Accelerating Transition

Here's a letter I wrote for Goldman Sachs' latest report on climate-related financial disclosures for 2021: https://click.gs.com/tcfd

As a financial institution, we believe we can achieve the greatest impact in advancing the climate transition by partnering with our clients across our business. Whether it’s by developing new sustainability-linked financing solutions, offering world-class strategic advice, or co-investing alongside our clients in cutting-edge clean energy companies, we’re constantly innovating and expanding new commercial capabilities to help our clients accelerate their transition.

To build a more sustainable planet will require nothing less. Our own Carbonomics research estimates that $56 trillion in green infrastructure investments is needed worldwide to reach a net zero economy by 2050.

In this report we have defined a range of ambition for an initial set of industries where we see a significant opportunity to help our clients decarbonize. These near-term targets reflect the aspirational goals we have for our business, clients, and the global economy.

Having reliable data will be critical to measuring our impact and managing our progress toward these targets. So, we are continuing our work with corporate partners to develop a free, open-source platform for climate-related data and to equip our clients with new tools — like our Carbon Portfolio Analytics in Marquee — to measure their carbon impact.

Building a more sustainable economy is a global effort, and we’re firmly committed to do our part — but even still, we will not succeed unless we approach the problem with global solutions.

The public and private sector must work together. It’s especially important for financial institutions to direct capital to sustainable solutions in emerging markets, where the climate transition faces a more daunting journey. That’s why we’ve partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies to launch a Climate Innovation Fund that will encourage public and private investment in clean energy projects across South and Southeast Asia.

Beyond these efforts, we also need thoughtful public policy that strikes a balance between current energy capabilities and support for new technology, as well as concrete measures, like a price on carbon, that will accelerate a just and orderly transition.

Because in the end that’s what this is: a transition. It’s going to take time. But as this year’s report shows, we’re making progress, a more sustainable future is within reach, and Goldman Sachs is determined to do our part to help the world get there.