Thirty private-sector CEOs, including the heads of Bank of America, Citi, Santander, Standard Chartered, UBS and Allianz, have urged the European Commission and global governments to step up the financial sector’s role in financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement.
The Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) alliance released its report, Renewed, Recharged and Reinforced: Urgent actions to harmonize and scale sustainable finance, on Wednesday.
It represents a manifesto, identifying 64 recommendations, 42 of which are global in nature and the remainder specific to the European Commission.
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Jay Collins, |
“We had initially planned to prepare a more limited response for the European Commission’s consultation on sustainable finance, but after the pandemic hit we collectively realized we needed to have a bolder global call to action,” says Jay Collins, vice-chairman, banking, capital markets and advisory at Citi, and chair of the GISD report committee.
He points out “it’s not to be taken lightly that 30 of the world’s largest investors, financial institutions and corporations agreed on over 60 concrete recommendations”.
Amy O’Brien, global head of responsible investing at investment manager Nuveen, which was also a signatory on the report, said the EU consultation served as a “focal point for further and intentional mobilization around the broader sustainable finance ecosystem” and called the report “a significant milestone” in scaling up sustainable finance.
