A group of 100 investors with $1.8trn (£1.3trn) in assets under management have signed a letter urging 60 of the worlds largest banks to better disclose climate-related financial information.
Writing to organisations such as HSBC Holdings, JP Morgan Chase, and Deutsche bank, the group argues the robustness of these disclosures are a growing concern for asset owners and managers.
This comes after a study estimated that a business-as-usual scenario in regards to climate change could result in the permanent reduction of between 5% and 20% in portfolio value by 2030.
Isabelle Cabie, global head of responsible development at Candriam Investors Group, one of the letter's signatories, said that climate change presents banks with real and wide-ranging risks.
"Better disclosure of climate risk allows us to judge how specific banks are performing compared to their peers, and so we ask that banks pay heed to this important call from the investor community," she added.
The letter, coordinated by non-profit organisation ShareAction, calls for more vigorous and relevant climate-related financial disclosures to be supplied to investors in four key areas:
Climate-relevant strategy and implementation
Climate-related risk assessments and management
Low-carbon banking products and services
Banks' public policy engagements and collaboration with other actors on climate change.
The Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures introduces new expectations for this, but it is voluntary, and depends on investors pressing for action.
ShareAction said that $93trn of investment is required by 2030 to limit global warming to 2°C - as set out in the Paris Agreement - and that the private financial sector has a pivotal role to play in enabling this.
"Millions of people have an interest in how these banks respond to climate change," ShareAction chief executive Catherine Howarth, said.
"We are hugely encouraged that this substantial group of global institutional investors has come together to press banks for meaningful action on climate-related risks and opportunities."
The letter comes just days before Climate Week NYC, which brings together companies, investors, governments, and civil society to drive faster progress in addressing climate change.
