Partnership agreed enabling bankers to become a ‘force for positive change'
The UK’s largest professional body for bankers has agreed a partnership to promote ethical investment across the globe.
The three-year agreement will see the Chartered Banker Institute and the Scotland-based Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) work towards positive change in the sector.
They will use the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November as the catalyst to encourage financial institutions to finance the transformation needed in the economy.
The strategic alliance will support bankers to play a leading role in achieving net zero and honouring commitments made at previous COP summits to limit harmful emissions.
The partnership will pay particular heed to the ‘Carney Test’ – set by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney – which implores financial institutions to take climate change into account when taking any financial decision.
GEFI, which is based in Edinburgh, said the Covid crisis also presented the financial sector with the opportunity to make changes that would bring long-lasting benefits to the environment.
Recently, the Scottish Government announced it would be a partner for GEFI’s ‘Path to COP26’ campaign in order to show Scotland was playing a key role in the global shift towards environmentally responsible and sustainable finance.
The organisation is holding a series of events in the run-up to COP26.
In a joint statement, Simon Thompson CEO, Chartered Banker Institute, and Dame Susan Rice, chair of the global steering group, Global Ethical Finance Institute, said:
“Global leaders have a stark choice about the legacy they want to leave our planet.
“Financing this transition will require the deployment of global capital on an unprecedented scale and a transformational shift in the banks and the bankers of the future.
“This important partnership is aimed at supporting bankers to be a force for positive change across the world.
“Merely talking about the scale of the problem climate change presents will not be enough – the banking sector needs to act too.
“Rebuilding the global economy after Covid-19 and delivering on the climate change challenge presents a unique opportunity.
“That’s an opportunity for bankers across the world to be a force for positive change.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For more information on GEFI, visit: www.globalethicalfinance.org
For more information on the Chartered Banker Institute, visit: www.charteredbanker.com
For further information contact:
Matthew Ball, Head of Public Affairs, Chartered Banker Institute
Tel: +44 (0) 7720 684226
E-mail: [email protected]