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.

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 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”.

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

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.

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

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)

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.

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.

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.

• Download the Summary for Policymakers (PDF)
• Download the Presentation of Key Findings (PDF)

--

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

On Tuesday, April 27, the Coalition hosted a virtual ‘stakeholder dialogue’ with the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, CBD Executive Secretary, and Basile Van Havre, CBD Co-Chair of the Open-Ended Working Group, provided an update on the economic and financial challenges associated with meeting global biodiversity goals, including mobilizing public and private resources.

They presented the draft post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and discussed efforts being taken to engage the financial sector in its implementation. Giovanni Ruta from the World Bank presented insights from the forthcoming report, ‘The Economic Case for Nature: A global earth economy model to assess development policy pathways.’

A discussion took place on the potential role of MoFs in meeting the targets laid out in the Global Biodiversity Framework. Coalition Members also discussed the potential to raise awareness of actions that can be taken at the climate-nature nexus and implications for the Coalition’s work. The Coalition co-chairs acknowledged that biodiversity has significant relevance to economic and financial stability. Climate change is contributing to the loss of biodiversity and natural systems, which is contributing to further climate change and compromising the resilience of countries to climate impacts.

The co-chairs acknowledged the Coalition should follow the work of the CBD as part of its effort to mainstream climate action into economic policies. Members of the Coalition are starting to look at how the policy levers they deploy can help to identify and manage climate- and nature-related financial risks and economic impacts.