Commitment to Climate Action

The PRB Collective Commitment to Climate Action (CCCA) was launched in September 2019, with a group of banks fast-tracking the commitment all Principles for Responsible Banking signatories have made to align their business strategy with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. This commitment is consistent with a maximum temperature rise of well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 – equivalent to net-zero before 2065.

In 2021, a further climate commitment has been built under UNEP FI; the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. This brings together banks, the majority of which are PRB signatories, which are committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050, consistent with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.

Due to the increasing global ambition in this space, we would encourage banks to join the industry-led, UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance from 2021 onwards.

2-year progress update

In 2021, the CCCA completed its second year of implementation. We were pleased to see that members are reporting increasing numbers of targets being set in line with the Guidelines for Climate Target Setting, though it is clear that much work remains to be done throughout 2022. We look forward to the CCCA’s second collective progress report in 2022, in which we will look at the these banks’ climate journey since they signed the commitment in 2019.

About

CCCA banks committed to fast-track the commitment all Principles for Responsible Banking signatories have made to align their business strategy with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Signatories are required to:

Take decisive action from the moment of signing, focusing on the most carbon-intensive and climate-vulnerable sectors within their portfolios
Within three years of signing, set and publish sector-specific targets for aligning their portfolios with a well-below 2 degrees and striving for 1.5 degrees Celsius trajectory, based on scientific climate scenarios
Drive and facilitate the necessary transition in the real economy through their client relationships, products and services.

Each bank reports annually on its progress in implementing the commitment and achieving set targets. Every two years, the banks report on their collective progress.

In the first year since signing the commitment, CCCA banks delivered on their commitment to publish the measures they are taking to align their portfolios with international climate goals. These include developing methodologies for assessing portfolio alignment, exclusion policies for sectors such as coal and strategies to help clients reduce emissions.

In their second year since signing, the CCCA banks pubilshed the Guidelines for Climate Target Setting for Banks; a seminal piece of work which underpins the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, and also published a year two snapshot of progress.

In this way, CCCA banks also provide leadership, guidance, tools and frameworks for the Signatories to the Principles for Responsible Banking, helping all Signatories to strategically align their business with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Read the full text of the Collective Commitment to Climate Action.

Progress

14 October 2021 – Year Two Progress Snapshot published
The CCCA publishes a snapsot progress update, showing member banks reporting increasing numbers of targets being set in line with the Guidelines for Climate Target Setting, though it is clear that much work remains to be done throughout the coming year. The CCCA’s second collective progress report is scheduled for 2022.

21 April 2021 – Guidelines for Climate Target Setting for Banks
The CCCA banks build Guidelines for Climate Targets Setting for Banks outlining key principles to underpin the setting of credible, robust, impactful and ambitious targets in line with achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. These guidelines underpin the UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance.

8 December 2020 – Year One in Review published
A snapshot of the progress made in the first year since the launch of the CCCA. It synthesises the individual reporting by each of the signatory banks on the concrete measures they have taken in the first 12 months to deliver on the commitments they have made. Read about the Year One in Review.

23 September 2020 – First signatory progress reports published
Signatories delivered on their commitment to make public their individual reports of actions taken in the first twelve months of the Collective Commitment to Climate Action.

30 June 2020 – German Financial Sector Collective Commitment to Climate Action
The German financial sector launched a collective commitment to climate action modelled closely on the CCCA.

4 May 2020 – Convening of the working groups
Two working groups, composed of representatives from across the signatory banks, have been convened to support the implementation of the Collective Commitment to Climate Action. One focuses on learning and applying existing methodologies for assessing climate alignment. The other is dedicated to harmonization, comparability and monitoring of climate targets.

December 2019 – Spanish Banking Sector Collective Commitment to Climate Action
The Spanish banking sector launched a collective commitment to climate action modelled closely on the CCCA.

23 September 2019 – Launch of the initiative
33 of the Principles for Responsible Banking Signatories, with over $13 trillion in assets, launch the Collective Commitment to Climate Action. The launch was organised to coincide with the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in New York, and to follow the launch of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking.