The Rise of Green Wall Street

CITIES ARE RACING TO BECOME THE WORLD'S SUSTAINABLE-FINANCE HUB

- JUSTIN WORLAND

The Great Hall in the City of London's Guildhall might seem like an odd place to anchor a climate summit. At a time when leading climate thinkers are increasingly calling for systemic change, it screams tradition.

Built in 1411, the medieval auditorium is a homage to ageold British institutions and customs with stained glass windows honoring lord mayors and monarchs. The dissonance is only amplified by its surroundings: a square mile housing the world's leading financial institutions, gleaming towers of banks and investment firms with proprietors historically far more focused on adding up their financial returns than on calculating progress toward net-zero emissions.

And yet Guildhall-and the City, as the financial district is known-were the center of the action in June when 45,000 climate advocates from around the world descended on London for its annual "Climate Action Week." To participate, attendees hopped between meetings at Guildhall, the London Stock Exchange, and the myriad banks, insurers, and other financial institutions found in the area.

The location was no coincidence. To tackle climate change will require moving immense sums of money-and the institutions located in the City of London have money to lend and invest. But the decision wasn't entirely, or even primarily, altruistic. Positioning London as the key node in the world of sustainable finance could pay off big as the sector continues to grow. A boom in jobs and wealth will be bestowed wherever banks and financial institutions focused on this issue set up shop. Estimates on the size of the opportunity vary depending on methodology, but most research suggests that by the 2030s the value of sustainable finance will reach doubledigit trillions.