Reminder: The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) Library is pleased to announce the upcoming Book Break event on March 3, 2020.

Book Break "Sustainable Investment - Impact in Asia"
The Speaker: Anthony Rowley, principal author

Tuesday, March 3, 2020 from 6:15 pm to 8:30 pm
(The talk will be in English)

Admission: 4,100yen (non-members) / 3,100yen (FCCJ members)
*The price covers a set dinner and one drink
Please sign up by email (front@fccj.or.jp) and pay by Thursday, February 27th, 2020.

Venue:
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
5F Marunouchi Nijubashi Building
3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005
(http://www.fccj.or.jp/about/access.html)

Sustainable Investment has become a "hot topic" as a result of fast-growing concerns over climate change and global warming. The recent World Economic Forum in Davos took place against a backdrop of bush fire infernos in Australia, and the world's financial elite gathered there seemed more aligned with the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg than with US President Donald Trump on the need for new approaches to economic and social development. 'Saving the planet' and dealing with myriad other socio-economic challenges will, however, come at a huge and often unappreciated cost in financial terms. That cost will need to be borne not only by corporate shareholders but also by governments and ultimately taxpayers.

The sustainable investment "universe" is very big - and complex - nowadays and those who want to invest in "saving the planet" or in what they see as the need to achieve other desirable social and economic goals can find it a confusing place to navigate. Sustainable investment goes under many different names and forms - "responsible, thematic, green or 'impact' investing etc. - but the most popular approach is through what is known as ESG (meaning environmental, social and governance investing) which aims to steer corporate behavior into sustainable practices. Looming over all these are the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs which provide a kind of overarching framework for sustainable investment.

Sustainable Investment - Impact in Asia, which was published in 2019 by Asia Asset Management and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), seeks to cast light on all of these issues and the author will discuss them during his presentation.

Anthony Rowley is a veteran journalist specializing in economic and financial affairs and is also the author of several books. He is a former Business Editor and International Finance Editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review and former Field Editor (Japan) at Oxford England. Prior to moving to Asia - where he has spent some 40 years working in Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo - worked on The Times newspaper in London.

The library committee is offering a cocktail party - "Meet the Author - starting at 6:15 pm, followed by a set dinner with one drink at 6:40 pm (Menu: TBD). Drinks can be ordered on a cash basis from the bar in the room. Book Break charges are 3,100 yen/ 4,100 yen (members/ non-members) per person. The member price is applicable to members' guests.

To FCCJ members: Sign up now at the reception desk (03-3211-3161) or on the FCCJ website. To help us plan proper seating and food preparation, please reserve in advance, preferably by noon of the day of the event. Those without reservations will be turned away once available seats are filled. Reservations cancelled less than 72 hours in advance will be charged in full.

To non-members: Sign up now at the reception desk by email (front@fccj.or.jp). Please reserve and pay in advance by Thursday, February 27th, 2020. Those without reservations will be turned away once available seats are filled. No refund is available unless event is cancelled for the reasons on our part.

Any attendees with food restriction should inform the reception desk (front@fccj.or.jp) three days before the event.