Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
18 October 2021
COP26 has been dubbed the ‘finance COP’ in recognition of the crucial role of the global financial industry in delivering on the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. In a series of blogs in the lead-up to the conference, UNEP FI Head, Eric Usher assesses how financial institutions are integrating sustainability into their business strategies…
14 October 2021
New baseline report provides a status update on how the global coalition of banks are implementing the Principles, highlighting progress made and challenges to be addressed. Geneva, 14 October 2021 – A new report summarising the progress made by banks who have signed the Principles for Responsible Banking finds that signatories are showing early signs…
6 October 2021
The industry-led, UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance is pleased to announce a new collaboration with the Centre for Climate-Aligned Finance. The collaboration is designed to harmonize, develop and implement climate alignment methodologies for financial institutions, focused on sectoral decarbonisation. The Center and the Alliance have a shared ambition for excellence in the pursuit of common goals…
22 September 2021
2 years since launch, we celebrate the Principles for Responsible Banking and the work of signatory banks as they continue along their 4 year journey of implementation. We also welcome new signatories who now number almost 250 banks representing 40% of banking assets worldwide, and take a look forward to the report on collective progress, scheduled for publication in October this year.
27 July 2021
The industry-led, UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance today appoints a 12-member-strong Steering Group and Chair to oversee decision-making and strategy, guiding the technical work and collective progress of the Alliance. The new governance will allow the Alliance to drive collective and credible progress towards aligning members’ lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. As well as providing a level of accountability for the…
12 July 2021
Background United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is seeking a professional education body to develop an online learning academy – the Responsible Banking Academy – to support implementation of the Principles for Responsible Banking. The education body will support implementation of UNEP FI’s training strategy through the development and delivery of online learning…
11 July 2021
Geneva/Venice, 11 July 2021—As the G20 gathers in Venice for its Climate Summit, eight of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers make a historic commitment to play their part in accelerating the transition to a net-zero emissions economy, as required by the Paris Agreement.
11 July 2021
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance, established in April 2021 by 43 founding banks, and convened by UNEP Finance Initiative, has now grown to 53 banks from 27 countries with US$ 37 trillion in total assets – representing almost a quarter of banking assets worldwide. Announced at the G20 Venice International Conference on Climate, the 10 members who have joined since the launch of the Alliance are: ABANCA, AIB, Banco Bradesco S.A., Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, Groupe BPCE, MUFG, Nationwide Building Society and Swedbank.
29 June 2021
In an interview with ITV News, Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, urged international lenders to join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance before COP26 begins in Glasgow in November. “The question for those institutions is to get themselves in a position so they can make these commitments,” Mr Carney says. “And, to be clear, these are serious commitments. You are committing to net zero, you’re committing to show how you are going to get there.”
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.
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.
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…
16 March 2021
Composed of 12 leading organisations, the the Civil Society Advisory Body of the Principles for Responsible Banking is a unique, first-of-its-kind forum for constructive and meaningful engagement between wider civil society and the collective banking industry.
17 February 2021
Geneva, 17 February 2021 – Transition risk poses a significant near-term threat to the economy. This is one of the findings released today in the latest set of three UNEP Finance Initiative reports on climate risk management tools for financial institutions. The latest guidance is the result of a leading-edge project that convened 39 banks…
26 January 2021
UNEP FI and the European Banking Federation (EBF) have launched a unique report assessing the extent to which the EU Taxonomy on Sustainable Activities could be applied to core banking products for labelling or disclosure purposes. This report is the result of a project with 26 major banks, seven banking associations and five observing organisations…
12 January 2021
The 2021 edition of the Young Banker of the Year Competition, the most prestigious annual event for leading young bankers, was launched today by the Chartered Banker Institute, and is supported by United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). This year, for the first time in its 30 plus years history, the competition will be truly global, with the Chartered Banker Institute inviting nominations from its 30,000 members, and more widely across the globe from individuals and international banking institutions (including building societies, credit unions and fintechs).
8 December 2020
Today, UNEP FI published a summary of the first reporting from the 38 banks who are signatories to the Collective Commitment to Climate Action (CCCA), the most ambitious global banking sector initiative supporting the transition to a net zero economy by 2050.
4 December 2020
200 banks across 58 countries and 6 continents have now signed UNEP FI’s Principles for Responsible Banking, thereby committing to align their strategy and practice with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals.
20 October 2020
Principles for Responsible Banking is first finance sector initiative to put into practice signatories’ commitments to robust accountability and broad engagement with establishment of Civil Society Advisory Body Signatories to the Principles for Responsible Banking commit to proactively consult with their stakeholders and to be transparent about and accountable for their positive and negative impacts…
24 September 2020
UNEP FI and Oliver Wyman launch ‘Transition Check’, a web-tool that takes a scenario-based approach for assessing transition risk. As businesses consider the impacts of climate change on their long-term sustainability, it has remained difficult to measure such risks – until now. Introducing Transition Check, a web-tool that takes a scenario-based approach for assessing transition…