Climate Finance Alliance Launched... Over 160 Financial Companies Participate with Total Assets of $70 Trillion

Mark Carney, UN Climate Envoy (left), and John Kerry, US Climate Envoy
[Photo by AP Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] More than 160 major financial institutions with total assets exceeding $70 trillion are joining forces to tackle climate change.

On the 21st (local time), according to the British daily The Independent and others, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), led by Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, and John Kerry, the US Special Envoy on Climate Change, was officially launched. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the venue for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to be held this November.

GFANZ is an alliance of financial companies aiming to build a carbon-neutral economy.

In a statement on the day, Special Envoy Carney said GFANZ will be the cornerstone for the climate finance the world needs. Fundamentally, GFANZ will strive to expand, deepen, and accelerate the carbon-neutral economy and serve as a strategic open forum where the financial system can unite.

Special Envoy Carney emphasized that through GFANZ, financial companies will build joint capabilities to prevent the climate crisis and create numerous new jobs by realizing a carbon-neutral economy.

It is known that several meetings have already been held over the past few months with CEOs of major financial companies in attendance.

Among the more than 160 member companies, 43 are banks, including Barclays, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, and Citigroup.

All member companies must prepare climate change response plans. In particular, they have agreed to set interim targets for 2030 within the next 18 months. Additionally, they will transparently disclose their climate change response plans and reflect them in accounting.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.