"I am pleased to have had the opportunity to lead this panel on a topic that I consider extremely important – which is the contribution of the financial sector to the transformation of business in accordance with sustainability standards. Climate change is increasingly being taken into account when making business and financial decisions, and sustainable business is no longer a matter of choice but of showing responsibility towards the community in which we operate. For this very reason, central banks, in order to fulfil their fundamental goal of price stability, are increasingly including climate risks in the process of shaping monetary policy and other policies within their competence. In a conversation with the interlocutors on this panel, we learned how they are adapting their companies' operations to new risks and, at the same time, increasingly stringent standards," emphasised Sandra Švaljek, Deputy Governor of the Croatian National Bank, who moderated the panel entitled "Contribution of the Financial Sector to the Transformation of Business in Accordance with Sustainability Standards".

The panel participants – Renata Samodol, Executive Director of the Prudential Supervision Area of the CNB, Vedrana Jelušić Kašić, Member of the Management Board of PBZ, Ante Žigman, President of the Management Board of HANFA (Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency), Alan Herjavec, Member of the Management Board of HBOR (Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and Krešo Vugrinčić, Member of the Management Board of InterCapita Asset Management – led an interesting discussion in which the main points of emphasis were on stimulating demand for green financial products, ways to deal with challenges, such as harmonising national regulations with the European Union framework, and how to collect reliable data.

The panel was held as part of the conference “Supporting Sustainable Financing”, jointly organised by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition, the Croatian National Bank, the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the University of Zagreb, with the support of the Representation of the European Commission in the Republic of Croatia.

The conference brought together experts from the public and private sectors through several panels and presentations in which they exchanged knowledge and experiences on sustainable finance and business. After the introductory presentation on the Omnibus package, which is aimed at simplifying the rules on sustainability and investments of the European Union, two panel discussions were held – "Contribution of the Financial Sector to the Transformation of Business in Accordance with Sustainability Standards" and the panel "Transformation of Business According to Sustainability", where successful examples of the transformation of companies in accordance with sustainability standards were presented.

At the end of the conference, green public procurement was presented with clarifications on how it should be applied in practice. In addition, entrepreneurs were presented with a TSI project aimed at helping taxpayers who are, or will be obliged to report on sustainability, as well as the Centre for Sustainability, which should be a central place in the future when it comes to sustainability reporting.