SBTi Leaders Call for Scaled Finance Commitments After COP29 Talks

Senior Science Based Targets initiative officials who attended COP29 in Baku in November 2024 reported strong private-sector urgency but said financial institution climate commitments remain below the scale needed to align global capital flows with net-zero. The SBTi's Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, scheduled for release in 2025, was described as a critical guide for the finance sector.

Alberto Carrillo Pineda, SBTi Chief Technical Officer, and Tracy Wyman, Chief Impact Officer, both attended COP29, which focused on boosting climate finance to developing countries as a key Paris Agreement pillar. Pineda observed that while financial institution momentum has grown, it has not yet reached the scale required, and called on banks, asset managers and insurers to set science-based targets and work actively with portfolio companies to accelerate decarbonisation. Wyman highlighted heightened urgency and growing appetite for cross-sector collaboration in her conversations with business representatives and standard setters.

The two officials pushed back on emerging discussions at COP29 suggesting the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit should be reconsidered. Pineda described the 1.5 degrees target as a line in the sand established by scientific consensus, based on irreversible impacts on the world's most vulnerable populations. Wyman said conversations at the conference were more productive when focused on concrete near-term steps, such as phasing out fossil fuels and halting deforestation, rather than debating the feasibility of the temperature goal.

Looking ahead to COP30, Pineda connected rising private-sector science-based target adoption with the strength of government Nationally Determined Contributions, arguing that ambitious corporate action sends a signal that policymakers can rely on. Wyman's principal ask of climate-conscious businesses was to collaborate across competitive boundaries to address shared barriers to high-ambition action and advocate collectively for stronger climate policy where sector-level action proves insufficient. The SBTi's Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard was described as a key near-term tool to structure that collective action.

Key figure — COP29 climate finance deal focused on boosting flows to developing nations (November 2024)