On 8 October, the IPCC concluded that an additional 1.5% in global investment would be needed to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Mobilising the world’s financial centres will be crucial to achieve the system transition that the IPCC has recommended.
The FC4s Network brings together nearly 20 of the world’s leading financial hubs to harness the power of place for climate action and sustainable development. Established in September 2017, it has already:
- Introduced an assessment programme to evaluate the activities undertaken by its members to accelerate flows of green and sustainable finance,
- Launched a statement calling for international convergence towards a shared language in the development of taxonomies on green and sustainable finance,
- Established regional platforms in Europe and Asia to stimulate further engagement from financial centres (link: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/eb1f0b_91e9978f38504f61a9d92c484f378a08.pdf),
- Identified best practice across financial centres on how to expand the green bond market, and
- Promoted cooperation between financial centres on the application of fintech to climate and sustainability challenges (such as blockchain).
Satya Tripathi, Assistant Secretary General, UN Environment said: “UN Environment works across the sustainability and finance agenda – and I see that the FC4S Network is having a significant impact on the international policy sphere. These moves will further consolidate the Network’s leadership role.”
At its meeting on October 19, the network members also appointed Kong Wei, representing Shanghai, and Pierre Ducret, representing Paris, as Co-Chairs. Tom Theobald, Deputy CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, has been re-confirmed as member of the network’s steering committee.
Tom Theobald said: “Luxembourg is fully committed to work with other financial centres to help drive the global sustainable finance agenda. In line with the Luxembourg sustainable finance roadmap launched by the government on October 4, the financial centre stands ready to take sustainable finance to the next level and help it move from niche to mainstream.”
Global momentum is indeed gathering. A new Wall Street Working Group on Sustainable Finance is being formed, and is considering joining the network to represent New York.
Curtis Ravenel, Global Head of Sustainable Business & Finance, Bloomberg said: “To solve the climate challenge, we need more sustainable finance product innovation and scale across the U.S. and international capital markets. Along with the growing roster of global hubs that are part of the FC4S Network, Bloomberg is working with a number of financial institutions and others to explore the formation of a Wall Street Sustainable Finance working group to scale capital deployment aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
