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LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The fund arm of HSBC,Britain's biggest bank, has agreed to measure and disclose thecarbon footprint of its funds on an annual basis after signingup to the Montreal Carbon Pledge.
Launched in 2014, the pledge aims to attract commitmentsfrom asset owners and managers overseeing $3 trillion ahead ofthe United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris inDecember, when countries will look to agree on steps to fightclimate change.
But in a speech on Friday at the United Nations SustainableDevelopment Summit, HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver saidthere was a need for a unified standard around reporting andcertification to make the pledge, signed this week, effective.
"The ability to obtain the data we need to fulfil our pledgebecomes a crucial part of the investment decisions we make," hesaid. HSBC Global Asset Management managed $454 billion at theend of December.
"Agreements like the Montreal Pledge should encouragecompanies to provide the disclosure that investors need, butcoordination from the public sector would provide firm momentumto an otherwise piecemeal process," he added.
Gulliver said the ability to channel 'green finance' intothe public and private sectors would need to be underpinned bystrong capital markets, and the 'green bond' market, whichfinances low-carbon projects, needed to be scaled up.
"This will only happen if we create the right incentives andeliminate disincentives within the regulatory system," he said. (Reporting by Simon Jessop)
