Financial literacy is crucial to young people's future. But how financially literate are young people today, and how can they prepare for the economic challenges of tomorrow? To answer these questions, we interviewed Jessica Thyrion, advisor at the ABBL Foundation for Financial Education. In this article, she shares her expertise on the importance of financial education, the specific challenges facing young people, and the initiatives in place to help them navigate the complex world of finance. Find out how the ABBL Foundation is working to improve young people's financial literacy and prepare them to make informed and responsible decisions.
Meet our experts. Here comes our Scientific Advisory Board
ESG topics pose new and complex challenges that were previously largely outside the remit of financial institutions. They require targeted scientific expertise that needs to be leveraged through collaborations with the research community to enhance climate and environmental practices at Spuerkeess and the entire Luxembourgish financial sector in the long term. This pioneering project got the formal support of Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance and the Spuerkeess board and its executives. It not only adds significant value to Spuerkeess’ projects and activities but will also enrich the entire Luxembourgish financial sector as well as other sectors exposed to climate and environmental risks.
" Sustainability is not a lifestyle choice we may or may not adopt. It is a necessary behavioural change of how we conduct our daily activities. Sustainability to me thus means thinking about my daily actions more consciously, be it the food or clothes I buy, how I get around or where I invest my money. Our daily actions have the greatest impact on the environment and sustainable development and it is up to each of us to be mindful of our choices and spread the message as wide as we can. "
Jenny De Nijs
" My aim is to help to communicate the best available science and information to policy makers in particular and the public in general. I am convinced that having access to scientific data and information in a clear and understandable way will help to make society more sustainable and in particular to take the necessary actions to limit further changes in the climate system to the lowest possible level. "
Dr. Andrew Ferrone
" Sustainability requires transforming how we think of and relate to ourself, other people and the environment we live and work in. That’s not easy given our social system and infrastructures produce patterns of thought and behaviour that are hard to escape. The courses and study programme I have built since 2010 serve to equip change agents, such that we can better recognise leverage points for local and systemic change, and evaluate and learn from these changes in a networked manner.
" Sustainability to me means safeguarding our Earth limited resources and natural capital for our future generations. For the past 20 years I am dedicated to climate finance, providing value to projects with positive climate and sustainable development impacts. My goal is to find new ways to finance a much faster and equitable transition to a low carbon and resilient economy. Therefore, I have joined the Scientific Advisory Board of Spuerkeess to support its sustainability journey. "
Nathalie Roth
" Science plays a vital stewardship role in in helping us understand complex environmental processes, social contexts, and climate-related data. By collaborating with regulators, banks, and investors, scientists support financial experts in analysing various climate-related and environmental risks to identify potential sustainability-related impacts of financial products and investments. "
Dr. Kim Schumacher (Chair of Scientific Advisory Board)
"To me, sustainability means to be conscious about my daily decisions and knowledgable about their consequences on the environment, the climate and people living potentially far away. Sustainability also means to teach my kids to switch off the light when leaving a room and to raise them to become critically-thinking, self-reflecting and attentive adults. As a consequence, sustainability to me is inherently linked to education, knowledge creation and research."
Professor Michael Halling
About the blog:
There is an urgent need for rapid transition to Global Environmental Sustainability. Thanks to changemakers, progress is possible. "Why does it matter?" is a bi-monthly series that takes a quick look at the forefront of today's trends around sustainability. From May 2021 on, we aim to elucidate this important topic through the eyes of our experts.
Your contribution counts too! From June on, don't miss out our experts' practical tips for your daily life.