Mission
The transformational process towards a green and sustainable economy requires appropriate, innovative and scalable support from the financial industry.
As the global economy is underpinned by complex and interrelated dynamics, it is crucial that financial institutions, investor groups, policy-makers and civil society join forces and cooperate as a network.
The Cluster is an initiative emerging from the fusion of the Accelerating Sustainable Finance Initiative (Deutsche Börse) and the Green Finance Cluster Frankfurt (Hessian Ministry of Economics). The Cluster, launched in April 2018, aims at bundling activities in the field of sustainable finance to achieve greater use of financial market expertise in the area of sustainability. Its primary ambition is to formulate and implement solid approaches to fostering the sustainability of national and international financial markets.
The Green and Sustainable Finance Cluster Germany (Cluster) brings together the activities of various stakeholders, and thus mobilises synergies that shape this transformation process in an efficient and cost-reducing manner.
Green and sustainable finance constitute a core subject of the transformation process towards a sustainable and climate-resilient global economy. Neither the “Sustainable Development Goals” nor the objectives of the “Paris Agreement” could be accomplished without fundamental change within the national and international capital allocations framework. The challenge consists in developing applicable concepts for the implementation of Environment Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in the business models of various financial stakeholders. It would promote the identification and management of sustainability-related risks, enhance competition in a proactive manner, and seize economic opportunities of sustainable development. In this context, the specific structure of actors in Germany, which prevails in medium-sized companies, shall be taken into account.
The Cluster should act as a central contact point for sustainability issues of actors in the financial sector and beyond. The Cluster is also expected to reinforce other sustainable finance initiatives existing in Germany and in Europe.
„In order to stop climate change – the effects of which have long since been noticeable – enormous investments are needed. This is why we are embracing the idea of private capital also being invested according to the principles of sustainability. The Cluster aims at further promoting this movement.“
Hessian Minister of Economy, Tarek Al-Wazir