2° Investing Initiative (2DII) is an international, non-profit, non-commercial and membership based think tank. Founded in 2012, 2DII was among the first organisations promoting the concept of ‘alignment’ of financial markets and regulations with international climate goals, a concept that has now been embedded within European Union regulations.

It is now leading the world’s largest research projects on climate benchmarks in financial markets and sustainable investing. This is made possible by its partnerships with fellow think tanks and non-government organisations, international organisations, industry coalitions, government or supervisory organisations, academia, and the private sector.

2DII functions as a network of three branches in France, Germany, and the United States of America (‘US’) and has a network of globally located partners. However, starting in 2019, 2DII began to extend its activities beyond Europe and the US to emerging markets.

To ensure its independence and the intellectual integrity of its work, 2DII has a diversified and multi-stakeholder governance and funding structure, coming from a spread of institutions, similar to that of their partnerships, at the helm of the decision-making process. It is governed by independent boards of directors and affiliated by a network agreement. As a result of this agreement, its work programs and resources are pooled together in a collaborative process.

2DII combines knowledge in the fields of finance, climate and risk to develop research, tools, and policy insights and considerations to equip financial institutions and regulators on their journey to adapt to the low-carbon transition. This results in many projects with high adoption rates by users.  One significant project is a climate scenario analysis methodology, the Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment (‘PACTA’), used by more than 3,000 financial institutions around the world.

Core Objectives:

• Aligning financial portfolios with the Paris Agreement goals.
• Working with governments and policymakers to help align regulatory frameworks with climate objectives.
• Enabling the financial sector to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy.
• Supporting retail investors who want to make a positive climate impact with their money.

Funding is received from foundations and philanthropies, agencies of the European Commission as well as  governments and international organisations.

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