A race against time and against ourselves. Against the dangerous idea that we can’t do this, that there is no way.
Unlike most races, it won’t have one winner. In this race we all win, or we all lose. Winning it requires a radical, unprecedented level of collaboration, from all corners of our world. From our cities, businesses, regions and investors. From people everywhere.
Together we’re racing for a better world. A zero carbon and resilient world. A healthier, safer, fairer world. A world of wellbeing, abundance and joy, where the air is fresher, our jobs are well-paid and dignified, and our future is clear.
To get there we need to run fast, and get faster. We need more and more people to join the race, and right now. This is not about 2050, it’s about today.
Together, we can do this. And we’re already on our way.
The first of five Regional Finance Forums took place this week in Addis Ababa with the aim of crowding-in capital at the pace and scale required to meet the finance adaptation and mitigation needs for Africa.
This week’s spring meetings at the IMF and World Bank must be used as an opportunity for public and private finance leaders to come together and forge new approaches to removing barriers to net zero.
UN Race to Zero and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) – a net zero alliance responsible for more than $130 trillion in assets in 40 countries across the financial sector, today publishes its Net Zero Financing Roadmaps.
The race is on for private finance towards net-zero emissions by 2050 and new partnerships are set to drive exponential growth in resilience investments.
Achieving the objective of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C from pre-industrial levels requires a whole economy transition – every company, bank, insurer and investor will have to adjust their business models, develop credible plans for the transition and implement them.
Mainstream private finance will help all companies realign their business models for net zero. It will fund the initiatives and innovations of the private sector and turn billions committed to climate investment through public channels into trillions of total climate investment.
There is already growing ambition and action from leading financial institutions. The world’s largest asset owners and managers, controlling over USD$37 trillion, have joined the UN Race to Zero campaign.
However, unlocking systemic change will require coordinated and ambitious commitments across the entire financial system. Previously, there was no forum for this, nor, more fundamentally, were there ‘Race to Zero’ entry vehicles for some of the most important sectors of finance (banking, insurance underwriters, FMIs). This undermines our collective goal of ensuring coherency and consistency across the financial sector.
To overcome this challenge at the speed and scale required, Mark Carney and the COP26 Private Finance Hub – in partnership with the UNFCCC Climate Action Champions and the Race to Zero campaign and the COP26 Presidency – are launching a coalition that brings together existing and new net zero finance initiatives into one sector wide strategic forum: the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).
GFANZ will broaden, deepen and raise ambition in the financial sector, allowing firms to demonstrate their collective commitments to supporting companies and countries to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. GFANZ will catalyse strategic and technical coordination on steps firms need to take to align with a net zero future. Anchored in the Race to Zero, the entry criteria will help to ensure credibility and consistency of net zero commitments.
