Natural Capital, The Year Of The Numbers

Move fast and break things to disrupt the inertia. Our four key themes are:

Registration closed

Why Attend?

We need to create leadership and take the plunge. The time is now to create new models for evaluating risk and allocating capital; based on many forms of data. 

 

Focus areas

Use cases: Natural capital trading from ‘field to trade’.

Nexus of forces:
Nature, Agriculture, Supply Chains, Regulation, Risk, Pricing and Reporting.

Levers of change to be utilised:
Earth observation, Geospatial and Biodiversity Data e.g. via data marketplaces, Artificial Intelligence, Risk and Price e.g. scenarios, narratives and nVaR, Financial Instruments e.g. tokenisation; Trading e.g. Natural Capital Portfolio platforms.

Resources

Mentors, content and prizes will all ensure the best teams and the best outcomes.

Outcome

The best ideas will be promoted to accelerators and incubation with the intention of creating the pioneers that others will follow.

Who Will Attend?

Mentors and business decision makers

  • Heads of Sustainable and Impact Funds
  • Risk Managers
  • Sustainable Private Equity Managers
  • Heads of Innovation & Standards, Sustainable
    Investing
  • Heads of Digital Product Innovation
  • Policymakers and Regulators
  • Green Impact Advisory
  • Heads of ESG Research
  • Conservation/Agriculture/Land Managers
*Over the weekend and in the evenings, working professionals can work on the solution.

Designers, developers and product managers

  • Technologists
  • Consultants
  • Academics
  • NGO’s
  • Entrepreneurs

Hackathon Bootcamp – Sept 26th

  • Sept 27th – Oct 10th, Hackathon
  • Oct 9th – Submissions P.M.
  • Oct 10th – Pitch 10.30 – 12:00
  • Oct 10th – Judging P.M.
  • Oct 11th – Awards 12:00 – 12.30

Hackathon for Sustainable Finance at the Finextra Conference 2024

The purpose​

The hackathon will bring together a diverse group of people that share a desire to accelerate Sustainable Finance to enable capital allocation for de-carbonisation and biodiversity gain via a just transition of the economy.

A key design criterion will be Value creation through the trustworthy implementation of Sustainability measures and in particular the data that serves them.

The audience​

The programme is designed for market moving, thought leaders, designers, planners and developers that can wrestle clarity from ambiguity and drive change.

They will be from Sell side and Buyside firms, NGO’s, startups, Tech giants and the public sector with a business mindset and a technical muscle.

The outcome​

Our purpose is clarity. MVP designs, customer journeys, platform ideas, tokenisation, whatever we can share with colleagues across the industry to move the market.

Our audacious goal will be to take the best ideas forward through incubation and investment to help develop the creation of an operational poster child for the industry to follow.

Rephrase with Ginger (Ctrl+Alt+E)
The format​

Will be an open and inclusive community that will share knowledge; design together and collaborate by doing. We will explore, fail and succeed together. Sharing best practice to advance the focus on positive outcomes.

 

 

Hackathon Themes

Geospatial data and the role of AI, data fusion and LLMs

Problem statement

Due to the technical difficulty in providing ‘true’ ecosystem and biodiversity impact without ‘in-situ’ (ground-collected) data, current first-generation geospatial ‘biodiversity’ tools and platforms have effectively evaded the challenge by providing alternative proxy insights – insights which do not actually define the immediate and cascading impacts of a given asset on the surrounding ecosystem condition and the health and trends of the immediate and wider biodiversity over time.

The challenge now, considering the likely 3–5-year time lag in collecting and aggregating in-situ data at a global scale for ESG applications, is to find robust methods with ex-situ data alone.

Considering the global scale of the application, this essentially leaves one existing data option: satellite remote sensing data.

Consider the challenge of triaging via ex situ and couple with in-situ sensors.

Idea starter

  • Natural Capital Accounting.
  • Can Geospatial data help resolve the information gap and improve the quality and veracity of data.
  • What is the role of AI in delivering insight from the huge volume and scale of data and making it decision ready in the FSI world.

Demand innovation - Impact orientated financial instruments

Problem statement

To drive demand for nature positive actions, impact orientated financial instruments can be a useful tool, providing finance for projects:

  • Bonds can be an effective way to finance the transformation agriculture to regenerative practises.
  • Sustainability-linked bonds are structurally linked to the issuer’s achievement of climate or broader sustainability goals.
  • These bonds can offer a range of potential benefits including mitigating physical, transition, and long-term sustainability risks while seizing potential opportunities.
  • Other tools include.
  • Tokenisation using DLT.
  • Nature inclusive microfinance.
  • Nature positive payment and investment services.

Idea starter
Green bonds supported by geospatial based monitoring, reporting and verification via blockchain tokens.

 

Enhancing nature through sustainable agriculture

Problem statement

  • Agriculture has the biggest impact on nature and biodiversity loss and also stands to gain the most from a nature positive transition.
  • The problems are numerous; soil quality is in decline, overuse of fertiliser is polluting waterways, pollinator species are in decline, climate change is making farming less resilient. Becoming more sustainable (e.g. regenerative agriculture) is necessary to protect nature and to feed the world’s population.
  • However, as with any transition, there will be significant barriers preventing adoption of sustainable practises. One of the biggest barriers will be to plug the gap in finance to enable farmers to transition therefore innovations that support this will be required.

Idea starter

  • Tools that support agricultural businesses to maximise revenue from nature markets.
  • Financial instruments that support the transition to sustainable agriculture practises.

