永續金融於COP26格拉斯哥氣候變遷大會下之最新國際進程

The Latest International Progress of Sustainable Finance under The COP26 Glasgow Climate Change Conference

早在一九七二年出版的「成長的極限」（The Limits to Growth）一書中即指出隨著地球人口數上升、人類經濟活動造成環境汙染不斷擴大，並持續消耗地球資源，總有一天人類經濟活動的成長將達極限，並耗盡天然資源。其後一九八七年聯合國發表了「我們共同的未來」（OurCommon Future）報告，似乎正呼應此問題，而提出「既能滿足我們現今的需求，同時又不損及後代子孫滿足他們的需求」之永續發展（Sustainable Development）概念，將地球環境相關問題視為人類未來共同面臨的挑戰。隨著近年來氣候變遷問題加劇，聯合國陸續於一九九二年通過了《聯合國氣候變遷綱要公約》，二○一五年則通過了《巴黎協定》，解決氣候變遷問題逐漸形成國際共識，然而，溫室氣體排放及全球暖化問題，並沒有因此獲得顯著改善，其原因之一，不外乎即人類擔心影響經濟發展。然而，透過經濟轉型改善氣候問題，與經濟發展並非必然相互衝突之事，而經濟轉型除了以政府為主要推動之角色外，金融機構亦佔有不可或缺之地位，蓋透過金融機構強大之資金力量，對於有資金需求之產業，能提高其轉型誘因，只要全球金融機構重視氣候變遷問題，並實際執行將永續金融納入主流，相信不久之未來，將能促成產業逐步轉型，邁向綠色經濟，解決氣候變遷問題。

As early as in 1972, the book “The Limits to Growth” pointed out that with the increase in the population of the earth and the continuous expansion of the environmental pollution caused by human economic activities, and the continuous consumption of the earth resources, the growth of the human economic activities will reach the limit and exhaust natural resources. In 1987, the United Nations published the report, “Our Common Future”, which seemed to respond to such problem, and proposed that “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Such concept regards the issues related to the earth’s environment as a common challenge of the mankind in the future. As the climate change problem has intensified in recent years, the United Nations adopted the “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” in 1992 and the “Paris Agreement” in 2015. The resolution to cope with the climate change problem has gradually reached an international consensus. However, the problems of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming have not been significantly improved. One of the reasons is that human beings are worried about the economic developments. However, the improvement of the climate change problem through economic transitions does not necessarily conflict with the economic developments. In addition to the government’s leading role in promoting economic transitions, financial institutions also play an indispensable role. Through the strength of financial institutions, industries with capital needs will improve their own motivation for transitions. As long as global financial institutions pay attention to the climate change problem and actually implement sustainable finance into the mainstream, it is believed that they will be able to promote the gradual transitions of the industries towards green economy to solve the climate change problem in the near future.