Catalysing bank climate action: Lessons from the inside
This report shares insights from the Climate Safe Lending Fellowship, a programme for banking professionals committed to accelerating the decarbonisation of their institutions. The report offers practical approaches and tools used by climate intrapreneurs to help their banks transition toward climate-safe banking.
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OVERVIEW
The report highlights climate intrapreneurship as a solution-driven approach to help banks transition towards achieving climate-safety. Climate intrapreneurs are banking professionals committed to embedding holistic climate action within the core strategy, operations, and culture of their institution. This report shares insights and recommendations through four lenses: the banking system, banking institutions, banking professionals and climate campaigners.
Banking system: What kind of a banking system is fit for a just and regenerative economy?
The report posits that banking institutions have a massive impact on the real economy by lending and investing in activities such as fossil fuel extraction and deforestation that drive climate breakdown. Accordingly, there is a need for a total transformation of the banking system to meet the new purpose: Enabling human thriving on a healthy planet. Such a transformation must embed holistic climate action within the core strategy, operations, and culture of banks.
Institutions: How can banks close the gap between their commitments and where they are today?
While many banks are publicly committing to reaching net-zero, the report notes that what is required is a total transformation of the banking system. The report identifies three key approaches that banks can take to close the gap between their commitments and where they stand today. These include gaining clarity on what is within their control to change and focusing on it, building collective influence with networks of internal and external allies, and fostering the buy-in of decision-makers.
Bankers: How can climate intrapreneurs help their banks transition more rapidly?
The report identifies several key approaches that enable climate intrapreneurs to do this successfully. These include embracing curiosity and listening to others’ priorities, concerns, and ideas, using stories alongside data to engage colleagues’ hearts and minds, and adopting a mindset of experimentation.
Climate campaigners: How can campaigners and climate intrapreneurs ally for a common goal?
The report identifies climate campaigners as necessary allies in accelerating progress by banks towards climate safety. Climate campaigners can help accelerate progress through more rigorous policy and regulation, creating accountability, and building climate capability within banks. The report notes that intrapreneurs and campaigners share technical literacy in finance and economics, making it easier to work together in accelerating change towards a climate-safe world.
Recommendations
The report provides several valuable recommendations for stakeholders to facilitate bank transitions towards climate safety. These include gaining clarity on what is within their control to change, building a network of internal and external allies, fostering the buy-in of decision-makers, embracing experimentation and ambiguity, and using both stories and data to engage stakeholders.
The report highlights the need to bring about systematic changes within the banking sector, beyond technical changes, to transform the underlying culture, processes, and structures. Such changes include applying a climate lens to all business activities, from front office to back, evolving the role of sustainability teams, and making climate capability a compulsory part of professional development for every bank employee.