About the Coalition

Finance Ministers hold the keys to accelerating climate action. They know most clearly the risks posed by climate change, and recognize how taking action could unlock trillions in investments and create millions of jobs through 2030.

The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action brings together fiscal and economic policymakers from over 90 countries in leading the global climate response and in securing a just transition towards low-carbon resilient development.

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The Helsinki Principles

The six Helsinki Principles guide the Coalition's commitment to #ClimateAction

Helsinki Principle 1: Align Policies with the Paris Agreement

Align our policies and practices with the Paris Agreement commitments
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Helsinki Principle 2: Share Experiences & Expertise

Share our experience and expertise with each other in order to provide mutual encouragement and promote collective understanding of policies and practices for climate action
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Helsinki Principle 3: Promote Carbon Pricing Measures

Work towards measures that result in effective carbon pricing
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Helsinki Principle 4: Mainstream Climate in Economic Policies

Take climate change into account in macroeconomic policy, fiscal planning, budgeting, public investment management, and procurement practices
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Helsinki Principle 5: Mobilize Climate Finance

Mobilize private sources of climate finance by facilitating investments and the development of a financial sector which supports climate mitigation and adaptation
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Helsinki Principle 6: Engage in NDC Development

Engage actively in the domestic preparation and implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted under the Paris Agreement
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92

Member countries

43%

of global carbon emissions

69%

of Global GDP

Member Countries

 

The Secretariat

Partners

Events

View recent and upcoming Coalition events, including workshops, webinars and meetings

HP5 Hosts Latin America-Focused Workshop on Developing Subnational Green Bond Markets in Emerging Economies

September 23, 2021

LAC forest

Above: Parque Nacional Natural Farallones de Cali, Colombia. (Image credit: World Resources Institute. License CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

On September 23, 2021, the HP5 workstream hosted a Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) focused workshop on ‘Developing Subnational Green Bond Markets in Emerging Economies: Challenges and Solutions for Ministries of Finance.’ The workshop was organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This is the first region-focused workshop the Coalition has organized and others will soon follow.

Across emerging and developed countries, subnational infrastructure presents a great opportunity for the creation of green investment pipelines at the municipal, provincial, and state levels – despite such potential, subnational entities still struggle to access finance from capital markets. While the identification of portfolios of green projects does not seem to be a barrier, inability to access capital markets is a key limitation to subnational entities’ infrastructure financing potential. The LAC region is no exception in this case, with only a few green bonds issued by cities and sub-national governments – by Mexico City and Argentinian provinces. These issuances were well received by investors, but the challenges to replicating this capital raising are substantial.

This workshop provided an opportunity to discuss these challenges in emerging economies and explore a range of potential solutions. Germán Romero (Climate Change Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Colombia) opened the workshop by sharing the Colombian experience and instruments and tools his Ministry has used to help develop capital markets for subnational governments. Next, Gianleo Frisari (Senior Climate Change Economist, IDB) presented on green finance possibilities for cities and provinces. His presented was followed by Axel Radics (Lead Fiscal and Municipal Management Specialist, IDB) who presented the key findings from a forthcoming IDB paper he co-authored, ‘Developing conditions for sub-national capital markets in Latin America: a comparative study.’ His co-author Christine Martell (Professor, University of Colorado, Denver) then presented on the US experience, where municipal green bonds are a proven source of financing for local governments – drawing on some of the findings in her recently published a book, Information Resolution and Subnational Capital MarketsSteven Rubinyi (Team Lead, City Creditworthiness Initiative, World Bank) gave the final presentation on the offerings and experience of the World Bank City Creditworthiness Initiative, including a case study on the South African approach to developing subnational capital markets.

Participants then engaged in a roundtable discussion moderated by Isabelle Braly (Senior Financial Specialist, IDB). Pekka Moren (Coalition Sherpa Co-Chair, Finland) closed the workshop by acknowledging the importance of this topic for the Coalition and the potential for countries to share experiences and best practices. He emphasized the importance of 1) ensuring creditworthiness of issuers; 2) the role of MoFs in developing green capital markets; 3) the role of IFIs and MDBs in supporting these efforts locally; and 4) the importance of the Coalition in supporting the build-up of expertise in Member countries, including through workshops like this one and enhanced training efforts. The HP5 workstream has agreed to include a note on this topic in its 2022 work program to offer Members a synthesis of how to approach sub-national capital market development for green projects.

