Climate change and sustainability are now right at the top of many organisations' priorities. These issues are no longer seen as purely environmental. They have become central business issues, and companies are putting in place systems to analyse their impact on the environment, the business risks and the potential opportunities available. Many organisations have woken up to the profound effect that climate change will have on their activities, and we are seeing more and more organisations in the financial sector taking significant action.
For example, EY has appointed their first global sustainability leader: Steve Varley. It's a newly created global role with responsibility for creating and driving policies and programmes to help EY become a world leader in sustainable business solutions, practices and organisations. The appointment will become effective as of 1st July this year, and Steve Varley says "We simply cannot stand still when it comes to protecting the environment and creating growth opportunities that are truly sustainable. I'm incredibly excited about leading the effort across EY to help drive progress towards a more sustainable future and build a better working world."
Meanwhile, The UN has also made a newsworthy appointment, with Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, who has been vocal about the challenge facing the global finance profession, taking on the role of UN special envoy for climate change and finance. Mark Carney will begin this role once his term at the Bank of England finishes. He will be focusing on the implementation of climate action with a focus on making developments and changes to reach the levels needed to achieve the 1.5 degree C goal of the Paris Agreement. He will be building frameworks for financial reporting, risk management and returns to the impacts of climate change to the mainstream of private financial decision making. Mark Carney says "The task is large, the window of opportunity is short, and the risks are existential. And like virtually everything else in the response to climate change, the development of this new sustainable finance is not moving fast enough for the world to reach net zero."
Climate change and sustainability look set to make headlines in the finance world throughout the rest of 2020. This is rightly a hot topic and finance professionals can be influential in encouraging the organisations they work for to adapt and change to be successful in the future.
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