The launch of a set of six principles seeking to commit banks to align with both the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been hailed as a ‘global benchmark for sustainable banking’. The voluntary initiative has been modelled on the six UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and four Principles for Sustainable Insurance. A six-month public consultation for the Principles for Responsible Banking was launched on 26 November in Paris by 28 banks, which jointly represent more than $17 trillion in assets, and the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), which helped to develop the Principles. They will be officially launched in September 2019. The Principles represent “a serious commitment”, according to UNEP FI, because banks that fail to meet transparency requirements, set adequate targets and demonstrate progress will be stripped of their status as signatories.

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Environmental Finance