UBS Chief Executive Ralph Hamers on Wednesday called for minimum global sustainability reporting standards that apply not just to public companies but to private assets as well.
"We have to establish a global framework for sustainability reporting that truly encourages innovation," he said during a panel on sustainable finance hosted by the bank, adding a framework was needed to establish minimum standards across all industries, not only the energy sector.
Echoing comments made by BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink during the COP 26 U.N. climate conference, Hamers warned reporting efforts needed to encompass private markets or else risk incentivising polluters to take their activities private.
"If we are asking for all publicly listed companies to comply with reporting around these kind of standards, we may still not have the right solution," he said. "Because if we don't ask the private market to do so as well, we may see some of the polluters move away from the public market into the private markets. And that we're still not solving."
As a final appeal, Hamers called for more money to flow to emerging markets to make a net zero transition possible.
Citing the $66 billion that major multilateral development banks spent on climate finance in 2020, the Swiss banking executive said development banks needed to play a bigger role.
"We need to double at least, if not triple, this amount going to the emerging markets," he said.
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