The Money Pipeline: The Role of Finance in the Climate Emergency

Abstract

Climate change is real. It’s happening, now. But if the constant flood of record-setting catastrophes in your newsfeed isn’t enough to get your attention, it should also be made clear that every foundation stone of the global economy is also at imminent risk of being washed away. The science is clear: to avoid disastrous, runaway climate change, we must prevent the Earth’s temperature from rising more than 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Achieving that means emissions must be reduced sharply within the next eleven years, and must reach net zero no later than 2050. We urgently need to bring the fossil fuel era to an end. And with many governments around the world being lobbied, coerced, convinced, or corrupted into continuing with business as usual or outright climate change denial, it is more important than ever that the finance industry step into a position of global leadership.