CFCC AGM 2025: BACC at Belgrave Square

events Jun 04, 2025

CFCC Annual General Meeting 2025: Gathering the Foreign Chamber Community at Belgrave Square

On 3 June 2025, the Council of Foreign Chambers of Commerce in the UK (CFCC) held its Annual General Meeting and June Quarterly Meeting at the Argentine Residence, 49 Belgrave Square — and the British Argentine Chamber of Commerce was proud to host.

The occasion brought together Chairmen, Managers, and Executive Directors from fourteen foreign bilateral chambers operating across the United Kingdom, making it one of the most substantive gatherings of the foreign chamber community this year.

A Warm Welcome from the Argentine Residence

The BACC extends its sincere thanks to the Embassy of Argentina in the UK and His Excellency Ambassador Mariana Plaza for welcoming the gathering so warmly. The Argentine Residence provided a gracious and memorable setting for the afternoon's proceedings.

The Chambers at the Table

The AGM brought together senior representatives from across the CFCC membership, including the:

Keynote: Have We Passed Peak ESG?

The afternoon's standout moment was a keynote address by Jonathan Molyneux, BACC Board Member and sustainability advisor, who posed a question that sparked lively debate around the table: "Have we passed Peak ESG?"

Speaking in a personal capacity, Jonathan reflected on nearly two decades in the sustainability and climate space — from the post-Kyoto optimism of 2005, through the rise of ESG indices and impact-aligned capital, to a more searching moment of reckoning towards the end of 2024, when investor pushback on organisations he knows well prompted him to confront the concept of "Peak ESG" head-on.

His conclusion was measured but candid: yes, the peak has likely passed — and in many respects, that is a healthy development. The retreat from ESG as a brand has stripped away the froth and forced a return to the science and on-the-ground fundamentals of what he calls sustainability that pays: value-creating, locally grounded strategies that underwrite business continuity across assets and value chains.

But Jonathan was equally clear about the limits of what business alone can achieve. Even if corporates maximise their sustainability efforts, the question remains whether this will be sufficient to meet the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals or avoid the value destruction that lies beyond the reach of corporate ROI hurdles. The remainder of the lift, he argued, must fall to governments, civil society, and individual citizens — including every person around the CFCC table, each of whom wears the hats of business leader, voter, and concerned citizen simultaneously.

The discussion that followed was, by all accounts, as thought-provoking as the keynote itself.

Formal Business

Alongside the keynote, the AGM addressed the formal governance of the Council: approval of accounts, re-appointment of directors and officers, and the confirmation of new appointments — ensuring the CFCC is well-positioned for the year ahead. The June Quarterly Meeting followed immediately after.

Thank You

Our thanks go to Jonathan Molyneux for a thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution, to the CFCC board for the invitation to host, and to all the chamber representatives who made the journey to Belgrave Square.

For more information about BACC membership and upcoming events, visit baccnetwork.com or contact us at [email protected].

The British Argentine Chamber of Commerce is a board member of the Council of Foreign Chambers of Commerce in the UK (CFCC), and has been facilitating UK-Argentine business relationships for 30 years.

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