{"id":20346,"date":"2022-04-21T07:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T05:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/?p=20346"},"modified":"2023-02-08T13:56:58","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T12:56:58","slug":"one-year-later-carney-bloomberg-must-show-leadership-to-stop-gfanz-dithering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/en\/2022\/04\/21\/one-year-later-carney-bloomberg-must-show-leadership-to-stop-gfanz-dithering\/","title":{"rendered":"One year later : Carney and Bloomberg must show leadership to stop GFANZ dithering"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press Release<\/b><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Paris, 21st of April 2022 <\/span><\/b>– One year ago today, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero was launched to much fanfare. Co-chair Mark Carney <\/span><\/span><\/span>announced<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> t<\/span>hat GFANZ was the \u201cessential plumbing . . . to move climate change from the fringes to the forefront of finance.\u201d <\/span>Leading c<\/span>ivil society <\/span>organisations<\/span> work<\/span>ing<\/span> on climate finance are marking this anniversary by calling out the alliance for its lack of any meaningful progress <\/span>and noting the urgent need to act to restrict financing for fossil fuel expansion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Reclaim Finance, BankTrack, Re:Common, urgewald and Climate Action Network-International have written to the GFANZ co-chairs, Mark Carney and Michael Bloomberg, to warn that without<\/span> strong leadership \u201cGFANZ is at risk of becoming a smokescreen to hide the finance sector\u2019s foot dragging on decarbonization.\u201d Forty-seven other NGOs from 19 countries have endorsed the letter.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GFANZ is an alliance of alliances that includes many of the world\u2019s most powerful investors, banks and insurers. It includes seven sectoral alliances, covering everything from investment consulting to banking. The alliances currently have more than 520 financial institution members and represent total assets of almost $138 trillion. (1)\u00a0 In signing up to GFANZ, these financial institutions must align with the criteria of the UN\u2019s <\/span>Race to Zero Campaign<\/span><\/a>, which include a commitment to halving emissions by 2030 in line with the IPCC\u2019s 1.5\u00b0C scenarios.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The groups say that \u201cWithout a major increase in ambition, it is hard to see how the GFANZ alliances and initiatives will halve their financed, facilitated and insured emissions within the next eight years.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The letter acknowledges \u201cthe impressive contribution\u201d that Carney and Bloomberg have made \u201cto the cause of decarbonizing finance.\u201d However, it goes on to say that: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the past year we have seen very few indications that the major members of GFANZ are serious about withdrawing financial services from the fossil fuel industry, despite repeated extreme weather disasters, three more alarming reports from the IPCC, and the stark illustration of the link between fossil-fuel dependence and brutal authoritarianism given by Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The litmus test for credible climate policies was made clear in May 2021 when the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its <\/span>net zero scenario<\/span><\/a> concluded that there is no room in the tightly constrained 1.5\u00b0C carbon budget for any further investments in new fossil fuel supply projects. The letter notes that \u201cno GFANZ alliance has taken meaningful steps to require its members to act upon the IEA\u2019s findings and insist that the companies they support cease their investments in fossil expansion.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The letter cites research showing that: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n