Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
21 April 2021
Geneva, Wednesday 21 March. 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.
17 November 2020
UNEP FI TCFD Banking Pilot Projects NEW for February 2021: UNEP FI’s TCFD Banking programme has launched 3 new papers relating to scenario analysis, recommendations on integrated assessment models, tools, the changing regulatory landscape as well as potential developments in 2021. Decarbonisation and Disruption: Understanding the financial risks of a disorderly transition using climate scenarios…
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…
21 September 2020
One year on: Coalition of signatory banks, civil society shares progress implementing the UN Principles for Responsible Banking Exactly one year ago, on 22 September 2019, more than 130 banks in the presence of the UN Secretary General signed the first-ever global sustainability framework for the banking industry: the UN Principles for Responsible Banking.…
8 September 2020
8 September 2020 – UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has released a report on physical climate risks and opportunities from Phase II of its Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Banking Programme with climate risk advisory and analytics firm, Acclimatise. The report, “Charting a New Climate”, provides a state-of-the-art blueprint to support…
7 August 2020
Seventy eight banks from 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean recently took part in the first region-wide survey on how the banks are incorporating climate change into their risk management. The study sample represents 54% of the total assets of the Latin America and Caribbean market. It showcases the level of knowledge,…
16 July 2020
In a major step forward for the UN’s Principles for Responsible Banking, its current signatories and members of UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) have voted for a new governance structure, agreed individual and collective progress review processes, as well as a process for dealing with signatories who fail to deliver on their commitments. The…
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,…
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…
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…
24 March 2020
A total of 171 banks from around the world have now signed UNEP FI’s Principles for Responsible Banking: each one making a commitment to far-reaching change as they realign their businesses with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a significant increase from the 130 founding…