Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF), Queen’s University

Background of the organization

The Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF) is the first-ever cross-cutting and collaborative hub in Canada that fuses academia, the private sector, and government with the singular focus of increasing Canada’s sustainable finance capacity. The Institute’s mission is to align mainstream financial markets with Canada’s transition to a prosperous sustainable economy.

By investing in education, professional training, research, and partnerships, the ISF helps create the critical conditions for Canadian leadership on sustainable finance. Housed at Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, the Institute aims to fill the gap of relevant data, expertise, and business-oriented solutions for sustainable finance.

Grant Description

Funds from this grant will be used to support the ISF’s Capital Mobilization Plan and Climate Finance Data Analytics Lab. While the UK and other European countries have many initiatives to guide investments and policies to shift the financial sector towards low-carbon investments, Canada currently lacks them. The ISF Lab’s objectives are to conduct and disseminate research; support collaboration among governments, academia and the financial sector; and offer a suite of sustainable finance education programs. As an early indication of the ISF’s relevance, banks, insurance companies and the federal government are already collaborating with ISF’s Climate Finance Data Analytics Lab.