A brand new information has set out how enterprise leaders, chief monetary officers and sustainability managers can slash emissions generated by their company money holdings and assist speed up the broader decarbonization of the monetary sector.
“The Greening Money Motion information: Tips on how to scale back emissions from corporations’ money deposits within the financial institution” particulars what number of companies are failing to account for the emissions related to their company money holdings, warning that these oblique emissions are prone to end in a considerable enhance in lots of companies’ carbon footprint.
As such, the report — authored by Johan Falk of the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, Jakob König from the Truthful Finance Information and Swedish Shoppers’ Affiliation, Paul Moinester of TOPO and Allison Fajans-Turner from BankFWD — units out seven actions corporations can take to each first assess after which curtail emissions related to how banks handle their company money holdings.
Particularly, the report advises corporations to take steps to calculate the carbon footprint from money holdings and proactively partaking with banks to encourage higher knowledge disclosure.
It additionally urges companies dedicated to reaching net-zero emissions to leverage their place as main company prospects to name on banks to cut back the carbon depth of their mortgage and funding portfolios.
Falk, CEO and co-founder of the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, stated corporations should resist the accountability of lowering emissions alongside their full worth chain, together with direct and oblique monetary operations.
“This information provides sensible and actionable suggestions measure and scale back the emissions they not directly finance by their money holdings within the financial institution,” he stated.
König stated company shoppers might play a vital function in making certain banks develop extra credible and efficient decarbonization methods. “What banks select to finance is vital for the local weather transition,” he stated. “With this information, company shoppers might help to speed up their banks’ transition and in flip, banks have a possibility so as to add worth for his or her shoppers. It is a clear win-win that advantages the local weather.”
Allison Fajans-Turner, managing director at BankFWD, claimed that corporations dedicated to driving down emissions have left a “main lever on the desk” in terms of tackling financed emissions. “Particularly, their energy and affect on banks as main shoppers,” she defined. “By utilizing this information, corporations can take steps to make sure that the banks that get their enterprise are utilizing firm money in ways in which help and do not undercut an organization’s wider local weather objectives.
“This information will assist to cement local weather protected banking as a brand new pillar of company sustainability and web zero planning.”
In response to the information’s authors, corporations aren’t but required to report emissions from company money holdings because the related Greenhouse Fuel Protocol’s Scope 3 steering solely applies to monetary establishments and traders. However as local weather disclosure and reporting requirements are strengthened, it’s doable that corporations might be required to account for emissions related to their money holdings when reporting on their Scope 3 worth chain emissions.
