Wall Street Climate Forum

For Young Professionals

First held in 2023, the Wall Street Climate Forum for Young Professionals is an educational and networking initiative driven by early career professionals in leading financial institutions across Wall Street aimed at broadening awareness of the linkages between climate change and the financial sector.

Forum events seek to create opportunities for young financial professionals to hear from and interact with thought leaders in climate policy and climate finance, along with climate tech entrepreneurs and other practitioners in the climate space. Broadening its participatory scope, the Forum will in time expand and invite graduate students from Exchange academic partners to interact with early career climate and sustainable finance analysts and associate participants.

The objective of the Forum is to equip, empower, and mobilize the next generation of financial leaders in climate action by: 

  •  Supporting the professional development of young professionals across Wall Street: The Forum is the go-to place for young professionals on Wall Street and other major financial centers who want to hear from and interact with thought leaders on global green finance issues and how climate change might affect all types of investment opportunities in the future.

  • Acting as a key source of insights and educational programming focused on climate and sustainability within the financial sector: The Forum hosts a range of programming aimed at supporting the professional development of young finance professionals.

  • Letting demand lead: The Forum was established by young professionals and is structured in a way that gives them the opportunity to determine its direction of travel. 

Our first event of the year, ESG Investing 2.0: Seizing Opportunities in a Shifting U.S. Landscape, was held on February 20. It brought together over 100 early career professionals and featured a panel of local and global financial representatives, bankers, and investors.

Our expert panelists and moderator – Matt Kuchtyak (Moody’s Ratings), Ashley Cooke (HSBC Asset Management), Erich Cripton (CDPQ), and Shaheen Contractor (Bloomberg Intelligence) — shared valuable insights on key trends in the space, including on the rise of nature capital investing, investments in emerging technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture, and an increasing shift towards adaptation finance. A central theme was how ESG is evolving from a risk mitigation tool to a driver of commercial value, with new financial products like Blue and Transition Bonds creating further alignment between capital markets and sustainability goals.

Looking ahead, the panelists agreed that closer collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential for unlocking the full potential of climate finance. Bridging data gaps, utilizing AI to improve insights, and focusing on long-term investment strategies will be key to driving impactful change.

We hope the panel provided valuable perspectives on these crucial issues and look forward to continuing the conversation.

To stay up to date on the latest with the Wall Street Climate Forum, follow us on LinkedIn. If you have questions or feedback, please email us at: wallstforum@nyclimateexchange.org.