More than 130 global banks, collectively holding $47 trillion in assets, have pledged to align their businesses with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of a new UN initiative to scale-up the financial industry’s contribution to climate action worldwide. Banks representing around one third of the entire global banking sector, including major names such as BNP Paribas, Santander and Barclays, have signed up to the ‘Principles for Responsible Banking’, which were officially launched ahead of this week’s crucial UN Climate Summit in New York. By signing up to the Principles, the 131 banks have all promised to strategically align their business with the goals and the commitment to maintain global average temperatures ‘well below’ 2oC of warming by the end of the century. Signatories must also align their strategies with the UN SDGs, which feature 17 headline targets on sustainable development to be achieved worldwide by 2030 on issues such as climate action, economic growth, inequality, poverty, and clean energy.

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