FRANKFURT, Germany, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Financial institutions can play a leading role in managing climate change risk but only if they have access to key information, a German-led report concluded.
A report sponsored by Berlin and the U.N. Environment Program found that financial institutions can play an influential role in managing climate risks in their business portfolios but not without access to information such as climate modeling and analysis.
The report finds that financial institutions don't have access to much of the information they need to calculate climate risks.
Paul Clements-Hunt, the head of UNEP's finance initiative division, said the role that financial institutions can play in climate issues is overlooked.
"The rapid reduction in greenhouse gases and the adaptation to the unavoidable effects of global warming need to go hand-in-hand if we are to cope with the climate challenge," he said in a statement. "This study is a first step in identifying what is needed so that financial institutions can start playing their important role in accelerating the shift to climate-resilient economies."
