Ongoing threats to use nuclear weapons create a systemic risk for investors. The mere news of their possible deployment has an immediate negative effect on financial markets, across every sector and asset class. In the context of Russia’s repeated threats to use nuclear weapons in the ongoing Ukraine conflict, and as the global regulatory environment enhances attention to ESG, investors should be monitoring and looking at the various approaches to minimize this risk across their portfolios. 

This breakfast discussion will bring together asset managers, asset owners, data and service providers and nuclear experts to inform about the current context and explore the strategies investors can use to assess, address and minimize their own portfolio exposure as well as contribute to the global norms preventing harms from these weapons of mass destruction. 

This discussion will examine the new legal landscape as a result of the TPNW, share existing strategies among investors to address the risks of nuclear weapons, and explore new opportunities and implications for the investment community to support the renewed global movement against nuclear weapons. 

Agenda

8:30 Welcome- Carole Laible, CEO, Domini Impact Investments

8:45 The problem and the urgency to act

• Susi Snyder, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
• Aldo Bonati, Etica SGR
• Mary Beth Gallagher, Domini Impact Investments

09:30 Tools, tips and tactics to address the issue

• Alejandra Muñoz, PAX
• Adam Kendrick, Sustainalytics
• Nick Cantrell Green Future Wealth Management
• Courtney Wicks, Investor Advocates for Social Justice (IASJ)

10:15 - Closing - Melissa Parke, Executive Director, ICAN

This event is supported by Etica SGR, Domini Impact Investments and Green Future Wealth Management.

Background

Since the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons (TPNW) became international law, 140 countries have expressed their support, more than 2,000 members of parliaments have pledged to implement the agreement, and 700 cities have passed resolutions in support of the Treaty. Recognising that no modern agreement can be implemented without broad stakeholder support, more than 100 members of the financial community have publicly supported the treaty through policies and statements. These are some of the ways that the implicit permission to make weapons of mass destruction is being revoked. Specifically, the inclusion in the Treaty of the prohibition of assistance with production, manufacture, stockpiling, development and use of nuclear weapons has important implications for the financial sector – now  financing nuclear weapons is illegal under international law.

Speaker bios

Aldo Bonati

Aldo’s main activity is managing Etica’s stewardship activity, including engagement on ESG (environmental, social and governance) topics with investee issuers and the relations with the networks Etica is part of, including UN PRI, Shareholders for Change and ICCR. Besides, he supports the implementation of SRI strategies and the promotion of sustainable and responsible investments to stakeholders.

Nick Cantrell

Green Future Wealth Management Founder and President Nick Cantrell has been recognized by Forbes as one of the Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors in the United States. He founded Green Future Wealth Management to help individuals and organizations align their assets with their values through sustainable investing and planning. Nick also serves on the board of NuclearBan.US, a US based ICAN partner organization

Mary Beth Gallagher

Mary Beth Gallagher is the Director of Engagement at Domini Impact Investments, where she is responsible for leading engagement efforts with portfolio companies, broader stakeholder groups and policy makers, as well as developing initiatives and campaigns in areas such as human rights, climate change, biodiversity, and racial justice. Prior to joining Domini in 2021, she was the Executive Director of Investor Advocates for Social Justice, worked in international development, and human rights advocacy. Ms. Gallagher holds a B.S. in environmental science from Boston College and a J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University. 

Adam Kendrick

Adam Kendrick is an Associate Director at Morningstar Sustainalytics. As a member of the Client Advisory team, he advises institutional investors with the information and insights necessary to meet their ESG objectives. Prior to joining Morningstar Sustainalytics, Adam worked as an analyst for BrightWorld Advisors and JP Morgan Securities. Adam is also a veteran of the U.S. Army and served with NATO. He holds an MBA from the SC Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a BA in Foreign Affairs and History from the University of Virginia. Adam is based in New York City.

Carole Laible

Carole Laible is the CEO of Domini Impact Investments. She has over twenty years of impact investing experience, having joined Domini in 1997. Ms. Laible is responsible for the overall research and mutual funds operations of the firm. She also leads institutional client service and marketing initiatives, and collaborates with Amy Domini, Chair, in the development of overall business strategy and business plan implementation. Ms. Laible has spearheaded Domini’s pioneering work on systems-level issues and stability. This systems approach includes the Domini Forest Project, which recognizes that forests provide significant value to investors, corporations, Indigenous Peoples, and biodiversity, including as a crucial part of the climate system, and investors’ policies and practices can impact forests both positively and negatively. Ms. Laible has also been active in the fossil fuel divestment movement. Carole serves as a founding member of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board™ (SASB)™ Investor Advisory Group, now known as the ISSB Investor Advisory Group, engaging with companies on the use of SASB metrics. She works to support diversity in the field of finance, including as a Global Angel member of 100 Women in Finance. Ms. Laible holds a B.S. in accountancy from St. John’s University.

Alejandra Muñoz

Alejandra Muñoz is Senior Project Officer at Dutch peace organization PAX, where she is currently involved in the Don’t Bank on the Bomb research, a joint publication of PAX and ICAN. Prior to joining PAX, Alejandra worked as a legal advisor in the International Crimes & Accountability program of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin, and with the Colombian lawyers' collective Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR) in Bogotá.

Hon. Melissa Parke

Melissa Parke is ICAN’s Executive Director, a role she took up on 1 September 2023. Melissa is a former Australian Minister for International Development and former Member of Parliament for the Australian Labor Party for Fremantle from 2007 to 2016. Prior to entering the Australian Parliament, Ms Parke served as an international lawyer with the United Nations in Kosovo, Gaza, New York and Lebanon. More recently, she served as a member of the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen. 

Susi Snyder

Susi is the programme coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. For more than a decade, Susi coordinated the Don’t Bank on the Bomb project. She is an expert on nuclear weapons, with over two decades experience working at the intersect between nuclear weapons and human rights. Susi is a Foreign Policy Interrupted/ Bard College 2020 fellow and one of the 2016 Nuclear Free Future Award Laureates. Susi has worked in PAX's humanitarian disarmament team, coordinating nuclear disarmament efforts. Susi previously served as the Secretary General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom at their Geneva secretariat.

Courtney Wicks

Courtney Wicks is the Executive Director of Investor Advocates for Social Justice. She has 15 years of experience in the development and implementation of strategies, policies, and practices that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DE&I”). She has a track record of driving transformational change and creates meaningful impact that helps attract, retain, and engage a diverse community while building DE&I leadership capabilities across the organization. She is a former Chief of Staff role within the State of New Jersey’s General Assembly.