Today’s economies around the world share two features: the first is that most economies are currently too carbon-intensive to be compatible with a “2 degrees” world. The second is that the importance of financial markets for a well-functioning economy has significantly increased.
The United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative — a partnership between UNEP and the global financial sector — was created in the context of the 1992 Earth Summit with a mission to promote sustainable finance.
Over 200 financial institutions, including banks, insurers and fund managers, work with UNEP to understand today’s environmental challenges, why they matter to finance, and how to actively participate in addressing them. Now, over 20 years later, we are in the middle of COP21. And one of UNEP FI’s key challenges is the role of private finance in combating climate change.
About the author
Eric Usher
Eric Usher brings over 20 years of experience in the low carbon sectors, spanning commercialization of technology in Canada, an entrepreneurial venture in Morocco, and financial sector development across emerging markets. In 2014, he worked closely with UNEP FI in supporting the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in New York and specifically the launch of the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition.