The Luxembourg Embassy in Washington gathered together the Luxembourg Honorary Consuls across the US, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean for a virtual event on 1 December 2021. Ambassador Nicole Bintner-Bakshian welcomed the participants and expressed her gratitude for their continuing service and commitment. She also presented Luxembourg’s priorities and areas of diplomatic efforts. Paul Steinmetz, Consul general in New York, and Daniel Da Cruz, Consul general in San Francisco, intervened with updates from their respective jurisdictions.
The December session focused on presenting Luxembourg’s efforts in sustainable finance.
Jennifer de Nijs, Special Advisor for Sustainable Finance at the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance, gave a comprehensive overview of Luxembourg policies, regulations and initiatives in the area of sustainable finance.
Laetitia Hamon, Head of Sustainable Finance at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LSE) made a presentation on the initiatives of the LSE and talked about its international reach. She presented the Luxembourg Green Exchange, the leading platform for green, social and sustainability bonds listed worldwide, as well as its initiatives and educational programs and tools.
Philipp von Restorff, Deputy CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the Financial Center development agency, gave an overview of the Luxembourg financial sector and markets in relation to sustainable finance.
On consular affairs, Frank Biever, Consul in Washington D.C., gave an update on latest developments, including the figures of consular services provided in 2021, information on current travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the process of recovering Luxembourg citizenship.
The event concluded with a Q&A session and with the announcement of the next conference in 2022.
