September 8, 2025
Date: September 8, 2025
Time: TBA
Location: UC Washington DC campus
In-person workshop with possible livestream
Organized by UCSC’s Center for Analytical Finance (CAFIN) with support from The Institute for Social Transformation at UCSC, The Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UCSC, UC Investments, and UCDC Campus
Keynote speaker: Caroline Flammer (Columbia SIPA)
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.
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 conference participants:
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.