On 14th September 2021, the GIP secretariat released The Second GIP Annual Progress Report, titled “Stepping into the Net Zero Era”.

With the mandatory annual reporting mechanism initiated in 2020, the GIP manages to track the progress of signatories with a comprehensive survey consisting of both quantitative and qualitative questions grouped under four key metrics: governance and strategy, climate and environmental risk assessment capabilities, disclosure and engagement, and investment and corporate footprint. The second annual report shows improvements compared to the performance of the previous year. Signatories are gradually moving towards more advanced stages of the performance spectrum.

• Governance and strategy: signatories have made major progress as increasing numbers of banks are building up structures and procedures for the oversight of climate and environment related issues at board and senior management level, while demonstrating higher levels of climate ambitions with regards to coal divestment and carbon neutrality.
• Climate and Environmental Risk Assessment: signatories have also made progress on risk assessment, and to some extent risk management, with expanding scope of risks assessed, increasing presence of quantitative elements, and more frequent internal communication. Environmental Risk Analysis (ERA) has gained more popularity among members in the forms of scenario analysis and stress testing on the sectoral level.
• Investment and Corporate Footprint: green investments and green fi nuancing are picking up pace, while members are becoming increasingly stringent on their financial support for carbon intensive sectors. Near three quarters of signatories have considered the feasibility of at least limiting, halting, or exiting from investments in high emission projects.
• Disclosure and Engagement: Signatories are showing positive signs as the scope of climate-related disclosure continues to expand and deepen, while sustainability issues are increasingly becoming an element of stakeholder engagement.

The report also introduces the progress so far on the GIP’s ‘Vision 2023’, a medium-term strategic plan proposed at the 2^nd Plenary Meeting in September 2020. To date, four of the seven Vision 2023 milestones set for 2020 were met, with the other three closely lined up with the expected outcomes.

With the scaling up of climate ambitions worldwide, the GIP now enters a new net-zero era and stronger actions will be needed from signatories to navigate through the risks and opportunities brought by climate-related commitments. There is also a need for signatories to accelerate actions, as the net zero era will bring with it a faster changing policy environment and greater expectations for market players to align with the Paris Agreement’s 2-degree target, to which all players still fall short. Transparency and data availability around materiality of climate risks remains a major challenge for GIP members, alongside the capability to analyse and mitigate them on different levels of operation.

Going into 2022, disclosure of carbon intensive and green investments will be a priority focus for the GIP. In addition, the global move away from coal power investments and an increased focus on biodiversity risks are expected to rise up the agenda. GIP signatories will need to assess the risks associated with the areas of biodiversity, pollution and carbon emissions in a more holistic manner. The GIP Secretariat, together with the member-led Working Groups, will continue to address these key areas and foster knowledge sharing among peers in the coming years.