Today UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions and Global Ambassador for the UN’s Race to Zero Campaign Michael R. Bloomberg announced he will join Mark Carney as co-chair for the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a private sector-led initiative anchored in the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero framework. GFANZ is committed to accelerating and mainstreaming the decarbonization of the world economy and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Today GFANZ includes over 450 financial institutions representing assets of more than $130 trillion across 45 countries.
Mary Schapiro, former SEC Chairman and Head of the Secretariat for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), will serve as the Vice Chair of the initiative and oversee its secretariat. They join UN High Level Champion Nigel Topping in the GFANZ leadership team. As part of the new structure, GFANZ will periodically report progress to the Financial Stability Board.
“Winning the battle against climate change will require vast amounts of new investment and the majority will have to come from the private sector. Leaders in finance have strong incentives to act, and under Mark Carney and Nigel Topping’s leadership, GFANZ has grown to include some of the largest financial institutions in the world. We look forward to building on this progress in the next phase of the alliance’s work, by creating the tools and industry-wide coordination we need to turn commitments into action and speed up the transition to a net-zero global economy.” – Michael R. Bloomberg, Co-Chair, GFANZ
“The net zero commitments of GFANZ members now match the vast scale of investment needed to transition the global economy. I look forward to working with Mike Bloomberg – who has long been a leader in climate – to turn these commitments into action and to finish the financial architecture for net zero. This is what we need to accelerate the real economy’s just transition.” – Mark Carney, Co-Chair, GFANZ
“The Race to Zero and GFANZ are central to our mission of decarbonizing the global financial system. Mike Bloomberg, Mary Schapiro, and Mark Carney’s recent success in developing TCFD from an idea to a global standard will be instructive as we take the work of GFANZ to the next level. I am looking forward to working with them to drive implementation and action next year.” – Nigel Topping, UN High Level Champion for Climate Action.
“Disclosure is at the heart of reaching net zero, and the TCFD has provided a solid foundation to support the private sector’s net zero commitments through transparency and accountability. GFANZ complements this effort by solidifying a road map for accelerating the private sector on the path to net zero. I look forward to driving forward this ambitious initiative.” – Mary Schapiro, Vice Chair, GFANZ
Today’s announcement builds on Bloomberg’s extensive leadership in the climate finance space. In 2015, Mark Carney, in his capacity as Chair of the Financial Stability Board, asked Michael Bloomberg to serve as TCFD Chair. Through Bloomberg’s stewardship of the TCFD, it is now the leading framework for climate-related financial reporting, and has been embraced by the G7 and G20. More than 2,700 organizations representing over $25 trillion in market capitalization support the TCFD, and nine jurisdictions have announced they will incorporate the TCFD framework into their climate reporting requirements. Bloomberg also leads the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) which mobilizes private climate finance to help emerging markets meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Together, TCFD, GFANZ and CFLI are transforming the financial system to ensure climate is being considered in every financial decision.
Following COP26, there will be a short transition period between the COP26 Private Finance team and Bloomberg, with Mike Bloomberg and Mary Schapiro assuming their new GFANZ roles in January 2022.
