Introduction to Part VI

Climate change, along with increasing water scarcity, destructuration of fertile soils and biodiversity collapse, pose major threats to financial stability because of potential consequences for economies, firms and financial institutions. The nature of climate change means we cannot disregard or downplay the long-term impacts. And, whilst action across the whole world economy is urgent, we cannot focus only on short-term responses. Policy-makers must recognize the urgency and scale of the challenge and work to bring the finance sector back towards the real economy with clear, credible and long-term strategies and policies. Supporting and managing the transition will require significant investment and strong innovation, and all of it has to be sustainable. This part of the book on “investors†draws attention to many of the positive signals we are already receiving from the financial sector, highlighting examples of real innovation and leadership in sustainable finance, showing important cases and examples in regulation, fiduciary duty, infrastructure and new technology, new products, data and tools, and transparency.