Bridging the financial divides

Chau Tang Duncan is applying over 20 years’ experience in banking, trade and commercial diplomacy to improving the financial access of disadvantaged communities.

Chau Tang Duncan has served as Director for Investment and Trade and as Investment Commissioner for both the UK and Australian governments, and as Trade Commissioner for Malaysia. Today she is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Goodbanc, a financial technology company which channels investment in renewables, sustainable development and community projects.

‘I first came to Caux in 2010,’ says Chau. ‘The experience opened my mind and heart to embracing my role in the connection between people and planet. Since then, I have strived to integrate this in my personal and professional life, working to mobilize investment into renewable energy and sustainable development, and working with people who share the vision of a low carbon sustainable future.’

Goodbanc green decision metrics will combine second party opinions and financial and green investment metrics to improve data collection, reporting and support for blending finance for ecosystem restoration.

Since participating in the 2019 Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS), Chau has been setting up Goodbanc in the UK and Estonia. She is working with others from the CDLS to help bridge the financial divide between refugees and internally displaced people in Africa and the diaspora in Europe. Goodbanc has established a fully functioning platform for this, and is now seeking capital to provide financial access to these communities.

As a direct outcome of the CDLS, Goodbanc is collaborating with the Government of Meghalaya in North East India to develop a platform to enable farmers, other producers and the government itself to receive ecosystem services payments with every transaction in the marketplace.