The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) was launched in April 2021 by Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and UK Prime Minister Johnson’s Finance Adviser for COP26, and the COP26 Private Finance Hub in partnership with the UNFCCC Climate Action Champions, the Race to Zero campaign and the COP26 Presidency.

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 over 450 financial firms across 45 countries responsible for assets of over $130 trillion.

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 emissions by 2030. All members are committed to the same overarching goal: reducing 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 by 2050, cover all emission scopes, 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: catalysing alignment between financial institutions and major global industries on sector-specific pathways to reach net-zero emissions
• Real economy transition plans: accelerating decarbonisation 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
• Mobilising private capital: supporting the mobilisation of private capital to emerging markets and developing countries 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.