The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) was launched in April 2021 by UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney and the COP26 Presidency, in partnership with the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign launched by UN High-Level Climate Champions Nigel Topping and Gonzalo Muñoz, to unite net-zero financial sector-specific alliances from across the globe into one industry-wide strategic alliance.

Bringing together existing and new net-zero finance initiatives in one sector-wide coalition, GFANZ provides a forum for leading financial institutions to accelerate the transition to a net-zero global economy. Our members currently include more than 450 member firms from across the global financial sector, representing more than $130 trillion in assets under management and advice. A list of GFANZ members as of November 2021 can be found in the GFANZ Progress Report released at COP26.

We’re focused on broadening, deepening and raising net-zero ambitions across the financial system and demonstrating firms’ collective commitments to supporting companies and countries to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. We also support collaboration on steps firms need to take to align with a net-zero future.

GFANZ membership is predicated on science-based commitments to net zero

Race to Zero is the UN-backed global campaign rallying non-state actors – including companies, cities, regions, financial and educational institutions – to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. All members are committed to the same overarching goal: reducing net-zero emissions across all scopes swiftly and fairly in line with the Paris Agreement, with transparent action plans and robust near-term targets. All actors must meet stringent criteria.

Access to GFANZ is anchored in the Race to Zero campaign to ensure credibility and consistency. This means GFANZ firms’ net-zero commitments must use science-based guidelines to reach net-zero emissions across all emissions scopes by 2050, include 2030 interim target settings and commit to transparent reporting and accounting in line with Race to Zero criteria.

GFANZ’s workstreams are about turning commitment into action

GFANZ is focused on moving the needle on 7 key areas critical to the net zero transition; these include:

• Sectoral pathways: catalyzing alignment between financial institutions and major global industries on sector-specific pathways to reach net-zero emissions
• Real economy transition plans: accelerating decarbonization in the real economy by describing financial sector expectations of transition plans from the companies the sector engages with and finances
• Financial institution transition plans: driving convergence around sector-wide best practices for financial institutions in designing and implementing credible net-zero transition plans
• Portfolio alignment measurement: supporting the development and effective implementation of portfolio alignment metrics for financial institutions and driving convergence in the way portfolio alignment is measured and disclosed
• Mobilizing private capital: supporting the mobilization of private capital to emerging markets and developing economies through private sector investments and public-private collaboration
• Policy: advocating for the public policy needed to accelerate investment in net-zero aligned activities and organizations
• Building commitment: broadening the nature and number of financial firms that are credibly working towards net-zero

GFANZ Principals Group

GFANZ is led by a Principals Group comprising leads from finance industry net-zero coalitions that join Race to Zero and GFANZ. The Principals Group sets the strategic direction and priorities of GFANZ and monitors progress against them. They have launched an ambitious program of technical work to generate the commitment, engagement, investment and net-zero alignment required to drive forward the global economy’s transition to net zero.