Bank of America Joins PCAF, to Measure Emissions Impact of Loans and Investments
Bank of America announced that it has joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), becoming the largest US financial institution to sign on to date. The PCAF is a global partnership of financial institutions with a mission to develop and implement a harmonized approach to assess and disclose the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their loans and investments.
BofA stated that it has been working with the PCAF Core Team over the last several months and will continue to be part of the Core Team, providing its financing and risk management expertise.
Anne Finucane, Vice Chairman at Bank of America, said:
“As a global financial institution, and as an industry, we have a critical role to play in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon, more sustainable economy. By joining PCAF, we are helping to drive a consistent framework for institutions to measure financed emissions, as well as providing a useful tool in the management of these emissions, which is a critical component when addressing climate change. We look forward to collaborating with other financial institutions and partners on this important effort.”
PCAF launched in 2019, and has already been joined by nearly 70 banks and investors from five continents, PCAF’s member financial institutions represent more than $9 trillion (USD) in assets. Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley became the first major US financial institution to join PCAF as a steering committee member.
According to PCAF, the measurement of financed emissions can provide important data that financial institutions can use to assess risk, manage impact, meet the disclosure expectations of important stakeholders, and assess progress and pathways to global climate goals. The Global Carbon Accounting Standard feeds into the work of other climate initiatives, such as the financial sector disclosures of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Ivan Frishberg of Amalgamated Bank and a member of the PCAF Steering Committee, said:
“Measuring the carbon impact of loans and investments is a fundamental building block for further climate action. Counting carbon may seem like a purely technical thing, but we measure so that we can manage, and Bank of America is showing its seriousness in this work through its active collaboration with PCAF.”