be motivated by a brief presentation of existing work.
Call for Papers
If you would like to present your work, please submit research or policy papers or extended abstracts (no slide decks) through this Google Form by July 15, 2025.
Decisions will be communicated by August 1, 2025.
Note: Limited funding is available for presenter travel. UCDC will provide limited lodging.
If you have any questions, please email gbhale@ucsc.edu.