Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
Latest thinking from UNEP FI’s Property Working Group on ESG, managing COVID-19, and post-crisis recovery.
30 June 2020
New research published today shines a spotlight on the urgent need for financial sector action on biodiversity. The report highlights the need for banks, investors and insurers to set firm targets to reduce biodiversity loss, starting with nine critical sectors where financial players are exposed through their loans, investments or underwriting activities.
19 June 2020
The UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA), representing $4.75 trillion in assets and many of Europe’s largest pension funds and insurance companies, warmly welcomes the review of the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). AOA members have publicly committed at the CEO level to transitioning their investment portfolios to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. […]
18 June 2020
Danica Pension becomes the 26th member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA), committing to transitioning its investment portfolio of $68 billion assets under management (AUM) to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. CEO Ole Krogh Petersen said: “As a pension company, our more than DKK 400 billion ($60 billion) assets under management can […]
12 June 2020
4 June 2020
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA) has more than doubled its membership since its September 2019 launch to 25, with Denmark’s MP Pension announcing its membership today, World Environment Day. MP Pension, with assets under management (AUM) of $18.7 billion, brings the AOA’s total AUM to nearly $4.7 trillion. Jens Munch Holst, CEO at […]
3 June 2020
There is growing momentum to ensure the recovery from the global pandemic shifts the economy to a more sustainable model and enables the transition to a circular economy post-2020. In their blog, Jan Raes, a circular economy finance expert who drafted our study Demystifying Circular Economy Finance, supported by Aliyorbek Muminov in UNEP FI’s Secretariat, […]
29 May 2020
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has reacted to European Commission’s COVID-19 recovery plan. “As some of Europe’s largest asset owners, we welcome the European Commission’s recovery plan, which seeks to uphold the Paris Agreement and puts the EU Green Deal at the heart of the recovery planning. These plans will help lay the foundations […]
27 May 2020
Paris-based Tier 1 reinsurer SCOR announced today (27 May 2020) it had joined the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing membership to 24 with combined assets under management (AUM) of over $4.6 trillion. Launched in September 2019 during the UN Climate Action Summit, the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA) is an international initiative bringing together […]
15 May 2020
14 May 2020
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 crisis will have a profound impact on the whole world, and for hundreds of millions of vulnerable people, especially low-income individuals, small businesses and workers in developing countries, the impact could be very severe. UNEP FI Head, Eric Usher, in the second of his blogs on how UNEP […]
11 May 2020
11 May 2020 In collaboration with The Generation Foundation and the Principles for Responsible Investment, UNEP FI recently launched the project A Legal Framework for Impact, which aims to make the consideration of sustainability impact in investor decision making a core part of investment activity within the decade. This next frontier in responsible investing is […]
11 May 2020
11th May 2020 – Danish pension fund PFA has become the 23rd member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing the total assets under management (AUM) to over US$ 4.6 trillion. By joining the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, an initiative co-convened by PRI and UNEP FI, PFA has committed to transitioning its investment portfolio to net-zero […]
7 May 2020
6 May 2020
The UNEP FI Property Working Group (PWG) convened virtually for two discussion forums to share information on how institutions are managing the public health and economic crisis from COVID-19, and thoughts on how institutions need to plan and operate for a post-crisis recovery. There is strong consensus that institutions with deeply ingrained approaches to integrating […]
23 April 2020
23 April 2020
9 April 2020
UNEP Finance Initiative asked banks how they were responding to the needs of their customers and local communities during the COVID-19 crisis and more than forty of our members replied. We are collecting examples of the many different measures that our members are taking: UNEP FI Head, Eric Usher highlights just some of them […]
6 April 2020
UNEP Finance Initiative is providing a platform for banks to exchange experiences and ideas as they take responsible action to support society and businesses in this unprecedented crisis. UNEP FI is encouraging its members to share their experiences and contact their regional coordinator to tell us how they are responding. To help support their customers […]
2 April 2020
2 April 2020 – UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s (UNEP FI) Positive Impact Initiative (PII) has launched two new tools for corporates, banks and investors to work together and step up their capacity to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With millions of people affected in their daily lives across the globe by the […]
27 March 2020
We are not putting climate action on pause The coronavirus pandemic has hit the world with full force. We are facing a global crisis that no-one could have imagined – one that is foremost a health crisis but with wide-reaching implications for the global economy and environment. Bringing climate action to a halt could be […]