(FS.9.00) Sustainable Finance Providing greater access to financial services, ensuring inclusive and sustainable development, and enabling a world-class business and financial environment will ultimately drive economic growth in Africa. The EU has already confirmed the COVID-19 crisis will not stop Europe from developing bolder 2030 climate targets, and that green finance will be a key focus of the post recovery phase. A transfer of wealth to more socially and environmentally attentive investors foreseen in the next years is an extraordinary opportunity to attract more private investments and consolidate Europe's position as a global leader on green finance. The establishment of a new Green Finance Institute, in partnership with the City of London, which will drive forward the UK's Green Finance market, and the UK will publish a Green Finance Strategy in 2019. W ith a slew of Chinese policies now geared towards green finance developments, local and international asset managers believe that ESG integration will proliferate in years to come. The former leader of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change stressed that green finance will be the key to urban change. India next year will demonstrate leadership in green finance as it starts up its first green bank and begins to support local banking options through unique public-private mechanisms. China could attract more private investments and become a global leader in green finance. Green bonds reached $36 billion in new issuances last year and could increase climate finance for developing countries through greater use of asset-backed bonds. National governments could green urban finance by re-designing taxes and grants to sub-national governments to correct incentives for unsustainable behaviour and reward cities that create environmental benefits beyond their borders. A 21st Century modern Glass-Steagall could allow the US to better "tailor regulation" in a way that increases lending. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, took the opportunity to call for a 'Decade of Action' to accelerate sustainable solutions to 'the world's biggest challenges, ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap'. With the NGFS, the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action is expected to play a crucial role in accelerating the shift of finance to sustainable and climate resilient investments. The BoE is researching climate change and the EU recently proposed to integrate environmental risks into the mandates of the ESAs as part of its Action Plan on sustainable and green finance. Carney claimed that the Beijing market is keen to open up and that the Bank of England was already conversing with the People's Bank of China in order to establish a green bond market that could finance larger sustainable projects. Green finance will accelerate the transition toward a sustainable economy in China and improve China's financial system. Investment for sustainable development will often have similar characteristics with 2°C finance but could have an alternative ultimate aim such as reducing poverty. 2020 will be a crucial year for codifying and embedding the EU sustainable finance measures, alongside similar initiatives emanating from the UK and other jurisdictions. The European Commission is hoping that the long-awaited taxonomy for sustainable finance will stimulate billions of euros in investment to help the now 27-member bloc achieve its aim of becoming the first continent to reach climate neutrality by 2050. Autumn 2020 will see the launch of a new EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance setting out future actions. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged hundreds of business leaders gathered in Chicago to help usher in a new era of 'green economics,' where addressing the problem of climate change becomes not a cost but an opportunity for growth. See full forecast Last updated: 28 May 2020 Hi, Would you like a quick online demo of our service from an experienced member of our team? Yes No
