Beyond Financed Emissions

The report examines the limitations of financed emissions as the primary metric for financial institutions (FIs) to align capital with a net-zero economy by 2050, suggesting a hybrid approach that combines portfolio-level tracking with actionable indicators and corporate transition assessments.

• Financed emissions are the primary tool for financial institutions to measure climate impact and provide accountability, but they are insufficient for identifying climate-aligned opportunities because they ignore transition drivers like enabling technologies and the transition readiness of clients.
• While forward-looking and complementary emissions metrics provide more comprehensive insights, they are hindered by issues regarding comparability, transparency, and complexity.
• The report recommends a pragmatic strategy where financial institutions maintain the use of financed emissions for portfolio tracking while integrating simpler, actionable indicators—such as finance-based or production-based metrics—and robust assessments of corporate transitions.

APA

RMI (2025). Beyond Financed Emissions. https://rmi.org/resources/beyond-financed-emissions/

Chicago

RMI. Beyond Financed Emissions. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/beyond-financed-emissions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Beyond Financed Emissions |date=23 June 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/beyond-financed-emissions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025beyond, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Beyond Financed Emissions}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/beyond-financed-emissions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }