On May 7, 2025, the Ukrainian Corporate Governance Institute, in cooperation with the Corporate Governance Professional Association, held a webinar on “ESG in the new geopolitics: how Ukraine can seize the moment.” The event was held as part of the new GovernancePRO+ service package, which aims to provide relevant and practical information for members of supervisory boards, corporate secretaries, corporate governance specialists, and anyone who needs professional resources in one place.

The webinar was opened by Oleksandr Okuniev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CGPA. He emphasized the importance of ESG today and the challenges companies have faced since Trump came to power in the US. The speakers at the webinar were Alina Sokolenko, founder of the Association of Sustainable Development Experts (ASDE), and Nina Dombrovska, co-founder of Women on Boards Ukraine.

In her presentation, Alina Sokolenko emphasized that ESG (environmental, social, and governance factors) today is not just an option or a reputation tool, but a strategic necessity. ESG is becoming a way of thinking that is changing approaches to risk management, decision-making, and trust building. For businesses, this means greater stability, transparency, accountability, and reduced long-term risks.

The main topics of the webinar included:

• the history and background of sustainable development principles;
• key climate disasters and their impact on banking;
• financial risks related to climate change;
• an overview of the implementation of sustainable finance taxonomies in 47 countries around the world;
• Ukrainian legislative initiatives, in particular CMU Resolution No. 28 and Law No. 2435-IX;
• the draft White Paper of the National Bank of Ukraine on ESG risk management in the financial sector.

The prospects for strengthening requirements for banking institutions at the level of international investors and donors were also discussed, as a significant number of Ukrainian banks already attract resources through international financial institutions (IFC, EBRD, KfW), commercial credit lines, and state programs for financing SMEs.

The webinar was an important step in raising awareness and practical understanding of ESG among Ukrainian professionals and contributed to shaping a vision for the further development of sustainable finance in Ukraine.