No Nigerian bank or insurance company is listed among the industry-led, United Nations, UN-convened, Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), currently worth over $29 trillion in assets in which the global banking community committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which already instituted the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP), could not respond to our enquiries demanding explanation on the absence of Nigerian banks in the alliance.
Also when contacted the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), could not offer any explanation on why none of its members are among the participating insurance companies.
Under the alliance, the banks also plan to combine near-term action with accountability, this ambitious commitment sees banks setting an intermediate target for 2030 or sooner, using robust, science-based guidelines.
Launched on April 21st with 43 founding banks and seven insurance companies, the Alliance joins the UN Race to Zero, and is the banking element of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero.
The Alliance is convened by the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI), and was co-launched by the Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Markets Initiative Financial Services Taskforce.
UNEP-FI explained that “The Alliance will reinforce, accelerate and support the implementation of decarbonisation strategies, providing an internationally coherent framework and guidelines in which to operate, supported by peer-learning from pioneering banks.
“It recognises the vital role of banks in supporting the global transition of the real economy to net-zero emissions.”
The alliance follows UNEP-FI’s, Principles for Responsible Banking, for which banks are expected to subscribe to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and announce that their bank has joined.
Speaking at the launch of the Alliance, UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, did say that: “In a critical year for climate and nature, these alliances speak to the high level of commitment and ambition that the world urgently requires from the financial sector. The end goal is a net-zero transition of the economy in line with science. Nothing less.
“Immediate, transparent and accountable actions underpin these commitments, and we encourage all financial institutions to follow their peers in committing to achieving the drastic reduction of emissions required over the next decade if we are to succeed in limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.”
On his part, British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said: “Uniting the world’s banks and financial institutions behind the global transition to net-zero is crucial to unlocking the finance we need to get there – from backing pioneering firms and new technologies to building resilient economies around the world. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero will lead this charge ahead of COP26 to scale-up our ambition, accelerate our shift and help us to build back greener together.”
While John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, said: “The largest financial players in the world recognize energy transition represents a vast commercial opportunity as well as a planetary imperative. As countries around the world move to decarbonize, the large sums these institutions are dedicating to climate solutions reflect a growing understanding that the transition to a low-carbon global economy will be critical for their business models.
“To be credible and effective as market signals, these financial commitments should adhere to clear definitions, metrics, and reporting. Ultimately, the transition to this new economy will create a massive number of new jobs and increase our collective ability to tackle climate change.”
The Alliance comprises world’s biggest banks, asset owners, asset managers and insurers from countries in Europe, America, Asia, Africa (Egypt and Kenya), and a host of others as listed below:
Insurers:
