22 May 2015: At the Paris 2015 Climate Finance Day, key stakeholders from the financial sector gathered for four roundtables on climate change, which all centered around the theme of shifting trillions of dollars toward the goal of limiting global warming below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. In addition, two platforms for tracking climate actions in the financial sector were announced and speakers throughout the day discussed tools for mitigating risk and transaction costs of climate-friendly projects.

Held on 22 May 2015, as part of Climate Week Paris, Climate Finance Day also featured speeches by: Michel Sapin, French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts; Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary; Janos Pasztor, UN Assistant Secretary-General on Climate Change; Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development; and CEOs of major financial institutions.

In his opening remarks, Sapin announced that institutional investors in France will soon be required to measure and disclose the carbon exposure of their portfolios. Fiona Reynolds, Managing Director, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), announced the online ‘Investor Platform for Climate Actions,’ which will track the global investor community’s response to climate change. Remco Fischer, Climate Change Programme Officer, UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI), described a new platform designed to track commitments by the insurance industry on climate change resilience.

The four Climate Finance Day roundtables covered: How Can Institutional Investors Bring their Portfolios in Line with 2°C?; Assessing, Financing and Insuring Against Climate Risk; Finance for Climate Action – Tackling the Investment Challenge; and Innovations for a Sustainable Financial System – Policies, Regulations, Standards. According to The Climate Group, organizer of Climate Week Paris, discussions were largely dominated by the topic of divestment. Concluding the second roundtable, Henri de Castries, CEO of the insurance company Axa, indicated that his company has officially committed to total divestment from coal by the end of 2015.

Closing the event, Pasztor concluded that there has been a “tectonic shift in the way business and private finance community are addressing climate change.” [Climate Finance Day Website] [The Climate Group Press Release] [Climate Week Paris Website] [Investor Platform for Climate Actions Press Release] [Investor Platform for Climate Actions Website] [IISD RS Story on Climate Week Paris]