Foreword
The scale of transformation required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement is unprecedented, and it needs to be achieved at a phenomenal pace. Our markets, clients and communities are having to adjust faster than ever to keep up with the pace of change, whilst balancing trade-offs with other increasingly complex and interrelated challenges.
Without careful planning and a collaborative approach, there is danger that whilst some industries and economies grow, others are left behind.
This is a particular risk for those emerging and developing markets in which we operate, which are often dependent on the industry sectors that will be hardest to decarbonise and are therefore under threat.
Applying a different lens, the scale and urgency of the action required to facilitate the greatest transition in history also presents a crucial and rare opportunity to apply human ingenuity to build a new model for more sustainable and inclusive economic development.
This is humanity’s next ‘moonshot’ moment, and as we think about the quantum of capital required for this collective effort, finance will be a critical enabler.
To meet this challenge, the banking industry needs to do more of what is proven and working well – mobilising private capital to catalyse cleantech, for one – but we also need to apply a concerted innovation mindset to unlock the areas where capital isn’t yet flowing at scale.
Our deep expertise, longstanding market presence and extensive global network means we are uniquely positioned to mobilise capital to where it’s needed most. This includes providing transition finance to some of the highest-emitting and most carbon-intensive sectors, such as energy and mining, which need to transition most urgently.
As a Bank, we continue to work hard, to listen to our clients, sectors and markets to ensure we truly understand their unique needs and challenges with the aim of assisting them within our set sustainability parameters. We then apply our deep market knowledge and the innovative mindset of our teams to help them alleviate trade-offs and unlock the opportunity sustainability presents, by deploying lending, financing and advisory services alongside the next wave of sustainability and technological solutions.
We combine that with whole systems thinking, applying our intellectual capital and working with governments and private investors to develop new financial tools and structures to help support a responsible and just transition for all our markets – whether that is by advocating for of a high-integrity voluntary carbon market to help hard-to-abate sectors offset their last mile emissions, or commercialising blended finance to help bridge the sustainable development funding gap.
What’s exciting for me as Chief Sustainability Officer is that I have the opportunity to see what happens when we bring innovation to life in our markets. When we turn concepts into transactions on the ground that help solve for our clients, and that are replicable and scalable. The energy is palpable and it drives further momentum.
It’s that human capacity to deliver rapid progress in the face of adversity, to turn challenge into opportunity and to inspire change which gives me reason for optimism in an era of unprecedented change.
The climate challenge is bigger than all of us, but the more we partner and innovate together, the easier it will be to leapfrog to new solutions and realise the opportunity for our markets.
Marisa DrewChief Sustainability Officer
