Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
26 July 2021
On 22 July 2021, the G20 environment ministers gathered in Naples committing to ‘continue and increase’ their efforts to address the triple crises of climate change, nature loss and pollution. Finance, both ‘green’ and ‘blue’ was on the agenda, as ministers highlighted the urgent need to direct financial flows and mobilise finance sources to align…
6 July 2021
The ocean is not just a victim of climate change, it is also a source of solutions. The transition to a sustainable “blue” economy is an opportunity to re-cast how we use, manage and protect ocean resources in a more integrated manner. Unlocking the financial sector for the sustainable blue economy allows for the potential of an environmentally and socially sustainable future that will be resilient to the impacts of climate change while providing livelihoods, food and prosperity.
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.
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.
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…
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.
11 March 2021
The South African development bank for the agriculture sector is taking action on nature-related risks, as drought contributes to loan defaults in their portfolio. To ensure the long-term success of South Africa’s agriculture sector, Land Bank considers it vital to simultaneously support equitable ownership of land and tackle natural capital risks.
2 March 2021
New practical guidance enables banks, investors and insurers to understand their impact on ocean health and immediately take action to accelerate the transition to a sustainable blue economy. Leveraging best practice based on input from more than 50 pioneering institutions and experts, this guidance sets out pathways to sustainable growth across five key ocean sectors, chosen for their established connection to private finance. It presents a detailed breakdown of which activities to seek out as best practice, which activities to challenge, and which activities to avoid financing completely due to their damaging nature.
2 February 2021
This foundational report maps ocean finance, revealing trends in lending, underwriting and investment activities which impact the ocean .It includes survey results across 100+ financial professionals revealing current trends, frameworks and financial instruments that are successfully addressing ocean sustainability and highlights new opportunities and gaps in the market. The report covers 5 key ocean sectors: seafood, ports, shipping, coastal and marine tourism and marine renewable energy, notably offshore wind, chosen for their established connection with private finance.
21 January 2021
Biodiversity is catching up with climate on the global policy agenda, motivating leading financial institutions to understand their impacts and dependencies on nature. A first step for financial institutions is to look at the impacts and dependencies on nature across the industries they invest in, lend to or insure.
22 December 2020
In this op-ed originally published for The Economist Group’s World Ocean Initiative, Eric Usher, Head of UNEP FI, calls for a transformational shift in private finance to regenerate ocean health. A healthy ocean is one of the critical success factors in the global economy. Prior to covid-19, the value of the blue economy was an…
11 December 2020
With calls to ‘build back better’ after the COVID-19 pandemic, how can insurance companies take a leadership role in transitioning ocean sectors towards sustainability? The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) assembled a star line-up for a webinar hosting a big-picture discussion on the key ocean-related sustainability trends that affect the insurance business.…
3 December 2020
Oceans cover 71% of the world’s surface, giving Earth the befitting title of the ‘Blue Planet’. The ocean is a planetary superpower that sustains the lives of billions of people and countless marine wildlife. For instance, approximately 3 billion individuals globally are dependent on protein from the ocean for food security. This pivotal role in the global economy establishes the ocean as a vitally important asset to underwriting, lending and investment activities, in businesses which either depend on or impact the ocean and its services.
20 November 2020
The Norwegian financial group said it had signed the United Nations-backed Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles, a guiding framework launched in 2018 for financing a sustainable ocean economy. Storebrand – one of Norway’s main occupational and personal pension providers – said the framework aimed to accelerate the transition towards sustainable use of the ocean and its resources by developing practical actions for insurers, lenders and investors to undertake.
12 November 2020
Financial institutions in Colombia, Peru and South Africa are beginning to tackle nature-related risks, exemplifying a trend across emerging markets Risks linked to nature loss are rising up the finance sector agenda across emerging markets. According to a recent Swiss Re report, 40 percent of South Africa is now classified as having fragile ecosystems. Zero…
10 November 2020
American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company announced today that it has signed the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles joining a growing UNEP FI-hosted community of pioneering banks, insurers and investors working to transition the ocean economy towards sustainability. As a marine insurer, American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company provides hull and machinery services to the international shipping…
5 November 2020
The Dutch Central Bank and financial supervisor, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), is the first central bank to highlight biodiversity as a material financial risk In June, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) released a landmark study, ‘Indebted to nature’, which found that Dutch financial institutions alone have EUR 510 billion of exposure to biodiversity risks, like disruption…
28 October 2020
We cannot have a healthy planet without a healthy ocean, and in any global discussion on biodiversity the ocean must be front-and-centre, says Peter Thomson, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. In his message to the finance industry, Thomson delivers a passionate plea for the preservation of the ocean and stresses its…