Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
24 June 2021
You have signed the UNEP FI Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles. Why did American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company take this step and has it been a challenge to adopt sustainable insurance practices? Shipping itself is crucial to global sustainability. As the carrier of world trade it is the key component in bringing food, energy, vital goods, jobs…
18 June 2021
Investment in blue economy is vital for planet’s future, but the breadth of risks to ocean health pose challenges to asset owners. The ocean economy is estimated to be worth US$2.5 trillion annually, but just US$13 billion has been invested during the past ten years to support sustainability, according to an international joint academic and public institution report. If further action is not taken to tackle the effects of unsustainable use of oceans and their resources, a total of between US$200 billion-US$1 trillion will be required annually by 2100 to pay for coastal protection, relocation of people and loss of land to sea level rise.
17 June 2021
Based on the market-first practical guidance for financial institutions, Turning the Tide, UNEP FI’s recommended exclusions list for a sustainable blue economy provides financial institutions with an overview of activities to exclude from financing due to their damaging impact on the ocean and high risk.
10 June 2021
The market-led and UN-supported Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) was launched on 4 June 2021. It is designed to support a shift in global financial flows away from nature-negative toward nature-positive outcomes by providing a practical reporting framework for companies. In this blog, UNDP and UNEP FI, as the global Accelerator team bringing together…
10 June 2021
Pioneering Islamic Finance and Principles for Responsible Banking Report Launched by the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC), in partnership with Malaysia based International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) and the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI). The report provides an analysis of responsible banking in the Islamic finance sector, assessing the level of engagement with the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) amongst banks in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and analysing the approaches used by 9 Islamic finance signatories.
4 June 2021
Major financial institutions and multinational corporates have endorsed the launch of a new market-led Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which will support business in assessing emerging nature-related risks and opportunities.
1 June 2021
Geneva, Tuesday 1 June. The UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) are today launching a joint programme that will accelerate leadership in responsible investment. The Investment Leadership Programme (ILP) will bring together groups of responsible investors to work on initiatives that are considered ambitious, but not yet…
27 May 2021
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance announced the addition of five new members managing nearly one trillion US dollars of assets between them. UK-based joiners include the country’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, Phoenix Group, the country’s largest life insurer, L&G Group, and Rothesay, the UK’s largest pensions insurance specialist. Germany’s largest pension group…
26 May 2021
In a critical decade for climate and nature, banks and investors can now explore their portfolio’s impact on species extinction risk and ecological integrity, and take immediate action to reverse biodiversity loss. New UN-backed ENCORE biodiversity module has been launched, enabling financial institutions to explore to what extent their financial portfolio indirectly drives species extinction…
21 May 2021
The financial sector is finally picking up the pace in its response to the climate emergency. Central banks are taking steps to better assess climate-related risks, and asset managers responsible for over a third of the world’s assets, including giants like Vanguard and BlackRock, committed to set a net zero path.
20 May 2021
The founding partners of The Investor Agenda released today a new tool to enable institutional investors to step up action to tackle the climate crisis and accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. The Investor Climate Action Plans (ICAPs) Expectations Ladder and Guidance provides investors with clear expectations for issuing and implementing comprehensive climate action…
14 May 2021
Asset owners, BT Pension Scheme and the Church of England Pensions Board, alongside the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA), the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (Ceres), the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) are, supported by Chronos Sustainability, joining forces to create…
21 April 2021
World’s leading insurers and reinsurers and UN Environment Programme to establish pioneering Net-Zero Insurance Alliance Geneva, 21 April 2021—Seven of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers, working together with the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, are currently in the process of establishing a pioneering Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA). The NZIA is expected to be launched…
21 April 2021
Geneva, Wednesday 21 April. Today, on the eve of President Biden’s Head of State Climate Summit, Mark Carney (the UK Prime Minister’s Finance Advisor for COP26 and UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance) launches a global alliance that brings together existing and new net-zero finance initiatives into one sector-wide strategic forum: The Glasgow…
21 April 2021
21 April 2021 – The United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance today announces a tripling in membership from its launch at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in September 2019, with 37 members now committing to set and report on interim targets towards net-zero portfolio emisisons by 2050. Alliance members Wespath and the David…
20 April 2021
The fifth edition of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report (2020) found that 72% of countries have adopted at least one national adaptation instrument in their policy planning. Most developing countries are also preparing National Adaptation Plans to strengthen their focus on climate change adaptation. However, the capital needed to implement these plans has yet to…
16 April 2021
Read about the conference hosted by the European Investment Bank and WWF, where Portugal, represented by Ricardo Serrão Santos, Minister of the Sea Republic of Portugal, endorsed the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles and the EBRD and the Asian Development Bank were welcomed as recent signatories of the Principles.
15 April 2021
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has today released a new resource designed to help asset owners set expectations for, evaluate, and engage with asset managers on their climate-related proxy voting activities. The document, Elevating Climate Diligence on Proxy Voting Approaches: A Foundation for Asset Owner Engagement of Asset Managers, outlines a set of principles…
For investors (institutional investors and asset managers), banks, financial regulators, other financial industry actors, and corporates in Thailand and in the region.
The session guides participants in developing their understanding of what is human rights, what are some of the infringements seen in business activities in Thailand and internationally, and what are the best practices by investors and banks to protect human rights.
UNEP FI collaborated through the chapter “Necessary skills to change finance and finance change” in the report “The role of finance in a sustainable economy” undertaken by the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysts / Financial Studies Foundation. The online presentation of the study will be on April 27th at 16h CET.