Private Financial Institutions’ Commitments to Paris Alignment

The report finds that while net zero commitments from private financial institutions have grown rapidly, reaching USD 93.3 trillion in assets, they often lack the interim targets, detailed transition plans, and specificity in regional or sectoral investment needed for genuine Paris alignment. It highlights a strong focus on coal divestment but a significant lag in phasing out oil and gas financing and addressing biodiversity loss.

• As of October 11, 2021, at least 301 major financial institutions, representing USD 93.3 trillion in assets, have committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. These commitments cover approximately 65% of global assets under management and 17% of the global financial industry.
• There is a significant lack of detailed implementation plans; only 10% of entities with net zero targets have published public interim emission reduction targets. Additionally, no entities in the sample provided details on the timing or methodology for using carbon offsets.
• Financial institutions have pledged nearly USD 6 trillion cumulatively to climate solutions by 2030, with commercial banks providing the vast majority at USD 5.6 trillion. However, these goals lack specificity regarding target regions and sectors, with USD 3.5 trillion allocated to a general "green finance" category.
• Fossil fuel exclusion policies are predominantly focused on coal, but a comprehensive shift away from all fossil fuels is missing. Many coal exclusions use broad revenue thresholds—ranging from 5% to 40%—that effectively allow continued financing of some coal projects.
• Commitments to exclude oil and gas are less than one-third of all fossil fuel exclusion announcements and are typically limited to specific high-risk areas like Arctic drilling and tar sands rather than a global reduction in new infrastructure.
• Commitments regarding biodiversity and deforestation are extremely sparse, with only four tracked commitments to exclude financing for activities contributing to deforestation and zero commitments on biodiversity.
• EU-27 institutions lead in the number of commitments, likely driven by the market size and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which mandates climate risk disclosure.
• Financial institutions are adopting various business practices to meet goals, most notably the launch of new ESG-related products (28 of 69 tracked practices). Other internal changes include linking management compensation to sustainability ratings.

APA

Solomon, M., Escalante, D., Fernandes, P., Pastor, A., & Rosane, P. (2021). Private Financial Institutions’ Commitments to Paris Alignment. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CPI_Private-FI-Commitments-Tracking-1.pdf

Chicago

Solomon, Matthew, Donovan Escalante, Pedro Fernandes, Angela Pastor, and Paul Rosane. Private Financial Institutions’ Commitments to Paris Alignment. Climate Policy Initiative, 2021. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CPI_Private-FI-Commitments-Tracking-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Solomon |first1=Matthew |last2=Escalante |first2=Donovan |last3=Fernandes |first3=Pedro |last4=Pastor |first4=Angela |last5=Rosane |first5=Paul |title=Private Financial Institutions’ Commitments to Paris Alignment |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=October 2021 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CPI_Private-FI-Commitments-Tracking-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{solomon2021private, author = {Solomon, Matthew and Escalante, Donovan and Fernandes, Pedro and Pastor, Angela and Rosane, Paul}, title = {{Private Financial Institutions’ Commitments to Paris Alignment}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CPI_Private-FI-Commitments-Tracking-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }