ASFI Newsletter - June
There’s just over a month left to secure your spot at the Australian Sustainable Finance Summit, and with EOFY fast approaching, now’s the perfect time to invest in your professional development!
Join influential voices and forward-thinkers from across government, finance, industry, and civil society including:
Jigar Shah, TIME Magazine 2024 Top 100 Influential people for 2024 and former Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office
Professor Deen Sanders OAM, cultural leader, Worimi man and advocate for Indigenous Knowledge systems in shaping the future of finance, law and policy
Dr Angelia Grant, Deputy Secretary, Macroeconomic Group, Australian Treasury, bringing a macroeconomic and international policy lens to cross-sector conversations
Learn more and register today →
Last week ASFI launched the Australian sustainable finance taxonomy announced the taxonomy implementation pilot program with 9 financial institutions, and hosted experts from China and Hong Kong to discuss opportunities for cooperation on sustainable finance and green supply chains.
Kristy and senior members of the ASFI team are currently at London Climate Week with a delegation of ASFI members for a jam-packed program of events with UK and EU financial institutions, standard setters, and officials.
ASFI Releases the Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
On Tuesday 17 June ASFI released Australia’s first sustainable finance taxonomy, a Paris-aligned framework to guide capital allocation toward climate mitigation economic activities. It offers financial institutions and businesses a robust framework to assess the green claims of economic activities, and confidently invest in projects that advance net zero. This marks a significant step forward in supporting Australia’s transition to a net-zero economy.
Developed over 20 months with input from over 140 technical experts, extensive stakeholder consultation, and government oversight, the taxonomy includes world-first green and transition criteria on mining, critical minerals, agriculture and guidance on First Nations engagement, positioning Australia to help shape international standards in sustainable finance.
The official launch took place at Bloomberg’s Sydney offices, with opening remarks from ASFI and the Australian Treasury. A fantastic panel discussion on taxonomy implementation followed, featuring TTEG Co-Chair Guy Debelle and representatives from several of ASFI’s taxonomy implementation pilot partner organisations, NAB’s Jacqueline Fox, CEFC’s Richard Lovell and Rest Super’s Leilani Weier.
The release was met with strong support from across the financial sector and government, including more than 400 attendees at ASFI’s public webinar and extensive domestic and international media coverage, including in the Australian Financial Review. The launch kicked off a pilot phase now underway with several major banks and investors testing its practical application, as well as with the AOFM and Australian state treasury corporations on the development of taxonomy-aligned labelled debt guidance. You can read more about the taxonomy implementation pilot here.
As quoted in the AFR, ASFI CEO Kristy Graham said: “The Taxonomy is the climate compass investors have been asking for. It brings science and credibility to the question of what counts as green or transition-aligned.”
ASFI will continue to work closely with regulators, financial institutions and industry to integrate the Taxonomy into Australia’s financial system and policy settings.
Learn more and download the taxonomy →
Australia-China Sustainable Finance Roundtable
Friday 20 June saw the first roundtable of the AU–CN Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Roadmap project brought together experts from leading Australian and Chinese institutions to identify a path toward closer alignment of Australian and Chinese sustainable finance settings.
Funded by the National Foundation for Australia–China Relations, the project also lays the groundwork for long-term collaboration that can help shape global sustainable finance collaboration.
An estimated 450,000 people across China tuned into the inaugural expert panel on shared interests and opportunities for sustainable finance as a vehicle for growth. The panel was chaired by Professor Howard Bamsey from ANU, and featured Mr Gary Cowan (CEO of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations), Dr Yao Wang (Director General of the International Institute of Green Finance), Ms Penny Sirault (Assistant Secretary of the Sustainable Finance Branch at the Commonwealth Treasury) and ASFI’s own Purdie Bowden (Executive Manager – Policy and Blended Finance).
The Roundtable was the first of four events under the project, including expert technical workshops to come in Beijing and Hong Kong before a launch event for the final outputs in Sydney.
ASFI COP31 Work Program
Australia is hopeful it will soon be confirmed as host of UNFCCC COP31 in 2026. Prospective host city, Adelaide, is putting its money where its mouth is in the State budget, and Australian Government negotiators are highlighting Australia’s credentials at a UNFCCC meeting in Bonn, Germany this week.
ASFI is engaging closely with government and partner organisations to bring strong ideas to the table that would unlock private capital for climate. The opportunities presented by COP31 will be a focus of ASFI’s London Climate Week Program this week.
Have your say: TNFD 2025 Status Report survey
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is conducting a global survey of corporates, financial institutions, and market service providers to gain deeper insight into how nature-related assessment and reporting practices are being applied across sectors and regions. The survey aims to gather feedback and insights on the practical application and implementation of these practices and invites input from both report preparers and users.
Results will be featured in the TNFD’s 2025 Status Report, which will be released in September 2025 during Climate Week NYC. The survey closes on Friday, 1 August 2025, you can access it here.
What we're reading
Morgan Stanley’s latest global analysis on sustainable funds, which looks at their performance in 2024 compared with traditional funds. Assets under management (AUM) in sustainable funds reached a new absolute high of USD$3.56 trillion in HY2 2024 but declined as a proportion of total AUM (compared with traditional funds).
European funds comprise almost 87% of total AUM, with only 10% in North America (no doubt this has dropped since) and 3% in Asia. Sustainable funds underperformed traditional funds in HY2 2024, which was the first period of underperformance since 2022.
This reflects the greater exposure of sustainable funds to Europe, where performance dipped in the second half of the year. The report also highlights how EU-based funds are significantly more stringent in their screening of fossil fuels and other ESG filters compared to North America or Asian funds.