| dc.description | When the UN Environment Inquiry began its work in 2014, green and sustainable finance was very much under the radar – a “quiet revolution” that needed to be encouraged, nurtured and teased from its shell. This is what the Inquiry set out to do. We surpassed even our own expectations. Over the last few years, cooperative international efforts carried by the G20, the G7, the UN, and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) have all addressed different aspects of sustainable and green finance, while at the same time increasingly involving the private sector. Multilateral development banks and international financial institutions continue to actively promote sustainable finance. These combined factors have led to great strides in laying the groundwork for a sustainable financial system, as many developments show. Nearly 300 policy and regulatory measures targeting sustainability were in place in over 60 countries as of October 2017 – up roughly 30 percent since July 2016. Green bond issuance hit a new record of US$155.5 billion in 2017, with more growth expected. Sustainable finance has even reached UN Secretary-General level, with António Guterres in September unveiling a strategy to help reshape the financial system to make it fit-for-purpose – a direct echo of what we have been doing for four years. | en_US |