Nature risk and reporting

Problem statement

  • As the taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) enhances its guidelines, nature-related risk reporting is becoming essential for corporations and financial institutions. In addition, unaddressed, biodiversity loss and ecosystem damage could impose economic costs of over $5 trillion, based on a study by Oxford University?
  • Understanding business and financial institutions nature risk and opportunity will ensure that finance is aligned to nature positive businesses and will prompt businesses to become more nature positive.
  • It is expected that TNFD reporting will become mandatory.

Idea starter

  • Scenario planning tools for investment and portfolio planning.
  • Nature risk and reporting tools utilising AI and LLMs.

theme finextra hackathon

FAQs

hackathon is an event that brings together individuals with a passion for technology, including programmers, developers, designers, and other tech enthusiasts. These events typically last for several days and involve collaborative efforts to create a functional product or solution within a specified time frame.

The theme or challenge of the hackathon is often centered around innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. By participating in a hackathon, individuals have the opportunity to learn new skills, connect with other tech professionals, and showcase their abilities to build new technology and industry-solutions.

  • The Hackathon provides an opportunity for participants to learn something new as they collaborate with other industry experts to find solutions.
  • Participants gain access to datasets, fintech APIs, and a Digital Sandbox to build their solutions through NayaOne’s Digital Sandbox Platform.
  • A hackathon can be a challenging experience that pushes specialists out of their comfort zones and helps them make new professional discoveries. Collaborating under pressure allows participants to examine their abilities from a fresh perspective.
  • Hackathons create an excellent environment for breakthroughs, although not all hackathons result in tangible innovations. Regardless, participants get a chance to be part of something special.
  • Hackathons are also fun and fulfilling, offering an excellent way for experts and managers to spend time together while working towards a common goal in a brand-new environment.

Mentors from various industries, including ESG, Payments come together to provide participants with a range of technologies insights so that participants can use their support to build their projects. These technologies may include ESG and GreenFinance, blockchain, design, data, and more.

Mentors in a hackathon can come from a variety of backgrounds, including industry experts, experienced developers, designers, and business professionals. They provide guidance and support to participants, answering questions, helping troubleshoot problems, and offering advice on best practices. Mentors can be an invaluable resource for participants, particularly for those who are new to hackathons or have limited experience in a particular area. By working with mentors, participants can learn new skills, overcome challenges, and ultimately create better, more innovative projects.

Think of it a start and end date not time you need to spend on the hackathon itself. This year we are starting with an online bootcamp to help you get oriented and discover the process, teammates and tools to utilise. You can spend as much time you like working over the period, be it nights and weekends or full time, it’s your choice.

No. It’s all designed to be done online but you will benefit from attending the conference in London to meet people who might help shape your idea, give you a leg up via an accelerator or maybe even invest.

Participants can join the hackathon platform and they will get access to the hackathon platform, where all the platform related queries to be addressed by the NayaOne and SustainableFinance.Live team.

On the NayaOne platform, the support process will be as seamless as possible for hackers. If you have any questions or need assistance, simply follow these steps:
  1. Visit the platform and sign-in sustainablefinancelive.nayaone.com/signin
  2. Navigate to the “Message” section, usually located in the top left section
  3. Drop your queries to support channel, if it’s generic or platform related
  4. Share your queries, if you want to chat with mentors on “Mentor” channel
  5. Submit your queries, and our dedicated support team will revert back
  6. Sit back and relax as the team diligently works to resolve your query or concern
  7. You can expect a timely response from us through your preferred communication channel – be it email, phone, or platform messaging.
We encourage all participants to utilise and active on the NayaOne platform, as it provides access to industry-leading APIs, synthetic and public data, and a digital sandbox for testing new solutions. Engage with mentors for any queries you may have and exchange messages with your teammates if you are collaborating online to find solutions during the hackathon days.
Reach out to the SustainableFinance.Live team (tanisha.malcolm@finextra.com), with the theme details that you want to find solutions. The platform aims to connect like-minded individuals based on their chosen theme. The organiser team will assign you to a team according to your selected theme and facilitate communication with your team members through messaging on the platform. Collaborate, share ideas, and work together towards creating a more sustainable future driven ideas/solutions.

Meet Our Judges and Mentors

Nigel Greenhill

Director, Hill Stone Wood

Mitesh Soni

Client Executive, AWS

Richard Conway

CEO, Elastacloud

David Gristwood

Freelance Consultant,
ex Microsoft

Sarah Sinclair

Founder, Change Gap

Darshna Shah

Solution Lead, Elastacloud

Chryssi Chorafa

Director, StarLiX

Jean – Guillaume de Maneville

Fintechs & Financial Sponsors, Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking

Giles D'Souza

Strategic Business Lead,
Planet

Andy Bennet

Space Lead,
Innovate UK KTN

Priyank Patwa

Director, ESG Digital, Data and Analytics FS Lead, Risk Advisory, Deloitte UK

Isabelle Chatel de Brancion

Business and Innovation Lead - Geovation, Ordnance Survey Geovation

Accelerator Partners

Harry Wright

Founder, BrightTide

Andy Bennet

Innovation lead,
Innovate UK

Sarah Sinclair

Founder, Change Gap

Emily Barrett

Corporate Innovation Director,
Sustainable Ventures

Ana Raposo

ESA,
European Space Agency

Isabelle Chatel de Brancion

Business and Innovation Lead - Geovation, Ordnance Survey Geovation

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