On 17 October 2019, the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published a Sustainable and Responsible Investment Guide for Central Bank’s Portfolio Management (the Guide) as part of its mission to encourage central banks and supervisors across the globe to lead by example and include sustainability considerations in their portfolio management. The NGFS, launched at the Paris One Planet Summit on 12 December 2017, is a group of Central Banks and Supervisors that share best practices and contribute to the development of environmental and climate risk management in the financial sector and to mobilise mainstream finance to support the transition towards a sustainable economy.

The Guide is a hands-on approach aimed at central banks that wish to adopt Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) practices. It builds on the results of an SRI portfolio management survey among NGFS members and concludes with case studies of first-hand experiences by some NGFS members. The Guide identifies five SRI strategies, the most prominent being green bond investments and negative screening for equity and corporate bond holdings.

The results of the SRI portfolio management show that there is a growing momentum among NGFS members: 25 out of the 27 respondents have adopted SRI principles in their investment approach or are planning to do so. Those principles range from a broad scope of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations to a climate-specific focus.

View the Guide, 17 October 2019.