The responsibility of banking: financing a sustainable future

THE battle against Covid-19 has been difficult. It has cost lives and livelihoods and stalled economies. Lockdowns have taken a toll on people's mental and physical health and on their family relationships.

Amid the lockdowns and reduced economic and social activities however, global carbon dioxide emissions fell more than 6 per cent last year to their lowest rate since 2006, based on research from the Global Carbon Project.

While emissions have since returned to pre-Covid levels, last year's slowdown provided a glimpse of the scale of action required. Projections by the United Nations Environment Programme show that we need a 7.6 per cent reduction per year globally for 10 years to limit global warming to 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels.