Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
15 March 2018
UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), together with nine investors representing close to US$ 3 trillion have formed a leadership group to promote action on climate transparency by the investor community. They will work with UNEP FI towards a first set of climate-related investor disclosures in alignment with the […]
15 February 2018
The Investor Agenda will bring together and promote the key actions that investors around the world are taking to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and manage the risks of climate change. UNEP FI and six of its strategic global Partners – Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change, Institutional Investors […]
19 December 2017
19th December, 2017 UNEP FI has been engaging with the new Argentinian G20 presidency via the G20 Energy Efficiency Finance Task Group, of which UNEP FI is part of the secretariat. In his latest blog, UNEP FI’s Martin Schoenberg reports on the importance Argentina is placing on the role of energy efficiency continuing the […]
12 December 2017
12 December, 2017 In the latest demonstration of institutional investors’ commitment to taking action on climate change, asset owner La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), as well as asset managers Sarasin & Partners and Latin America-based SURA Asset Management have today joined the United Nations’ Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition (PDC). With the addition of […]
The third annual report from the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition (PDC) examines the progress made by its members in assessing and taking investment action on climate-related risks and opportunities, and by extension, in decarbonizing capital allocation and portfolio design worldwide. It provides an introduction to the coalition, and an overview of the decarbonization approaches and […]
10 November 2017
Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres, laid down a challenge to the banking industry during UNEP FI’s recent Europe Roundtable when she joined as a surprise guest via live video conference. Christiana, who was one of the architects of the Paris Agreement reached at COP21 in […]
31 October 2017
Two major reports were launched in October 2017 by UN Environment and the 1 Gigaton Coalition. The eighth edition of UN Environment’s Emissions Gap report, released ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, finds that national pledges only bring a third of the reduction in emissions required by 2030 to meet […]
15 October 2017
The Mexican economy has traditionally been strongly driven by revenues from fossil fuels. The Paris Climate Agreement and a realisation in Mexico that new and clean sources of energy and energy savings will reduce volatility and enable a more precitable domestic energy system have triggered a fundamental transformation of the Mexican energy sector, writes UNEP […]
4 September 2017
5 September, 2017 We are pleased to announce that UNEP FI member, Rabobank, is the latest to join twelve other first-mover banks working together to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The leading Dutch Bank has already halted financing of unconventional energy extraction such as shale gas, and no […]
7 August 2017
31 July 2017 We are pleased that UNEP FI member, DNB, has become the twelfth leading bank to join our pilot project to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). This follows the announcement in early July that eleven of UNEP FI’s banking members not only welcomed the recommendations but […]
20 July 2017
Energy efficiency has been sitting at the core of sustainability discussions within the G20 for several years, and has emerged as a key consensus area across the G20 countries. UNEP FI’s Martin Schoenberg provides his take on what the recent G20 summit means for energy efficiency investment going forward, and the role of the G20 Energy […]
11 July 2017
31 October, 2017: Update – 16 banks now form the UNEP FI TCFD pilot project. 11 July, 2017 Eleven of the world’s leading banks announced on 11 July, 2017 that they will work together with UNEP FI to develop analytical tools and indicators to strengthen their assessment and disclosure of climate-related risks and opportunities. Following […]
22 June 2017
The Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group (EEFIG) Underwriting Toolkit launched on June 22nd 2017, during the EU Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels. EEFIG is a partnership between UNEP FI and the European Commission. The report provides a common framework for financial institutions, project developers and hosts of energy efficiency projects such as companies and consumers to […]
12 June 2017
“There is incredible momentum on climate action from individual states, cities, the private sector and citizens. A single political decision will not derail this unparalleled effort” said UN Environment Head, Erik Solheim in response to the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. You can read his full statement later in this article […]
6 June 2017
The 8th Clean Energy Ministerial in China saw the Asian launch of the G20 Energy Efficiency Investment Toolkit to a packed audience of policy-makers, cleantech entrepreneurs, investors and financiers. The Clean Energy Ministerials are senior-level meetings dedicated to accelerating the global clean energy transition. The Asian launch was was organised by the G20 Energy Efficiency Finance Task […]
3 May 2017
According to the International Energy Agency’s analysis, more than USD 221 billion is being invested annually into energy efficiency improvements in buildings, industry and transport in the G20 economies. More than half of this investment is into the buildings sector. UNEP FI has contributed to the G20’s Energy Efficiency Investment Toolkit, which provides guidance on […]
3 May 2017
G20 Energy Efficiency Finance Task Group Rapporteur Peter Sweatman presenting the Toolkit at the G20 Energy Efficiency Forum in Hamburg The G20 Energy Efficiency Investment Toolkit marks the culmination of three years of UNEP FI engagement with the G20. Public and private sector financial institutions are increasingly tackling the energy efficiency investment opportunity by sharing […]
24 January 2017
January 24, 2017 In the latest demonstration of institutional asset owners’ commitment to climate action, New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third largest public pension fund in the US with $184.5 billion in assets, has joined the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition. The Common Retirement Fund is the first major US pension fund to join the Coalition’s 28 […]
14 December 2016
The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) released its draft Recommendations Report in December 2016. The initiative – set up by the Financial Stability Board – will develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders. The task force launched a […]
30 November 2016
A Tale of Two Cities: Progress and Challenges on the Road from Paris to Marrakech In his second blog on COP 22, the climate conference that took place in Marrakech from 4 -16 November 2016, UNEP FI Climate Change Officer, Remco Fischer asks what was accomplished in Morocco, and summarises UNEP FI’s contribution. In the […]