June ’24: Five must-reads to help investors

📣 It’s here! The Net Zero Investment Framework (NZIF) 2.0 launched at our Net Zero Summit 2024, on day one of London Climate Action Week.

🙏 A huge thanks to the 200 investors and peers who joined us, many of whom helped to make this resource as relevant and useful to investors as possible. Here’s how to access it and glimpse of what we’ve been up to over the last month:

Get to know NZIF 2.0 using the wheel

• A new wheel and dedicated Hub make it easier to navigate to different parts of the Framework and understand the equal nature of NZIF levers of influence.

• ‘NZIF 2.0’ aims to make life easier for investors by bringing together the wide range of resources available to them all in one place.

• It is the most widely used guidance by investors who have set a net zero commitment - more than 200 institutional investors use the framework in some way and many more refer to it.

EU Call to Action aims to support Europe’s climate goals as Parliamentary election results settle

• Our EU Call to Action can help incoming ministers to double down on existing bold and proactive climate targets, and to determine key policy recommendations for this next EU political cycle.

• The paper calls on policymakers to accelerate Europe’s transition to a competitive and resilient climate-neutral economy, highlighting priorities and opportunities in five key areas.

• Europe’s target to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 hinges on the success of this incoming 2024-2029 mandate.

New target-setting guidance for sovereign bonds and country pathways published

• The resource offers practical steps to help investors with target setting and implementation, to increase the adoption of sovereign bonds into their individual net zero investment strategies.

• Acknowledging the challenges, this guidance explores tools to integrate sovereign bond holdings into net zero investment strategies and outlines initial steps for investors – informed by our expert working group.

• It underscores the importance of understanding policy landscapes and engaging with stakeholders to support the effective implementation of net-zero strategies through sovereign bonds.

Ways to help countries develop ‘investable’ Nationally Defined Contributions

• Private finance is crucial for the implementation of ambitious climate goals in updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are due in early 2025 ahead of COP30.

• Yet NDCs vary significantly in quality and details, often lacking sufficient information on policy implementation, making it difficult for investors to assess risks and opportunities.

• Our recommendations include more detailed sectoral pathways, quantified investment needs, and better-established robust policy frameworks to give investors the consistency they need to invest.

Clean energy surges with twice the momentum of fossil fuels

• For every dollar going into fossil fuel this year, two dollars are flowing into clean energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Investment 2024 report highlighted.

• Despite the increase in clean energy investments, the disparity between developed and developing economies remains a pain point: emerging markets and developing economies outside of China receive only 15% of this funding.

• China is set to lead the clean energy investments this year, almost matching the cumulative investments of the European Union and the United States combined. This means its consumption of fossil fuels is reducing at pace.

If you found this useful, find out more about how to join us to be the first to hear about new resources, guidance and investor support. Visit iigcc.org for more information.