Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
The Net Zero High-level Dialogue provides an opportunity for leaders to discuss how to prepare their banks for the transition to a decarbonized economy and explore the enablers to set robust climate targets and identify climate financing opportunities.
21 April 2022
On 21 April, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance observes its first anniversary. At this milestone, the Alliance looks ahead to the coming year and puts forward a vision for change as it undertakes the next phase of the net-zero commitment.
3 March 2022
Recent research has outlined perceived inconsistencies between the requirements of the Alliance commitment and the activities of its members. The NZBA wishes to reflect the highest level of ambition in its practices even as it balances that ambition against the pragmatic concerns of our current global economy, and so would like to provide more detail on how it is approaching these issues.
15 February 2022
UNEP FI and the European Banking Federation have launched a report, “Practical approaches to applying the EU Taxonomy to bank lending”, that explores practical approaches for banks who wish to use the EU Taxonomy. This initiative, supported by EY, was developed based on discussions with 24 banks*, 12 banking associations and six observing organisations, and…
19 January 2022
In January 2022, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance achieved a critical milestone as it welcomed the 100th signatory to its net-zero commitment. The NZBA now consists of over 100 members, representing 40 countries and over 43% of global banking assets.
12 January 2022
This original article was published on Forbes and can be found here By David Carlin, TCFD Programme Lead, UNEP FI Worldwide energy price shocks, crop and water shortages, migration from low-lying areas, and increasing trade tensions. These are just some of the climate-related challenges societies will confront in coming years. Financial actors are increasingly looking…
20 December 2021
On 13 December, the senior leaders of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance’s Steering Group convened for the Alliance’s first annual Principals Meeting, wherein they reviewed the progress of the last year and made plans for 2022.
9 December 2021
Read Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP’s speech on the global biodiversity funding gap, and why negotiators finalizing the Global Biodiversity Framework can help to unlock private and public finance at a massive scale by setting the enabling environment for alignment of finance to nature. Includes what the climate space has taught us about using alignment to shift finance and the need to focus on action in food systems which will be particularly critical.
2 December 2021
A group of 28 banks under the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) has founded a first-of-its-kind commitment to promote universal financial inclusion and foster a banking sector that supports the financial health of customers. This marks the start of a collective journey to accelerate action on financial health and inclusion, alongside some other critical topics of our times, such as climate change, nature loss and pollution.
25 November 2021
UNEP FI’s Climate Lead, Remco Fischer reviews the outcomes of COP26 and explains why ultimate climate success or failure depends on leadership from the private and the public sectors coming together, synergising, feeding and boosting each other to create a determined drive of economic decarbonisation. He also highlights the important role of the net-zero finance alliances…
5 November 2021
On the heels of COP 26 Finance Day, banking industry leaders met in Glasgow to discuss the leadership role of the banking sector towards net-zero under the UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) – a game-changing commitment through which the banking sector is joining forces and mobilising capital at scale to tackle climate change, the defining issue of the 21st century.
3 November 2021
Leading the 1.5 Degree Journey: Aligning the Banking Sector Climate change is the defining issue of the century; an existential risk and a code red for humanity. A rapid decarbonisation of our economies with global emissions decreasing by 7.6% every year is required to keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree goal within reach. To achieve…
27 October 2021
Ahead of the G20 Rome Summit this weekend, UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) today publishes its G20 input paper, ‘Recommendations for credible Net-Zero commitments from financial institutions’. UNEP FI is, for the first time, setting out a high-level framework for what a credible, transparent and comparable 1.5°C science-based commitment looks like and what…
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.