European cities have continued to dominate the lead in an index of the world’s greenest financial centres, according to new research from think tank Z/Yen Group.
The Global Green Finance Index (GGFI), now in its 11th year, ranks green finance offerings from 86 financial centres worldwide.
Western European centres have taken six top ten places, with London commanding the top spot.
Stockholm, Geneva, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen – in that order – also held spots in the top ten.
Stockholm and Geneva recorded significant increases of five and three places, respectively, from last year’s index.
Aside from European cities, the rest of the top 10 spots were occupied by US cities. These are New York, in second place, and Los Angeles, Washington DC, and San Francisco.
“While Western European and US centres take all top 10 positions in the index, don’t ignore how recently US centres got with the programme and how rapidly Asian centres are moving up,” said Professor Michael Mainelli, chairman of Z/Yen Group.
“At COP3 in Kyoto in 1997, carbon markets were the preferred anti-climate change mechanism. It may have been a slow quarter-century burn, but three-quarters of those responding to GGFI 11 expect 30% or more of greenhouse gas emissions to be covered by carbon pricing by 2030, up from 21% at the end of 2021 and 15% in 2020.”
This development is the latest trend that has seen Europe build a more substantial reputation within ESG and sustainability over other regions.
In March, the 2023 Responsible Investment Brand Index revealed the 10 most attractive asset management brands with this criteria were European names. That same month, research from Broadridge – of the most attractive fund house brands in regards to takeover appeal – revealed that several asset managers had climbed the rankings, including Amundi, Nordea and Flossbach von Storch.
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