Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney said a new data utility being set up by an environmental group he leads will make banks and other institutions accountable for meeting the targets they are setting out to cut carbon emissions.
Carney, speaking to a committee of the British Parliament on Monday, said the new data tool being developed by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) will be in operation in about a year.
Making companies' progress public will discipline them, he said, and show lawmakers and the public what further actions may be needed.
"Over time you will see people who are lagging," Carney said during the meeting, which was webcast.
Carney's group has described the tool before but not in the context of the pressures it faces both from environmentalists looking for banks to rapidly end the financing of new fossil fuel projects and from businesses worried about their other obligations.
Set up by Carney and others last year, the GFANZ is a coalition of assets managers, banks and insurance firms representing $130 trillion in assets directed toward tackling climate change. Last month it reportedly faced threats from major U.S. banks to leave the group over legal risks.
Carney dismissed the reports on Monday.
"They haven't left. And they haven't indicated to me any intention to do so," he said.
Pressed on continued investments in fossil fuels, including by Brookfield Asset Management, where he is vice-chair, Carney said there must be four times as much investments in clean energy as in conventional energy by 2030, up from a roughly even ratio currently.
