Financial industry climate alliances and initiatives

The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. A coalition of the COP26 Private Finance Hub, U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Race to Zero Campaign and COP26 presidency that unites a series of net-zero initiatives from across the financial system to speed the transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.

Race to Zero Campaign. A U.N.-led alliance of cities, regions, businesses, investors and higher-education institutions across the world that are committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Collectively its members cover nearly 25% of global CO2 emissions (as of Sept. 22, 2021).

Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. A U.N.-convened international group of institutional investors who represent USD 9.3 trillion in assets and aim to align their portfolios with a 1.5˚C scenario by 2050 (as of Oct. 20, 2021).

Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative. An international group of asset managers representing USD 57 trillion in assets under management who are committed to supporting investing in line with a 1.5˚C scenario (as of October 2021).

Net Zero Financial Service Providers Alliance. A global group of financial service providers who are committed to ensuring their products and services support a net-zero transition that aligns with a 1.5˚C scenario.

Net Zero Investment Consultants Initiative. An international group of 12 investment consultants who are committed to supporting their clients in achieving the goal of global net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner in line with a 1.5˚C scenario.

Net-Zero Banking Alliance. A U.N.-convened group of more than 55 banks from 28 countries with more than USD 37 trillion in assets who are committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050 (as of Sept. 22, 2021).

Net-Zero Insurance Alliance. A U.N.-convened group of seven global insurance companies that believe their industry can play a key role in accelerating the transition to a net-zero economy, in line with the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement.

Building a Private Finance System for Net Zero. A strategy and voluntary framework for ensuring that financial decisions take climate change into account, led by Mark Carney, the U.N. special envoy and adviser to the U.K. prime minister for COP26.

The Net Zero Investment Framework. Developed by Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the framework offers a comprehensive series of actions for net-zero investing. Thirty-eight institutional asset owners and managers with a combined USD 8.5 trillion in assets are using the framework to commit to aligning with a 1.5˚C net-zero target by 2050 (as of Sept. 22, 2021).

Network for Greening the Financial System. A global network of central banks and financial supervisors that aims to accelerate the scaling up of green finance and develop recommendations for central banks’ role for climate change.

Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials. An initiative to develop a global accounting standard for greenhouse-gas emissions that facilitates financial-industry alignment with the Paris Agreement.

Science Based Targets initiative. A partnership among CDP, United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and World Wide Fund for Nature that is developing sector-specific net-zero targets that are in line with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement, U.N. Climate Change. An introduction to the agreement and how it works. Addresses key aspects of the agreement, how countries are tracking progress and what the agreement has achieved so far.

Global warming of 1.5°C. A report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The report can help investors understand the impacts of 1.5°C global warming and suggests how greenhouse-gas emissions can be brought to net-zero by midcentury.

Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. A summary for policymakers of the IPCC’s latest report on the consequences of human-caused climate change and the need for aggressive action to get to net-zero.

How the World Passed a Carbon Threshold and Why It Matters, Yale Environment 360. Why the planet needs to reduce emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

What Does “Net-Zero Emissions” Mean? 8 Common Questions, Answered. Answers to such questions as what a net-zero target means, what’s the science behind net-zero and which countries have already made such commitments, according to policy experts at the World Resources Institute.

Net Zero by 2050. A report from the International Energy Agency that details why the world needs to move faster to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, including why investment in new oil and natural-gas projects must stop.

Emissions Gap Report 2021. An annual report by the U.N. on the gap between where greenhouse-gas emissions are projected to be in 2030 and where they should be to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Credible Ambition, Immediate Action. The first progress report of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (Oct. 2021)

Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative Progress Report. The latest update from the initiative (September 2021)

Net-Zero America. Five distinct technological pathways, all using technologies known today, by which the U.S. could decarbonize its entire economy, according to researchers at Princeton University.

Getting to Zero, Breakthrough Energy. An overview of the challenge and a primer on both the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions we will have to eliminate and the innovations and investments that will be required to achieve the shift to clean energy.

How exactly does carbon dioxide cause global warming? Climate School, Columbia University. An introduction to how carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere and why it can have such a big effect.