ASFI roadmap unites the finance sector for a resilient and prosperous Australia

Resilience is often defined as maintaining system stability while being able to adapt in a way that can respond to the changing circumstances around us. We have been able to maintain financial system stability while responding to a continuously changing environment. It has shown how quickly Australians can adapt to change when it is urgent.

Climate change is impacting us at a slower pace. However, the impact long term will be more dramatic than what we have faced in 2020- 21. It will require civil society, government, Australian businesses and academia to all work together for an orderly transition so we do not experience a sudden jolt.

To assist with this orderly transition, the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative (ASFI) launched a roadmap in November 2020 providing a plan to align Australia’s financial system with a sustainable, resilient and prosperous future for all Australians.

This initiative is industry-led, with over 80 organisations coming together with the involvement of federal, state and local government and our financial regulators.

It uniquely brings together the insurance, banking and investment sector to work together to help Australia deliver on its commitments to the Paris Agreement, Sendai Agreement for Disaster Reduction, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).  

The recommendations recognise it will take leadership, practice, building resilience for all Australian communities and a sustainable financial market to succeed. We recognise individual organisations will identify their own priorities.

We argue it is the collective effort across the whole financial sector that will ensure Australia has a sustainable, resilient and prosperous future.

Since launch we have seen organisations from across Australia taking action. In July a “Momentum Tracker” was launched summarising examples of this progress.

Next steps for ASFI

We recognise we need ongoing collaboration between the finance sector, government and regulators, and broader stakeholders. For this reason, the sector has committed to the establishment of a permanent body that will assist to drive impact, monitor progress and help convene the many groups that need to come together to achieve change.

Jacki Johnson and Simon O’Connor, co-chairs, ASFI