On Monday, the IPCC panel of scientists will publish a report showing we are heading to hit global warming of around 1.5 degrees from pre-industrial levels around 10 years earlier than first predicted. This is clearly very alarming. But reading about sustainable innovations such as jet fuel made from air and water creates confidence in our abilities to innovate and shift behaviours to a more sustainable way of life.
The UN has said recently how $3.8trn is needed annually if we are to prevent an irreversible rise in climate change. The third quarter of 2020 saw $155bn of sustainable finance raised and, as a result, “a record $357.5bn was raised by sustainable companies and in sustainable products globally to the end of September; a 96 percent increase on the same period in 2019.” (Toole, Refinitiv.com, 2021: “Sustainable finance continues 2020 growth”). The EU has made ambitious commitments through a new sustainable finance strategy and many major banks have pledged to mobilise and deploy sustainable finance - by April this year, 43 global banks had joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), committing their investment and lending portfolios to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The capability to innovate is obvious. But as Ana Botin, group executive chairman, Santander said recently: “If we are to green the world’s economy, we need a truly global effort – banks, companies, governments, regulators and civil society working together *at pace* to accelerate progress towards net zero.”
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