GLASGOW, Nov 3 — Banks, insurers and investors with US$130 trillion at their disposal pledged today to put limiting climate change at the centre of their work, and got support in the form of efforts to put green investing on a firm footing.
“The money is here — but that money needs net zero-aligned projects and there’s a way to turn this into a very, very powerful virtuous circle — and that’s the challenge,” the former Bank of England governor told the summit. “The US$130 trillion in assets committed ... is the moment when finance commits to reallocate capital at scale and speed.”“These happy headlines conceal a wealth of loopholes and opportunities for backsliding that we cannot afford if we are to avoid climate breakdown,” the Environmental Justice Foundation said in an emailed statement.
These include not only the direct effects of more frequent extreme weather events, but also costs such as a loss of government subsidies for fossil fuels, or the knock-on health and environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions. And the vice chair of the global Financial Stability Board, Dutch central banker Klaas Knot, said a mandatory global minimum standard for disclosure of climate risks was now needed for both financial stability and the provision of sustainable finance.Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, a GFANZ member, said it was remarkable that the initiative would influence US$130 trillion in funds, but that it needed scale to work.
“We are really focused on greenwashing,” said Ashley Alder, chair of IOSCO, the global umbrella body for securities regulators, which helped set up the International Sustainability Standards Board .