Winter Greenups: Ethical Finance

Ethical Finance: Finding the Light in this Hazy Shade of...Winter

In 2026, Greenups is meeting quarterly and using the seasons as our guide.

For the Winter gathering Greenups will bring together voices from Australia’s ethical and sustainable finance sector to ask:

What does finance look like in the cold winter light of climate risk, ecological limits and social responsibility?

Finance is the hidden system shaping our future. It determines what gets funded, what gets protected, what gets scaled, what gets retired — and what kinds of futures become possible.

After a packed Autumn gathering at UTS exploring biophilia, biomaterials and regenerative design , we now turn to Winter — a season of clarity, contraction, resilience, hard choices, protection, repair and preparation - to look at our Finance and Money systems - are they getting us where we need to be, and soon enough?

This will be an accessible, grounded conversation covering ethical investing, ESG, superannuation, climate risk, transition finance, disclosure, stewardship, anti-greenwashing and impact investing — while also making space for deeper Greenups-style questions:

• What should capital help sustain?

• What should it help transform?

• And what should it help us let go of? (and how)

Contributors include:
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• Justin Medcalf — (Panel MC) Co-Founder + Financial Adviser at UNLESS Financial.
  
  Before co-founding UNLESS, Justin was a Financial Adviser at Ethinvest, Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) board member, co-founder the Ethical Advisers’ Co-op and led The Emerald Club, where he launched Australia’s responsible investment platform for retail and wholesale clients.
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• Adam Verwey — SIX (Sustainable Investment Exchange) Australia's first share trading app to combine activism with investing.
  
  Adam is also a founder and former MD of Future Super - Australia’s first 100% fossil fuel free superannuation fund.
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• Persephone Fraser - Ethical Research & Climate Policy Lead at Australian Ethical.
  
  Before joining Australian Ethical, Persephone worked in research across the Climate Justice Initiative, Common Capital, Reconciliation Australia, and the Greens.
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• Dr Stella Whittaker - Climate Change, Adaptation & Resilience, Academic and Board Member.
  
  A PhD in climate finance, Stella has more than 30 years of experience in climate change, climate finance, environmental policy, sustainability, circular economy and environmental planning, and recently the founder of the Climate Adaptation Finance Activation Group.
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What to expect

Expect new ideas, new connections, new faces — and plenty of friendly old faces too ;-)

We’ll create an inclusive space for grounded conversation. Greenups is a diverse group of people from different fields, but aligned in our care for each other and this beautiful, fragile planet.

Together, we’ll share the stories, find the voices, and forge the pathways toward systems of resilience and regeneration — with room for care, compassion, purpose, meaning, art, and beauty along the way.

Light refreshments and drinks thanks to the generous support of SIX and UNLESS, and Australian Ethical.


Drinks from Rosnay Wines + Young Henrys and food thanks to Parliament on King.