Press Release: April 2021 Minister-Level Meeting

April 06, 2021
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The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action met on the margins of the 2021 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund on April 6, 2021, under Co-Chair H.E. Matti Vanhanen, Minister of Finance of Finland, outgoing Co-Chair H.E. Rodrigo Cerda, Minister of Finance of Chile, and incoming Co-Chair H.E. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance of Indonesia.

The Coalition issued a press release, available here.

The Minister-level meeting acknowledged the increasing global momentum for action on climate change in the context of the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic—many governments are implementing large-scale stimulus packages and using this moment to boost climate ambition. Perspectives were shared on transitioning to a low carbon and climate-resilient global economy, mitigating climate-related financial risks, and pursuing pathways towards decarbonization.

Speakers included United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, China Minister of Finance Liu Kun, Japan State Minister of Finance Kenji Nakanishi, Republic of Korea Minister of Finance Hong Nam-Ki, Chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System Frank Elderson, Malaysian Central Bank Governor Nor Shamsiah Yunus, and representatives from the Institute of International Finance, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

The Coalition also welcomed eight new Members—Belgium, Burkina Faso, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Rwanda, and the United States—and marked the formal transition of the Co-Chair role from Chile to Indonesia.

Please see the event page for Video Statements that were contributed to the meeting, as well as the Press Release in other languages.

 

Helsinki Principle 5 Stakeholder Dialogue with COP26 Private Finance Hub on TCFD Recommendations for Measuring Portfolio Alignment

September 14, 2021

 

In June 2021, the Task Force in Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) published two documents for consultation: Proposed Guidance on Climate-related Metrics, Targets, and Transition Plans and Measuring Portfolio Alignment: Technical Supplement, which were shared also with the Coalition. The authors of the latter report, Measuring Portfolio Alignment: Technical Supplement, who are members of the COP26 Private Finance Hub, presented their findings and recommendations to Coalition Members and Institutional Partners in a stakeholder dialogue on September 9, 2021. Members and Institutional Partners then had an opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions. The discussion built previous work of the Helsinki Principle 5 workstream, which over the last year has held two workshops on measuring portfolio alignment and published a Summary for Policymakers on Private Financial Sector Paris Alignment.

TCFD reports

The aim of the Measuring Portfolio Alignment: Technical Supplement report is to bring more convergence and transparency to the assessment of portfolio alignment. The findings in this report are not TCFD recommendations, but a guide for best practice in developing forward-looking alignment tools and a description of what is needed to support the further development of these tools. The TCFD is publishing final guidance in October following feedback from consultations. Work on continuing to improve and mainstream portfolio alignment metrics will then be taken on by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) working group. This working group will be responsible for future iterations of TCFD guidance on portfolio alignment metrics.

In the discussion portion of this event, the role of Ministries of Finance in bringing transparency to the financial sector's Paris alignment commitments was discussed. Participants underlined that Ministries of Finance can play an important role in ensuring better data standardization and provision, as well as in supporting the development of appropriate scenarios to assess company alignment with the Paris goals. Overall, the dialogue enhanced Member awareness and understanding on issues related to measuring portfolio alignment with the Paris Agreement.

 

Mrs. Annika Saarikko, new Finance Minister of Finland, assumes role as Finnish Co-Chair

June 15, 2021

Annika Saarikko

Mrs. Annika Saarikko has been appointed as the new Minister of Finance of Finland, and as such will assume the role as Finnish Co-Chair. Minister Saarikko, formerly Finland's Minister of Science and Culture, affirms Finland’s commitment to act as Co-Chair for the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action.

On Tuesday, June 1, Minister Saarikko met with World Bank Group President David Malpass in Helsinki and discussed priorities in the fight against climate change.“The Coalition of Finance Ministers highly appreciates the support and input given by the World Bank acting as the Coalition Secretariat in cooperation with the IMF. I look forward to co-chairing the Coalition with the Minister of Finance of Indonesia, and highly honor our joint engagement,” said Minister Saarikko.

Outgoing Finance Minister Matti Vanhanen extends his thanks to his Co-Chair colleague Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance of Indonesia: “I would like to thank my colleague Sri Mulayni Indrawati for the Co-Chairmanship. I am impressed with the progress of the Coalition work and I see a productive future of the Coalition”.

