Wall Street staking claim for sustainable finance supremacy

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Energy is big money; one of the largest industries on the planet. And we’re in the midst of a significant shift in this industry. During these shifts, many individuals will have the opportunity to make a lot of money, and those in the know are taking up their positions.

The U.S. Alliance for Sustainable Finance (USASF), a collection of 15 major banks, announced its creation with a purpose to provide the resources and expertise to identify and streamline existing climate-finance initiatives, encourage greater transparency across climate-related financial risks and opportunities, and ultimately, drive more capital to sustainable investments.

A list of specific actions the group was noted as planning to undertake:

  • Leverage New York City’s role as an international hub for green and sustainable finance and the benefits of collaboration in order to accelerate impact;
  • Support specific initiatives and projects launched by members and adding value to their green and sustainable investment and financing operations;
  • Create meeting places and synergies to boost the development of the United States as a sustainable finance center;
  • Produce, promote and share relevant information for the U.S. green and sustainable finance industry;
  • Develop and participate in national and international partnerships to increase the impact of green and sustainable finance.

The USASF noted that its structure follows United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ call to create a new Climate Finance Leadership Initiative supporting global mobilization of private capital, and the UN Environment Programme FC4S Network welcomed the membership of these 15 new member financial institutions.

The 15 founding members includes; Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Macquarie Group, Morgan Stanley, Neuberger Berman, Nuveen, S&P Global, Trillium Asset Management, and Wells Fargo.

The press release noted that research indicates a sevenfold increase in global clean energy investment — $2.4T annually versus the current investment levels of $333.5B as estimated by BloombergNEF — is needed to limit the most devastating effects of climate change.

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