Four hundred and fifty of the world’s largest banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and asset managers have joined forces in a UN initiative to provide the crucial funding needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and lead the global economy towards CO₂ neutrality by the end of 2050. The network consists of such mastodons as Blackrock, Bank of America, and Allianz.

Jon Johnsen is appointed by the European investors’ association The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and is therefore at the top of the network along with powerful financial bosses such as Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager Blackrock; Oliver Bäte, CEO of the world’s largest insurance company Allianz; and the top executives of several of the world’s largest banks such as HSBC and Bank of America.

At COP26, the network was working for more private actors to commit to securing funding for the climate crisis in developing countries, where states alone are having difficulty raising enough money. Here, more people are looking in the direction of Denmark

“The Danish pension sector has committed to investing at least DKK 350 billion before the end of 2030,” says Jon Johnsen. “Now the initiative is as widespread as to have been adopted by other Nordic and British pension funds. I hope and believe that our ambitious climate goals resonate and inspire governments and financial actors in other countries to act.”

The GFANZ was founded in April 2021 with political backing from, among others, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, and the US Secretary of State John Kerry. Former British National Bank Governor Mark Carney has been appointed chairman of the network. Since then, it has managed to attract 450 financial companies from 45 countries with a total of DKK 833 trillion under management to support the network’s goal of CO₂ neutrality by 2050 and climate investments that can limit temperature rises to 1.5^oC.