Coalition and Swedish MoF hosts Virtual Workshop on Carbon Taxation, Green Recovery, and CBAM

May 06, 2021

On May 6, 2021, the Swedish Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action organized a virtual workshop on carbon pricing, emphasizing in particular the role that carbon taxation and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) proposed by the European Commission can play in the Green Recovery process following the COVID-19 Pandemic. This was the second workshop co-organized by the Swedish Ministry of Finance -- the first one occurred in October 2019 and focused on carbon taxation. Presentations and a summary note from the earlier workshop can be found here.

The workshop was divided into three parts. The first session discussed how to tax carbon to achieve the sustainable development goals and climate targets. It was agreed that a simple carbon tax, applied upstream (where there are less taxpayers to control), with a wide coverage that is non-sectoral, and a tax rate that is considered to be acceptable within the economic context of the country in question, was the most desirable approach to taxing carbon. Such a tax would be capable of raising revenues which are important to recover from the COVID-19 recessionary environment, and lead to a behavioral switch in fossil fuel consumption patterns.

The second session discussed revenue use under a green recovery scenario. It was noted in this session that the pathway to green growth requires consistency in policy administration. Green stimulus packages should ideally include green finance, green procurement, green export credits, and green taxes to steer consumption, and they should be broadly aligned with countries’ NDC commitments. The presenters agreed that the way in which the revenues deriving from a carbon tax are employed in society is extremely important in harnessing long-term popular support for the measure. Therefore, pricing policies should be very well crafted, administered in a transparent way, and follow ample public consultations in order to win popular support.

The third and last session of the day explored the carbon border adjustment mechanism, its use, alternative measures to the employment of a border adjustment, the specific case of the EU CBAM, as well as a novel approach under consideration in Canada. Two reports were discussed in this session. The links are found below

HP2 Hosts Workshop on Finance Ministries’ Strategies, Capacities, and Research Practices

May 26, 2021

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On Wednesday, May 26, the Coalition hosted a workshop under Helsinki Principle 2 on Finance Ministries’ Strategies, Capacities, and Research Practices.

The two-hour virtual seminar addressed how Ministries of Finance have incorporated climate change into their strategies, how they are addressing capacity and expertise issues related to climate change, and how research can provide guidance for economic policymaking. The event was divided into two parts. The first part featured countries’ presentations of climate strategies within their finance ministries. The Coalition then outlined areas of capacity building support made available by the Coalition’s Institutional Partners. The second part discussed the results of the Coalition’s surveys in the areas of Helsinki Principle 2, highlighted online training programs in climate economics, and detailed how the Coalition can support the technical training needs of its Members.

Coalition Publishes New Report: Climate-Related Risks for Ministries of Finance: An Overview

May 25, 2021

 

The Coalition’s Santiago Action Plan stresses the importance of incorporating climate change considerations into financial decisions and identifying risks climate change poses to financial stability. In this context, the Coalition produced this note on climate-related financial risk to raise awareness and explore risk management approaches. The findings of this note will be reviewed by Coalition Members with a view to identify policy priorities and potential areas for future work.

This note provides an overview of how climate-related risks may manifest in different sectors of the economy and alter macroeconomic conditions that affect the work and responsibilities of Ministries of Finance (MoFs). The interaction of various risks may lead to reinforcing feedback effects that could gradually or abruptly cause high fiscal costs and trigger contingent liabilities of MoFs with growing climate change. However, the materiality of these risks – posing potentially high ex-ante unknown fiscal costs for MoFs – depends on the interplay of climate-related risk transmission channels, the degree of unfavorable reinforcing feedback loops, the specific country context, and climate action measures.

Ambitious mitigation and adaptation measures could reduce the likelihood of severe climate-related risk impacts that could otherwise grow and potentially hinder countries’ long-term economic development. The note concludes with potential policy actions MoFs can take to mitigate and manage climate-related risks.

Download: Climate-Related Risks for Ministries of Finance: An Overview


Below is a key graphic from the report: 

Climate-related risk transmission channels and Ministries of Finance

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Note: The figure shows the transmission of climate-related risks (physical or transition) to different sectors of the economy (including government fiscal risk) and the macroeconomy. The interaction of these risks may lead to reinforcing feedback effects – potentially triggering contingent liabilities of the MoF. Contingent liabilities are defined as obligations that only materialize when a certain event in the future occurs. Contingent liability risks could become gradually or abruptly more severe with ongoing climate change (depending on the specific country context), as indicated by the red “risk severity” arrow. However, the materiality of these risks, posing potentially high ex-ante unknown fiscal costs for MoFs, depends on the interplay of climate-related risk transmission channels, the degree of unfavorable reinforcing feedback loops, and climate action measures – as is indicated by the grey “risk materiality” arrow.

