Need for Speed: Scaling up Participation in a Sustainable Economy

Over the past few years, as better data has made the risks and opportunities associated with climate change more apparent, investors and businesses have begun to invest in sustainable activities and rethink investment in fossil fuels.

However, while sustainable finance is entering into the mainstream, it’s not happening fast enough. According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, limiting global warming to 1.5°C by mid-century will require economies to transform energy, land, urban, infrastructure and industrial systems, increasing annual investment in clean energy and energy efficiency sixfold. Current levels of sustainable investment and commitments to future action do not get us there.

Bloomberg is helping to lead efforts to rapidly scale up participation in a sustainable low-carbon economy, collaborating with public- and private-sector partners to increase market transparency and create conditions to foster climate-friendly growth and development —quickly. Mike Bloomberg chairs the Financial Stability Board Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI), and Bloomberg provides the secretariat for TCFD.

We are particularly focused on improving climate-related financial reporting to ensure that financial markets have the information they need to mitigate risks and evaluate opportunities. The TCFD recommendations for decision-useful disclosures have been gaining support as demand for consistent and comparable climate-related financial information has gained significant momentum. By year-end 2019, 955 organizations, including financial firms responsible for $132 trillion in assets, had declared support for the TCFD’s recommendations.

For more on Bloomberg’s thought leadership and sustainable finance efforts, view the 2019 Impact Report.