As the “decisive decade” continues, financial institutions will need to proactively finance real-world transformation, rather than achieving portfolio alignment on paper only. We expect to see a record-breaking year for the launch of new green investment products, such as green bonds, sustainability-linked loans, and green ETFs, as well as increasing corporate engagement. Demonstrating action, though, should not come at the expense of impact.
Firms will need to adopt strategies that have the greatest probability of high impact, doing the things that matter most first and avoiding greenwashing. To aid this, the Center will soon launch a set of impact-oriented climate alignment principles to guide financial institutions as they implement their commitments.Climate alignment is the process of bringing the global economy’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5°C temperature targets.
Investors need asset-level, quantitative data and metrics that can support company or sectoral transition plans and that can be integrated into existing investment models. Much of the data financial institutions use today focuses on what happened in the past , but these are no longer a good indicator of what will happen in an unprecedented environment—or what needs to happen to avoid one.
Forward-looking metrics can help assess investment risks and opportunities through the net-zero transition, such as assessing how companies or individual assets are likely to fare in the transition. The Center’s