Posted on December, 12 2020

LONDON (12 December 2020) - Ahead of the 2020 Climate Ambition Summit and the fifth-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement, key finance coalitions and NGOs focused on mobilizing public and private financial institutions for climate action have agreed to coordinate and to align their efforts with the COP26 Presidency and the Race to Zero to secure high ambition commitments from across the global financial sector.

The COP26 Finance Coalition Coordination Mechanism (FCCM) ensures that finance coalitions and NGOs are aligning with COP26 objectives and that the entire global community engaged in mobilizing financial institutions for climate action is better coordinated and all “rowing in the same direction” for COP26.

The FCCM consists of cross-organisational teams focused on specific jurisdictions. In addition to the below global and regional coalitions and NGOs, country teams include a range of national organizations working with financial institutions on climate change. Each FCCM country team has developed and is iterating a strategy for finance sector mobilization in their jurisdiction.

Nigel Topping, High-level Champion for Climate Action for COP26, said:
“We are grateful for the groups coming together in this way through the COP26 Financial Coalition Coordination Mechanism. This global partnership, already active in many countries, stands ready to help financial institutions raise ambition, as well as guide and sign-post them to gold standards for the sector.”

Ben Caldecott, COP26 Strategy Advisor for Finance in the UK Cabinet Office, said:
“By COP26 we need to see new climate commitments from financial institutions that amount to the most significant ever. These need to demonstrate the collective intent for massive material change in future financial flows, as well as the widespread adoption of financial practices that actively support the transition to net zero by 2050 or earlier. The COP26 Finance Coalition Coordination Mechanism is critical coordination infrastructure to make sure this ambition can be realized at Glasgow.”

Eric Usher, Head of UNEP FI, said:
“Antonio Guterres’ State of the Planet speech earlier this month provided a timely reminder of the need to align all public and private financial flows with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. In the lead-up to Glasgow, it will be critically important to bring together global financial initiatives on climate change under the Financial Coalition Coordination Mechanism. Strong coordination will strengthen our outreach and encourage more financial institutions to align their businesses with the net-zero emissions trajectory, through such initiatives as the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and the Principles for Responsible Banking Climate Pledge.”

Mindy Lubber, CEO and President of the U.S.-based sustainability non-profit Ceres, said:
“President-elect Joe Biden's pledge that the U.S. will rejoin the Paris Agreement and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner is a clear market signal that the shift from fossil fuels to clean technologies will accelerate in the run up to COP26 in November 2021. Ceres is pleased to be collaborating with the COP26 Presidency through the Finance Coalition Coordination Mechanism to mobilize U.S. investors, financial institutions, and financial regulators to make new bold commitments to manage climate-related risks and seize opportunities in the global race to net-zero.”

Margaret Kuhlow, WWF Finance Practice Leader, said:
"Climate scientists have told us that to avoid the worst impacts of climate change we must keep global warming to 1.5˚C. To do that, business, including investors and financial institutions, cities, and citizens must play their part. The financial sector has a particularly vital role to play in driving systemic transformation. WWF is pleased to be an active partner in the COP26 Financial Coalition Coordination Mechanism (FCCM), to help secure high ambition net-zero commitments from across the global financial sector that are both science-based and reflective of the relationship between climate change and nature loss, and invest in nature-based solutions."

Rebecca Mikula-Wright, Executive Director of the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, said:
“The net-zero emissions transition will create the largest investment opportunities of our lifetime. Coordinated efforts through the Finance Coalition Coordination Mechanism can help ensure Asian investors put themselves into a strong position to capitalize on these opportunities with climate ambition consistent with global goals and trends.”

Emma Herd, Chief Executive Officer of the Investor Group on Climate Change, said: “Governments will head into COP26 amid a significant shift underway across capital markets towards net-zero emissions. The Finance Coalition Coordination Mechanism will help ensure that investors are helping the international community meet our common goals as they also seek to mitigate climate risk across portfolios.”

Nicolette Bartlett, Interim Executive Director, CDP, said:
“In the run-up to Glasgow, financial institutions of all kinds have a clear opportunity to demonstrate high-ambition climate commitments in line with the COP26 Private Finance Strategy. CDP is delighted to be partnering with other organizations in the UK and around the world in the Finance Coalition Coordination Mechanism to engage finance institutions to take a science-based, data driven approach to quantifying the impact of their lending portfolios and business activities and to set targets, through initiatives such as Science-Based Targets for Financial Institutions, the Platform for Carbon Accounting Financials and the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign.”
  
NOTES TO EDITORS

The Finance Coalition Coordination Mechanism (FCCM)
The FCCM now includes, but is not limited to, involvement of the following organizations:

• Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC)
• Asia Sustainable Finance Initiative (ASFI)
• Bankers for Net Zero
• CDP
• Ceres
• E3G (Secretariat)
• EuroSIF
• Hong Kong Green Finance Association
• Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC)
• Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
• International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC)
• Make My Money Matter
• Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
• Responsible Investment Association (Canada)
• UKSIF
• United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative
• WWF International and various WWF country offices.

These organizations are working in teams currently focused on the following jurisdictions, with more jurisdictional teams being established regularly: ASEAN; Australia/New Zealand; Canada; China; EU (ex-countries listed); France; Germany; Italy; Japan; Netherlands; Nordic countries; South Korea, Switzerland; UK; USA.
(Note - the UK FCCM team, coordinated by CDP, includes Bankers for Net Zero, IIGCC, Make My Money Matter, PRI, UKSIF and WWF UK).  For further queries, or to be connected to a jurisdictional team, please email FCCM.
 
The Race to Zero
The Race to Zero is a global campaign from UN Climate Change, aimed at rallying leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth. It mobilizes a coalition of leading net zero initiatives.  These ‘real economy’ actors join 120 countries in the largest ever alliance committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest. Collectively these actors now cover nearly 25% global CO2 emissions and over 50% GDP.

Related documents

• WWF criteria for credible net-zero commitments by financial institution

This brief note was developed in light of the growing number of net-zero commitments by financial institutions - either individually or as part of coalitions such as the net-zero asset owners alliance, net-zero asset manager initiative, and bankers for net zero initiative.
We have been pleased to see so much momentum in the industry for net-zero commitments, but we also see risks in long-term ambitions that are not backed by credible and science-based short-term actions.
WWF’s five criteria therefore aim to provide a high-level framework that outlines key elements for credible net-zero commitments, building on the Starting Line Criteria of the Race To Zero.
We hope that our criteria could be helpful for other organizations that are part of the FCCM and for all other financial institutions getting ready to make net-zero commitments moving forward.