Maybe the 29e Conference of Montreal could have taken place at the beginning of last week. The orange-brown atmosphere caused by the forest fires would certainly have helped the International Economic Forum of the Americas (FEIA) in achieving its objective: to put global economic decision-makers in tune with the many issues they will have to face in the coming years. .
The international conference launched in the wake of the creation of NAFTA in 1994 by businessman Paul Desmarais (father) and former politician Gil Rémillard has as its theme this year economic success in a world in full transition. . From Monday to Wednesday, the 2,500 participants expected at the Bonaventure Hotel will be able to choose the transition that suits them: environmental, digital, energy, geopolitics…
“The observation this year is quite special,” agrees Cédric Muller, vice-president of content and public affairs at the FEIA. “In 2023, we are witnessing a convergence of economic, environmental and geopolitical crises and in the face of all this, we must imagine the conditions for a successful exit from the crisis despite high inflation, an energy transition that is slow to take off and a digital transition. which affects almost all economic sectors. »
time to act
The three-day conference program is loaded with hot topics. Subjects to which the most cynical will append the qualifier of ” buzzwords “, as they have been heard elsewhere: sustainable finance, cybersecurity, renewable energy, artificial intelligence…
Perhaps the news of the past few days will allow us to go beyond mere words this time. “Our goal is to go further,” says Cédric Muller. “We want to raise people’s awareness on the spot and share the best practices that we see all over the world. Today’s challenges demand decisive action from leaders. We must challenge the immobility. »
One of the speakers who illustrate the importance of doing the right things is probably Jennifer Johnson. The current president and CEO of the investment fund Franklin Templeton has succeeded over the past 30 years in convincing the financial sector to reduce its investments in fossil fuels in favor of renewable energies and a more sustainable economy.
Franklin Templeton had to defend earlier this year before elected Republicans at the head of oil-producing states the inclusion of environmental, social and good governance (ESG) factors in their investment strategies.
The American fund, which has some 1.4 trillion US dollars in assets under management, has positioned itself in favor of the adoption by the SEC, the financial policeman of the United States, of rules governing the way in which companies must publish their climate impact. The American political and economic right, often climatosceptic, strongly opposes it.
Reconciling gestures and speech
The president of BMO Financial Group for Quebec, Grégoire Baillargeon, also participates in the Conference of Montreal. In early May, the leader delivered a vibrant plea in favor of climate action to members of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. His speech contrasts sharply with the behavior of the Canadian banking sector, very complacent towards polluting energies.
Reconciling actions with words must be done sooner rather than later by the big Canadian banks, explains to the Duty Mr Baillargeon. BMO, which continues to help Alberta oil companies, recently created an internal climate action committee whose mandate is to help it align its own actions with this vision of green and sustainable finance.
“We have to encourage progress,” says Grégoire Baillargeon. “Rather than blaming an industry when it finally gets going, praise the change. If we just start financing renewable energy, people will like us a lot, but we won’t have helped the whole economy to decarbonise. »
This subject will be hotly debated this week at the Conference of Montreal. And if it leads participants to act faster and stronger than expected, the event will have achieved its goal.