Our Approach To Climate Alignment
How have the expectations on climate action evolved for the financial sector?
The financial sector’s journey in addressing climate change has taken it from the Equator Principles approach of “do no harm,” to scaling-up green finance commitments, followed by scaling-down investments for coal power, to new expectations on enhanced climate risk disclosure policies. Most recently, several global banks, asset owners, and asset managers have committed to net-zero emissions targets or alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement goals. The commitments to “climate alignment” hold great promise as a durable, holistic framework for finance and climate. However, implementing the vision is challenging and requires a comprehensive approach.
The evolution of climate action in the financial sector
2015 - 2017
Sustainable Finance Commitments and Improving Climate-Related Disclosure
See: The Paris Climate Agreement and The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
The Journey
Pathway
Which pathway should we take?
Methods
Which navigation tools should we use?
Data
How do we know if we're on track and where we need to go?
Competition
What if we act but others maintain business as usual?
Real Economy
How do we achieve < 2°C alignment when investing in a 4°C world?
Our Approach
Climate alignment is a powerful theory that could provide a definitive approach for the financial sector to drive long-term, multi-sector decarbonization. Implementation poses daunting challenges, especially for the large, complex mainstream financial institutions that account for the bulk of commercial financing for carbon-intensive industries today. RMI’s Center for Climate-Aligned Finance was established as an “engine room” to help financial institutions partner with their clients, industry leaders, and key buyers to develop practical and scalable solutions to the barriers to climate alignment.
RMI was centrally involved in the design and implementation of the world’s first climate alignment agreement driven by the financial sector within the shipping industry—the Poseidon Principles. Banks representing more than $150 billion of shipping finance have committed to align their lending portfolios for the shipping sector with a long-term decarbonization trajectory. Extending and replicating this sectoral approach in collaboration with leading climate initiatives focused on data, methodologies, and collective action in other areas of the global economy is central to the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance, as is shaping the pragmatic evolution and future of climate-aligned financial regulation.
Building Sectoral Agreements
Convene leaders from carbon-intensive industries, their customers, and financial institutions to establish climate alignment agreements, similar to the Poseidon Principles for the shipping sector, in sectors like power utilities, oil & gas, steel, aviation, and cement
Developing Global Frameworks
Develop global, standardized frameworks and definitions for climate alignment spanning the financial sector
Supporting Individual Firms
Support financial institutions in navigating the organizational challenge of transforming into a climate-aligned financial institution
Shaping the Global Conversation
Shape public discourse through media and strategic communications to clarify and legitimize the concept of climate alignment