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insurers, and investors4. The TCFD recommendations are a vital step towards ensuring the climate resilience of the international financial system. However, in doing so, they also encourage financial institutions to assess their investment strategies and align their portfolios and practices with the goals of the Paris agreement and a global warming limit of 2°C. After a quarter century of negotiations, the Paris Agreement finally provided a framework through which countries can implement the ambitious policies necessary to tackle climate change. This political intent has already encouraged investors to re-assess their holdings in anticipation of a changing regulatory environment, as policy makers search for the best solutions to support national emission reduction pledges. The priority now is to translate high-level climate policy commitments into financial frameworks that move real money. The financial community played a constructive role in the Paris Agreement – and is now set to continue this leadership and promote the transition to a sustainable global economy. We have now clearly entered a new phase in the global response to climate change; 2017 is the year when a new impetus is given to financing climate action. Financial institutions are increasingly aware that the shift to a zero-carbon economy is irreversible. Acting together, we have now clearly entered a new phase in the global response to climate change. This positive inertia will be hard pressed to be undone. ■ABOUT THE AUTHOREric Usher is Head of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). He brings twenty-five years of experience in the sustainable energy and finance sectors, including an entrepreneurial venture in Morocco, financial sector development across emerging markets and responsible investment uptake globally. Prior to heading the UNEP FI Secretariat in Geneva, Mr Usher was responsible for a programme portfolio advancing new public/private instruments for financing cleaner energy infrastructure and improving energy access. He was seconded to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change for development of the Green Climate Fund, specifically the fund’s Private Sector Facility. Mr Usher is co-editor and co-author of various studies examining the role of public and private finance in climate mitigation and was lead author for finance of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources. Before joining UNEP, Mr Usher was General Manager of a solar rural electrification company based in Marrakech. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, France, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University, Canada.ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME FINANCE INITIATIVE (UNEP FI)EP FI is a partnership between the UN and the global financial sector. Founded in 1992 by 10 banks responding to the Rio Conference on Sustainable Development and the establishment of the UNFCCC, its membership today includes over 210 members, around half from developing countries. More than 90 per cent of the world’s largest banks are members, along with many of the big insurance and re-insurance companies. In this capacity it serves a number of roles that will be critical to the successful implementation of the Pictured: Eric UsherParis Agreement. References1New Climate Economy (2016), ‘Better Growth, Better Climate’. Publication2New Climate Economy (2016), ‘Better Growth, Better Climate’. Publication3McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, 2016, ‘Financing change: How to mobilize private-sector financing for sustainable infrastructure’.4TCFD website: https://www.fsb-tcfd.orgFINANCE AND INVESTMENT 053