In 2019, leading banks and the United Nations launched the Principles for Responsible Banking, with 130 banks collectively holding $47 trillion in assets, or one third of the global banking sector, signing up.

In line with these Principles, banks committed to strategically align their business with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals, and bolster their contribution to the achievement of both endeavours.

However, this huge volume of capital is trickling from behind a dam created by uncertainty from lack of data, taxonomies, schemas, reporting and products, robust enough to satisfy the risk register of financial institutions. The result is a lack of confidence about viable options for investing in sustainable initiatives.

Supply chain traceability – yielding dynamic, trustworthy, and secure data from complex supply chains – is required for investors to deliver on the promise of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).

Finextra Research and ResponsibleRisk will be running a thought-provoking series of editorial, research and experiential events to bring banking and technology ecosystems together, to collaborate on enabling this wave of change.