Two years since the Roadmap’s publication, we can see a marked shift across the finance landscape. The concept of ‘sustainable finance’ is moving from the margins into the spotlight of global attention and into the mainstreams of leading financial institutions, government treasuries and financial regulators.

The Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap marked an unprecedented collaboration across 140 representatives from finance sector organisations, civil society, academia, government and regulators. Its 37 recommendations set out a plan to align the Australian financial system with a sustainable, resilient and inclusive Australia.

This is the second report on implementation of the Roadmap. It shows progress has been made against a broad range of Roadmap recommendations, with some standout achievements including the establishment in 2021 of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) as a permanent body to coordinate and drive Roadmap implementation.

The Progress Tracker also highlights some important gaps and opportunities for focus in 2023 and beyond. The modest score across all recommendations of 2 out of 5 underscores the substantial effort required to translate recent momentum into real world impacts to create a safe climate, restore Australia’s natural capital, and support a thriving society.

We need to accelerate progress to match the urgency of the challenge before us. This will require an unprecedented level of action and collaboration across the entire financial system including financial institutions, government, regulators, industry bodies and academia.