Climate Safe Lending Resources

Transition Planning

  • CSLN, Green America Center for Sustainable Solutions (October 2021)

    The Good Transition Plan is a practical, actionable guide for banks to create effective climate transition plans. The guide gathers the best thinking, emerging best practices, and stakeholder expectations from over 100 climate-finance experts and professionals from around the world. It presents a structured approach to net-zero planning, with practical insights from sustainable finance leaders, including bankers, investors, policymakers, civil society organizations, and academics.

    Additional GTP resources:

  • CSLN Collaborative (January 2024)

    The Banking on Climate Justice initiative is a collaborative engagement launched in April 2023 with members of the Climate Safe Lending Network.

    Participants from a variety of geographies and sectors have come together in hopes of raising the ambition of the banking sector to address justice whilst transforming itself in the face of the climate crisis.

    The goals:

    • Explore why climate justice should be integrated into all strategic decisions for stability

    • Illuminate practical ideas that can serve as inspiration for how the banking sector might begin making systemically impactful shifts

  • CSLN (July 2020)

    Taking the Carbon Out of Credit is a report published by the Climate Safe Lending Network in June 2020 that sets out an integrated mechanism, along with practical tools, for banking institutions that commit to demonstrating leadership in addressing climate change.

  • A4S and partners (July 2021)

    This guideexplores the steps that finance teams can take to help their organizations progress towards net zero emissions. It draws on practical guidance, knowledge and case studies from the A4S Essential Guide series to help finance teams address the practical issues of setting credible net zero targets and embedding them into finance processes and decisions.

  • CSLN, Dankse Bank (April 2023)


    A special closed-session meeting under Chatham House Rules with Dankse Bank discussing their recent and first-of-its kind announcement to limit investment in and lending to fossil-heavy sectors.

Leadership Development

  • The Fellowship is an immersive leadership development programme supporting finance professionals to advance and embed climate action within their institutions.

    Learn more.

  • Finance Innovation Lab, Seawolf Sustainability Consulting, CSLN (September 2023)

    Drawing from invaluable insights from banking professionals - including from the 2023 Climate Safe Lending Fellowship programme and the wider banking community - this report explores overcoming barriers and harnessing opportunities in order to raise bank ambition and accelerate meaningful climate action across the banking sector. Amidst an increasingly complex global context, the report aims to help banking professionals navigate the path towards sustainable change.

  • Finance Innovation Lab, CSLN (June 2022)

    There are passionate and committed individuals working inside banks who recognise that their institutions and sector require transformation and are working tirelessly to enable this from the inside out. We call them ‘climate intrapreneurs’. This report is the first time the unique perspectives and insights of these climate intrapreneurs have been published. They are drawn from the first ever cohort of the truly pioneering Climate Safe Lending Fellowship which saw 23 Fellows from 20 banks develop the capability to lead change from within their institutions.

  • Finance Innovation Lab, Green America (December 2020)

    On October 7 2020 the Climate Safe Lending Network convened fifty banking professionals who are advancing the climate agenda within their institutions at the second Climate Safe Learning Lab.

    The 2020 Climate Safe Learning Lab revealed four key areas where climate intrapreneurs face challenges and are converting these into catalysts for change, as well as also revealed three insights for external influencers of bank climate action including campaigners, investors and policymakers.

  • On 24 September 2019 the Climate Safe Learning Lab was convened in New York City, coinciding with the UN General Assembly, the launch of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking and New York Climate Week. Alongside the plethora of events occurring at the time, the Climate Safe Learning Lab aimed to provide a space for a different type of conversation for banking professionals leading the climate finance agenda. The objective of the event was to launch a series of such peer-to-peer Learning Labs to facilitate and strengthen the work of those working on sustainability and climate policy inside banks. This document shares key insights from the conversation and valuable learning about the barriers and enablers when driving change within a financial institution. Read the report here

    Subsequently, in May 2021 the network convened surrounding the question: “Is Net Zero enough for banks?” View the visual story, and key reflections - including seven critical shifts outlined - from this convening here.

Financial Innovations

  • This contest helped take the transition to net zero from planning to practice.

    The contest was held at a critical moment when preparation – measurement, target-setting and transition planning – needed to be translated into real action to prevent an irreversible systemic failure. The contest sought practical interventions to drive significantly better outcomes for everyone. We crowdsourced ideas, tools, strategies, and approaches that people in the sector can pick up and use to have an immediate impact.

    The categories for the contest were:

    • Go Faster: practical ideas for supporting accelerated transition within banking institutions and their clients

    • Go Further: practical ideas for enabling finance for new and innovative solutions

    • Go Fairer: practical ideas for approaches that ensure a socially just transition for all

  • Seawolf Sustainability Consulting, CSLN, Integrate to Zero

    Accelerating Clean Energy Banking for Consumers: A global assessment of leading financial products and services is a first of its kind report, analysing the extent and nature of clean energy finance provided banks to consumers. The report provides global and regional snapshots of insights based on desk research covering over 144 banks, across 6 regions and 53 nations.
    (December 2023)

    Action enquiry - What does it take to mobilize more consumer finance for renewable energy? follows on from the previous body of work to focus on mobilizing renewable energy in the context of Brazil, Colombia, and Nigeria. Valuable insights have been compiled in a short presentation with the aim to save you time and effort in exploring renewable energy financing options in your own context.
    (March 2025)

  • Green Central Banking, CSLN (November 2023)

    The Problems with Climate Risk Scenarios - and how to fix them was a recorded panel discussion (alongside a written summary and reading list) in partnership with Green Central Banking. Moderated by Madison Condon, Associate Professor, Boston University School of Law. Panelists: Sanjay Joshi, Responsible Investment Consultant, Hymans Robertson; Ann Pettifor, Political Economist; Sahil Shaw, Co-founder, Tipping Frontier; Steve Keen, Distinguished Research Fellow, University College London

Policy & Private Sector

  • CSLN, The Outdoor Policy Outfit, BankFWD (May 2022)

    As companies increasingly focus on combating climate change, this report reveals that for many of the world’s largest companies, the carbon footprint generated by their investments and cash held in big banks are a significant source, and sometimes their largest source, of emissions. The report also provides a groundbreaking analysis of the hidden climate impact of corporate finances, making it possible to understand the scale of emissions generated by a company’s cash, investments, and financial practices.

  • CSLN, EIT Climate-KIC, UNEP-FI (April 2021)

    Financial Stability in a Planetary Emergency highlights the need for a bold approach to financial regulation. The report outlines practical policies a regulator could adopt if given the responsibility of regulating the financial system in line with a climate-safe future, based on a review of existing literature on climate risks and financial policymaking, together with interviews with leading thinkers on sustainable finance and policy.

  • Greg Ford, Finance Watch; Katie Kedward and Josh-Ryan-Collins, UCL; Lukasz Krebel and Frank van Lerven, NEF; James Vaccaro, CSLN (October 2022)

    This report outlines how climate-related financial risks (CRFR) pose unique challenges for capital requirements regulation. The existing capital requirements regime needs stronger precautionary and macroprudential focus, paying particular attention to the prevention of environmental tipping points to avoid systemic and catastrophic impacts on the financial system and macroeconomy.

  • (November 2020) Sarah Boege, University of New Hampshire; CSLN

    Seeds of Change This Financial Innovations Roundtable uncovered strategies, policy options and scalable interventions

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