“Critical”: Mark Carney Launches Alliance of Net Zero Financial Services Providers

Global credit rating agencies, exchanges, index providers, credit rating agencies and auditors have come together to form the Net Zero Financial Services Providers Alliance, committing to align their products and services with global climate goals.

The London Stock Exchange Group, Deloitte, KPMG, EY, PwC, S&P; Global and Moody’s Corporation are among the 18 founding members of the Alliance, which will be launched today by the United Nations Special Envoy for Action and climate finance and former Governor of the Bank of England. Mark Carney.

All members of the Net Zero Financial Services Providers Alliance must commit to aligning “all relevant products and services” to achieve the net goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest. They also pledged to set “significant” interim targets for 2025 within 12 months of joining the group and to take action to reduce their operational emissions in line with limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5. ° C.

In a statement, the Net Zero Financial Service Providers Alliance said its launch marked a “significant step forward” in the financial system’s transition to net zero, noting that progress towards the goal would be based on services and products. essentials that inform decisions made by businesses, banks, asset managers and owners align with global climate goals. “Data, products and services from financial service providers are among the essential elements that inform capital flows,” he said.

The launch of the alliance comes less than a week after Carbon Tracker study warns listeners did not adequately account for climate risk in their assessment of corporate accounts.

The Net Zero Financial Services Providers Alliance will join the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the umbrella group launched by Carney earlier this year to unite the various net zero alliances formed within the financial industry.

“The new alliance of Net Zero financial services providers will be essential in helping the financial industry achieve net zero,” Carney said. “By joining the alliance and GFANZ, these companies are committed to ensuring that their products and services support a credible and ambitious net zero transition that we need to meet our 1.5 degree target.”

The group is the fifth major net zero alliance to have been launched in the financial sector in the past two years, following in the footsteps of the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance in September 2019, the Net Zero Asset Managers last December, the Net Zero Banking Alliance in April of this year and Net Zero Insurance Alliance in July.

COP26 President Alok Sharma also welcomed the launch of a new initiative. “Helping mobilize the funding needed to accelerate the transition to net zero by mid-century is crucial to saving our planet from the worst effects of catastrophic climate change,” he said. “These new commitments from major financial service providers show great climate leadership in helping us achieve net zero.”

The launch of the Net Zero Financial Service Providers Alliance comes as dozens of financial institutions – with more than $ 10 billion in assets under management – have come together to call on governments to establish a global framework for post-biodiversity biodiversity. 2020 “ambitious and transformational” (GBF) at the next COP15 Biodiversity Summit.

In a public statement Released on Tuesday, the 78 institutions behind the call said the policies that flow from an ambitious framework would accelerate and increase much-needed private capital flows that could lead to a net zero and positive economy for nature.

“GBF’s next project should more accurately reflect the sense of urgency and the level of ambition required to protect and restore biodiversity,” the statement said. “It is essential that the GBF underscore the important role that financial institutions and the private sector can and must play in achieving the 2030 milestones and 2050 targets.”

The call calls on governments to change the current version of the GBF project to include an “explicit expectation” for financial institutions and businesses to align financial flows to support global biodiversity goals in the landmark biodiversity accord, backed by appropriate regulatory measures and financial incentives.

Coordinated by the nonprofit Ceres and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, the campaign also calls on world leaders to strengthen their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to ensure that the GBF can be implemented. successfully implemented when completed and supported by policies that meet global biodiversity goals.

It also calls for the elimination of all subsidies harmful to biodiversity and the creation of a regulatory environment allowing financial institutions to address the risks and opportunities associated with biodiversity, starting with the introduction of an obligation to consistent and useful disclosure for business.