ClimateWorks Launches INSPIRE Research Platform to Incorporate Climate Change into Financial Oversight

(SAN FRANCISCO) Apr. 11, 2019 — ClimateWorks Foundation announced today the launch of INSPIRE—the International Network for Sustainable Financial Policy Insights, Research, and Exchange—a global, philanthropy-supported research network to commission independent, gold-standard research on the financial oversight of climate risks and the promotion of green finance. INSPIRE will aid the members of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), a network of more than 30 central banks and supervisors, and observer organizations from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, as they work to enhance the financial system’s ability to manage climate-related financial risks and mobilize capital for green and low-carbon investments.

INSPIRE is designed to swiftly commission and fund multiple lines of innovative and robust research and interface with the NGFS and its members. The global network will also seek to communicate the results widely and convene researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, so that institutions around the world can benefit from world-class scholarship.

“Increasingly, the global financial sector is recognizing the importance of factors like climate and sustainability in their practices,” said INSPIRE Advisory Committee Chair Nick Robins, professor in practice for sustainable finance at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “INSPIRE will provide the knowledge for central banks and other financial institutions to understand the risks of climate change and support low-carbon investments and environmentally sustainable development.”

INSPIRE will focus on research related to risks to individual banks, risks to the banking system, and scaling up green finance, along with cross-cutting issues. These workstreams align closely with those identified by NGFS and will complement its own research to create a depository of best-in-class scholarship and insights.

“In the last few years we have seen central banks and supervisors come to realize that climate change poses material risks to the financial system, and that these authorities have a responsibility to ensure an orderly response to that risk,” said Ilmi Granoff, ClimateWorks’ Sustainable Finance Program Director. “ClimateWorks saw an opportunity for philanthropy to mobilize the deep expertise housed in universities and think tanks around the world in support of these authorities as they grapple with genuinely tough issues—to provide the intellectual ammunition for supervisory ambition.”

INSPIRE serves as a platform through which philanthropies can continue to support research on financial oversight over time, with initial funding provided by ClimateWorks and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). The network will be guided by an advisory committee who will provide recommendations on research to commission and help engage with central banks and supervisors. The committee is chaired by Professor Nick Robins of Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics, and includes Dr. Alex Barkawi of the Council on Economic Policies, Professor Wang Yao of the Central University of Finance and Economics, and Dr. Jakob Thomä of Two-Degrees Investing Initiative.

INSPIRE is currently accepting proposals from scholars and analysts in all parts of the world on key research questions linked to the NGFS work program. For more information or to submit a proposal related to these priorities, please visit inspiregreenfinance.org

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About ClimateWorks Foundation

ClimateWorks helps climate leaders and philanthropists come together to be more strategic, efficient, and effective in their response to global climate change. We are a collaborative team of researchers, strategists, and grant makers committed to our mission of mobilizing philanthropy to solve the climate crisis and ensure a prosperous future. Since 2008, ClimateWorks has provided $1B in grants to organizations around the world focused on solving climate change. For more information about our programs, grantmaking, and partnerships, visit www.climateworks.org.