Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
As controllers and facilitators of capital, banks can be at the core of the systemic change needed to help decarbonise the economy to achieve a 1.5 degree temperature outcome. But leading this change requires banks to set and achieve ambitious, robust, and science-based targets – get started with the Foundations of Climate Mitigation Target Setting.
The Principles for Responsible Banking Guidance Document is designed to support signatory banks’ implementation of the Principles. It provides non-binding guidance to banks on measures they can take to implement each Principle.
This joint report by UNEP FI and the European Banking Federation 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 follows a joint project in 2020 that tested the application of the EU…
The Guidance on Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Target Setting is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for banks interested in increasing the sustainable use of resources such as energy, waste, water and raw materials and building a circular economy, where waste and pollution are eliminated, products and materials are kept in use at their highest value and natural systems are regenerated.
Responsible Banking: Building Foundation is the first collective progress report of the Principles for Responsible Banking signatories. It synthesizes individual reporting from over 200 signatories, providing a status update on their progress in implementing the PRB framework, and thereby taking steps to align their business strategies with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Agreement.
The Guidance on Biodiversity Target Setting is designed for PRB signatories, allowing banks to take a systematic approach to setting and achieving biodiversity targets. The guidance presents three real-life case studies, and includes a detailed how-to guide and has been developed by 30 PRB signatories, UNEP FI, UNEP-WCMC and the Science-based Targets Network (SBTN).
Banks with ambitious targets for financial inclusion and/or financial health can drive positive outcomes for individuals, entrepreneurs, the whole society and the wider economy. The Guidance on Financial Inclusion and Financial Health Target Setting supports signatory banks in their efforts to set targets in line with the requirements of the PRB.
The Guidelines for Climate Target Setting for Banks outline key principles to underpin the setting of credible, robust, impactful and ambitious targets in line with achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The Climate Risk Landscape: Mapping Climate-related Financial Risk Assessment Methodologies provides a summary of the key developments across third party climate risk assessment providers since May 2019, including new and updated scenarios, methodological tools, key guidelines, as well as an overview of the changing regulatory landscape and potential developments into 2021. This report covers both…
Pathways to Paris’ is a practical guide for financial practitioners looking to understand and apply climate scenarios. Co-authored with the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO), a world-renowned research institution on climate and climate finance, the report examines the driving assumptions and sectoral coverage of the models used to produce climate scenarios, as well as…
‘Decarbonisation and Disruption’ highlights the ways in which many sectors are exposed to transition risk. If not properly managed, a disorderly transition could have major ramifications for financial stability. Financial institutions need to not only prepare for the transition along with their counterparties but must have the right tools for risk assessment. This paper was…
The Guidance on Gender Equality Target Setting delivers a practical example of what a gender equality target can look like, providing guidance on the different elements of setting targets in line with the requirements of the PRB, and what alignment with international and national frameworks can look like. Esta guía está disponible en español.
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…
The Collective Commitment to Climate Action (CCCA) is an ambitious global banking sector initiative supporting the transition to a net zero economy by 2050. It brings together a leadership group of 38 banks from across all six continents who have committed to align their portfolios with the global climate goal to limit warming to well-below…
Beyond the Horizon: New Tools and Frameworks for Transition Risk Assessments from UNEP FI’s TCFD Banking Programme Thirty-nine global financial institutions from six continents participated in UNEP FI’s second TCFD banking programme. Through this yearlong engagement, the participating banks collaborated with climate risk experts and each other to improve financial assessments of transition risk. In…
From Disclosure to Action: Applying TCFD principles throughout financial institutions Recent reports from the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) indicate how the financial sector has increasingly recognized climate risk as a financial risk. Financial institutions must respond to the threat of climate change by identifying, assessing,…
UNEP FI and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) have developed a TCFD Playbook to serve as a resource for firms at different stages of their TCFD journey, with support from EY. The organisations conducted a joint initiative to assist banks and other financial institutions in their efforts to strengthen climate risk disclosures by convening…
Charting a New Climate: State-of-the-art tools and data for banks to assess credit risks and opportunities from physical climate change impacts Charting a New Climate is 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,…
This report aims to present the survey results of “How the Banks of Latin America and the Caribbean (in Spanish, ALC) incorporate climate change in their risk management,” which aligns with the first global initiative exploring what regional banks are doing to integrate dimensions of climate change in their strategy and management.
Download our report providing a pathway for financial institutions to start setting biodiversity targets in 9 critical sectors, and contribute to halting and reversing the biodiversity crisis.