Source: Authors’ conceptualization adapted from NGFS (2020), Schuler et al. (2019), Volz et al. (2020) and IMF (2008)

 

Coalition Hosts Stakeholder Dialogue with Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance

May 18, 2021

Mark Carney

On May 18, the Coalition hosted a stakeholder dialogue with Mark Carney (UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance; Special Advisor for COP26; Vice Chair at Brookfield Asset Management; and former Governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada). Mr. Carney shared some of the key messages from his forthcoming book, Value(s): Building a Better World for All.

He discussed the widening gap between what people value and what markets value, and emphasized the importance of policies that enable value today to service the values of tomorrow. Mr. Carney discussed the power of markets and the role Ministries of Finance play in setting credible, predictable, long-term policy pathways that harness this power to drive the transition to net zero. Joaquim Levy (Director of Economic Strategy and Market Relations, Banco Safra Brazil; former Finance Minister of Brazil; Adviser, World Resources Institute) served as a discussant.

Coalition Members and Institutional Partners engaged with Mr. Carney in an open discussion about a broad range of topics, including voluntary carbon markets, institutional arrangements to support climate policies, international coordination on corporate climate risk disclosure, auditing, and blended finance. The discussion served as useful input to the Coalition’s evolving work program.

 

HP5 Hosts Workshop on Commitments and Measurement Methods for Private Financial Sector Paris Alignment

May 12, 2021

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On Monday May 10, the Coalition hosted a workshop on Commitments and Measurement Methods for Private Sector Portfolio Alignment with the Paris Agreement. In the workshop, the findings from a recently finalized Coalition report were presented. The Summary for Policymakers and Presentation of Key findings are both available here.

Stefan Flückiger, Deputy State Secretary for International Finance, Switzerland and Marcel Beukeboom, Climate Envoy, the Netherlands spoke about their countries’ respective experiences encouraging financial institutions to commit to Paris Alignment, measuring their progress, and advancing portfolio and real world decarbonization. Jochem Wissenburg (Netherlands Ministry of Finance) and Florencia Baldi (Financial Centers for Sustainability) presented key findings from the Coalition report. Representatives from PACTA and PCAF presented their respective measurement tools and approaches. Finally, representatives from UBS and Amalgamated Bank spoke about their experiences using these measurement tools. Coalition members engaged in a discussion with these representatives and connections were made to facilitate bilateral experience sharing.

The Coalition will continue to advance knowledge and experience sharing on Paris Alignment commitments and measurement methods. The Summary for Policymakers suggests that Ministries of Finance and central banks, as well as international bodies such as the Coalition, have a role to play in fostering robust climate alignment initiatives and methodologies.

Coalition publishes Summary for Policymakers on Private Financial Sector Paris Alignment

May 06, 2021

Recent analysis conducted under the Helsinki Principle 5 workstream of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action looks at commitments and methods used by the private financial sector to align with the Paris Agreement goals and explores how Ministries of Finance can support these commitments. The Santiago Action Plan and the Coalition work program identify this as a priority topic. In this summary, written for policymakers, Jochem Wissenburg from the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands, Florencia Baldi of the FC4S Network, and Emma Dalhuijsen and Samantha Power of the World Bank present some of the findings and suggest potential actions for government actors.

Financial institutions are joining a growing number of initiatives to align their lending and investment portfolios with the Paris Agreement goals. Individual institutions from all over the world are measuring climate impact and have set climate alignment targets. National initiatives in European, Latin American, and Asian countries have been established to advance climate-aligned and sustainable finance. Internationally, institutions are collaborating under initiatives such as the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance, which aims to align portfolios with net-zero outcomes in the real sector by 2050. Nonetheless, implementation of such commitments remains challenging since methodologies to measure climate impact are still under development, compliance is not effectively controlled, adequate data is still lacking, and real world impact depends on a multitude of factors inside and outside of financial institutions’ remit.

This summary showcases different commitments that have been undertaken to illustrate approaches that financial institutions and governments are currently developing. It also assesses the characteristics of the different tools and methodologies for measuring Paris alignment. Finally, the summary makes suggestions for potential action policymakers can take at the international and national levels. Ministries of Finance (MoFs) and central banks, as well as international bodies such as the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action (‘the Coalition’), have a role to play in fostering robust climate alignment initiatives and methodologies.

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Below: a table comparing different Paris Alignment methodologies adapted from the Summary for Policymakers note.

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