UNEP FI

Launched in 1992 in the wake of the 1992 Earth Summit, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is a global partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme and the financial sector to mobilize private sector finance for sustainable development.  Today, UNEP FI works with more than 400 members – banks, insurers, and investors – and over 100 supporting institutions.

UNEP FI supports global finance sector principles to catalyze integration of sustainability into financial market practice. The frameworks UNEP FI has established or co-created include:

• Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) launched with more than 130 banks collectively holding USD 47 trillion in assets, or one third of the global banking sector, on 22 September 2019.
• Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), established in 2012 by UNEP FI and today applied by one-quarter of the world’s insurers (25% of world premium).
• Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), established in 2006 by UNEP FI and the UN Global Compact, now applied by half the world’s institutional investors (USD 83 trillion).

Why it matters 

• The three frameworks established by UNEP FI provide a basis for standard-setting and help to ensure private finance fulfils its potential role in contributing to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Paris Agreement on Climate Change agreed by governments around the world in 2015.
• UNEP FI contributes to the development of new tools and methodologies through pilot groups gathering professionals from financial institutions leading on climate change. This bottom-up process ensures that the guidance and tools developed are fit-for purpose and meet the financial institutions’ needs and objectives.
• UNEP FI also act as a convener contributing to the convergence of practice, though its involvement in the creation of cross-sectorial coalitions such as GFANZ.

Main areas of work related to climate mainstreaming:

Risk:

Following the publication of the final recommendations by FSB’s TCFD in June 2017, UNEP FI began a series of ‘TCFD Pilot Projects’ for banks, investors, and insurers. Participants in these pilots explored physical and transition risks (and litigation risks for insurers) and also pioneered practical approaches for evaluating these risks using climate scenario analyses.

Alignment:

UNEP FI convened net-zero alliances across the financial sector:

• Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
• UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance
• Net-Zero Banking Alliance

Other areas of work include Adaptation Finance and Energy Efficiency

Finally, UNEP FI organizes Trainings for Financial Institutions.