5 Greening global finance and investment: enabling conditions
5.1 Setting policy and regulatory frameworks
Regulatory frameworks across capital markets are critical to channel financial resources at scale towards a green economy. The gaps between high policy, national laws and a financial and capital market system that fully internalises green economic thinking, although narrowing, remain significant. The legislative, regulatory and quasi regulatory systems, including the supervisory bodies and credit rating agencies that govern financial services, are at best a work in progress and are at worst poorly designed and not fit- for-purpose for a green economy. These systems are important because they transmit green policy goals along the investment chain and into the processes of financial intermediation, and through them into the real economy. It is also important to note that there is a compressed timetable in which to create a policy framework to address these gaps. Climate change and resource scarcities are already starting to adversely impact social and economic development as well as environmental integrity. Annual economic losses associated with climate change and natural disasters topped US$ 150 billion a year in 2005 (Munich RE 2009) and a credible scenario (UNEP FI CCWG 2007) has suggested that with BAU, a US$ 1 trillion loss in a given year by 2040 is possible.
However, it is important to note that the formal linkages of financial and sustainability-focused policy making at the highest level are still relatively new. The first formal gathering of Finance Ministries to discuss climate change only took place in December 2007 in a meeting parallel to the United Nations climate summit in Bali, Indonesia, when Ministers or high-level financial policy makers from 38 countries gathered for two days. The convening in 2010 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of a High- Level Panel to explore the financing response to climate change is a much-welcomed development.
This section briefly sets out to describe some of the proposed standards and policy initiatives to help integrate non-traditional “creeping risks” such as climate change and resource scarcity into financial policy making. These include frameworks for enhanced environmental and social disclosure within the investment sector and codes for green lending and environmental liability.
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It is clear that sound public polices and enabling regulatory frameworks are indispensable for freeing up the flow of private finance towards a green economy. The risk/reward equation still works unfavourably for would- be green investors. Governments should involve the private sector in establishing stable and coherent policy and regulatory frameworks that require the integration of environmental,
social, and governance issues in
financial policy making. In addition, governments and multilateral financial institutions should use their own resources to leverage the financial flow from the private sector towards the fledging green economic opportunities
5.2 Enhanced environmental and social disclosure
Investors demand full ESG disclosure from companies so that risks can be monitored. The same approach can be applied to the finance and investment practitioners. For example, this year 40 per cent of signatories to the PRI disclosed in full their annual assessment of how they are implementing responsible investment. The ground prepared by this voluntary initiative is now being closely examined by financial markets and regulators worldwide. The UK has introduced the Stewardship Code – a “comply or explain” code for institutional investors to report on their stewardship activities.
Guidance by the GRI and others on sustainability and integrated reporting provides an opportunity for both private and public financial institutions to disclose their management approach to a green economy agenda and report progress in applying ESG criteria. Combined with targeted stakeholder engagement, this can improve management’s ability to effectively consider the direct and indirect impacts and footprint of the services they provide. This requires building capacity in the use of recognised indicators and metrics for proper assessment, comparison and Finance benchmarking. Public and private banks could be encouraged to measure the net contribution of their activities to climate change, biodiversity loss and the green economy at large. Policies can be designed to improve their green efficiency, for example by examining and reporting the carbon and ecological footprint of their investment portfolios.