Christian Wilson and Dr Ben Caldecott explain the need for financial institutions to rapidly end fossil fuel expansion in light of the International Energy Agency's Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine makes this transition more urgent, because it will reduce 

US$150 billion per year. That's the expected additional loss that the financial sector could face when climate action by companies is delayed, according to the launch report of a joint initiative by the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group at the University of Oxford and the non-profit think tank 2° Investing Initiative.

On July 15, the Spatial Finance Initiative, part of the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment (CGFI), will launch a new report into the current use, and future potential of, these rapidly advancing technologies within finance.

Financial institutions with over $70 trillion in assets have pledged to achieve net zero portfolios and loanbooks by 2050, including meeting ambitious interim 2030 targets.

New research from the Sustainable Finance Programme tracks how the financing costs for energy projects, measured through loan spreads, have changed over the past 20 years and finds that financial institutions are viewing renewables as less risky and coal as more so. Oil and gas financing costs have exhibited significantly less change.