Student teams from King’s College London argued from the perspectives of key global financial institutions in a first-of-its kind debate. Organised by Professor David Aikman, Director of the Qatar Centre for Global Banking & Finance at King’s Business School, and Violeta Fernández Diéguez, Political Economy alumna, the ‘Great Debate’ was designed to test students’ skills and help them to join the dots between monetary policy and financing the green transition.

The event followed a ‘model UN’ format, with members of student societies representing the US Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of England, Private Equity and a Sovereign Wealth Fund.

A panel of expert judges from major financial institutions awarded three prizes; to a Winning Team, Runner-up Team and Best Individual Presenter. The audience voted on a fourth prize, awarded to an individual for their presenting skills.

The 'Great Debate' was designed to allow students to understand the different institutions’ perspectives and macroeconomic realities, as well as the complex relationships between the institutions represented and their collective impact on the economy.

Key topics addressed by the students and panel included the integration of climate considerations into monetary policy frameworks, the development of green finance initiatives, and the potential impact of central bank actions on mitigating climate-related risks to the economy.

Central banks, traditionally tasked with managing monetary policy and ensuring financial stability, are increasingly being called upon to address the challenges posed by climate change. They wield significant influence in shaping the trajectory of environmental sustainability and the debate helped contextualize pressing climate risks within the framework of students' academic degrees.

The judging panel included:

• Theresa Lober (Head of Climate Project Team at Bank of England)
• Professor Gulcin Ozkan (Professor of Finance, King's Business School)
• Professor Luca Taschini (Chair of Climate Change Finance, University of Edinburgh)
• Violeta Fernández (Cabinet Member of Member of European Parliament, Eva Poptcheva)
• David Carlin - (Head of Climate Risk, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative)

Team Representatives

International Monetary Fund (Overall Winner) – Team X

• Salim Duman, Andrea Baschiera, Tasneem Ismail, Alisher Akhmadjonov

The Bank of England (Runner up team) – King’s Entrepreneurship Society

• Dev Deepak, Soumil Goteti, Lucia Fogarin, Jacob Lapienis

The US Federal Reserve – King’s Business Club

• Nishorgo Mostofa (Judge Best Speaker), Binamra Gurung, Advait Joshi, Arjun Raman

 Private Equity – Economics and Finance Society

• Aadi Gupta - Nikita Nanu - Arshia Mehra (Audience Best Speaker) - Alexander Kozlov

Sovereign Wealth – BAME In Green Transition

• Lile Zhang Zhuo - Keng Seng Wong - Daksh Upadhyay - Aiden Wong