Ahead or Behind? The State of Climate Finance in the Banking Sector

This report is a call to action for the U.S. banking sector on climate finance.  

It urges banks to show stakeholders that they have a credible strategy for capturing the generational opportunity of the shift to a clean economy, show critics that the financing they are doing it about business, not politics, and show their clients that they should be partner of choice for climate finance.  

Policies like the Inflation Reduction Act have spurred trillions of dollars in green financing opportunities, but there is no clear picture for investors, shareholders or regulators about how the banks are taking advantage of the clean energy opportunity and the industries of the future. 

The report lays out a set of recommendations for how banks can design effective climate finance targets and frameworks, drive internal innovation, and disclose on climate finance in a consistent, comparable way.   

Recommendations for getting ahead on climate finance 

1. Setting targets and offering climate-linked products and services 

2. Focusing on the added impact banks’ actions can provide 

3. Using consistent accounting methodologies across the bank’s metrics and targets 

4. Articulating clear eligibility criteria for sustainable finance activities 

5. Improving the consistency and decision usefulness of information shared in disclosures 

6. Aligning with international disclosure standards and frameworks 

7. Working with other banks to develop voluntary disclosure standards