A consultation has been launched on how investors and other financial institutions can “maximise real economy impact” through their net zero strategies, by the Finance Sector Expert Group of the UN Race to Zero and Race to Resilience. The consultation document flags concerns that short-term actions to decarbonise portfolios – such as rebalancing away from fossil fuel companies into technology companies in listed equity portfolios – may not necessarily support Paris alignment in the real economy. The paper highlights existing practices and flags evolving distinctions, including between impact alignment and generation, as well as setting out a TCFD-based approach to maximising impact generation, and discussing use of metrics to capture real economy impact. The consultation is open until 1 July. The group is chaired by Ben Caldecott Director, Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, and was established by the UN High-Level Champions for Climate Action to advise on how their guidelines should be interpreted by the finance sector.
