In July, leaders in sustainability and investing met to discuss how climate change is changing the course of finance.
Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England and now the UN’s Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, discussed some of the key challenges facing financial institutions in a conversation with Watershed co-founder Taylor Francis.
Key highlights:
- Commitments aren’t enough. According to Carney, it’s time for companies to translate their climate commitments into action—not least because both investors and regulators expect and demand it.
- Real action requires real data. No longer can companies get away with industry-wide estimates to calculate their carbon footprint. In Carney’s view, “true emission-level data…all the way through the value chain” is quickly becoming table stakes.
- “Granularity makes a difference.” Real data—across all scopes—is the only way companies will have the insight they need to make impactful reductions, Carney says. This, in turn, breeds confidence among investors, “because they know [companies] are removing real emissions versus estimated ones.”
