Why we call it dirty finance

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has transitioned from using the term "brown finance" to "dirty finance" to describe investments that damage the environment. This change follows feedback that "brown" can be offensive to people of color, particularly given the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized communities. While CPI acknowledges that "dirty finance" may not be a perfect term and will continue to use technical language like "high-emissions finance" in formal documents, it believes "dirty finance" provides the strongest and most inclusive signal for general communications.

• The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) decided to stop using the term "brown finance" to describe money funding assets that damage the planet because the term is offensive and can denote skin color, which is particularly damaging given that climate change disproportionately affects black, indigenous, and marginalized people.
• After polling experts from its Climate-aligned Finance Tracking Group and its global climate finance tracking team, CPI selected the term "dirty finance" over alternatives such as "grey" finance (used by the United Nations) and "polluting" finance.
• CPI defines "dirty finance" as investment that harms the environment and its inhabitants, noting that while the money is legally generated, it is not aligned with social, economic, and environmental goals.
• For technical documentation, CPI will continue to use more specific terminology, such as "high-emissions finance," rather than "dirty finance," to avoid confusion with agricultural needs like soil processing and fertilizers.

APA

Dreyer, C. (2020). Why we call it dirty finance. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/why-we-call-it-dirty-finance/

Chicago

Dreyer, Caroline. Why we call it dirty finance. Climate Policy Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/why-we-call-it-dirty-finance/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Dreyer |first1=Caroline |title=Why we call it dirty finance |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=14 September 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/why-we-call-it-dirty-finance/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{dreyer2020why, author = {Dreyer, Caroline}, title = {{Why we call it dirty finance}}, publisher = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/why-we-call-it-dirty-finance/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }