Pacific island states like Kiribati, the Cook Islands and Palau are among the most exposed in the world to climate change. It is not just rising sea levels that threaten to obliterate them, but also more extreme storms and tides, the acidification of the seas that provide their livelihood, and drought. Worse, their relative obscurity makes it hard for them to state their case, they lack the institutional capacity to approach multilateral funding sources and many of them are flat broke anyway. What can they do?

There is an abundance of funds seeking to channel money into climate finance projects in vulnerable countries, with the Green Climate Fund in the vanguard. But why is so little money reaching the countries that need it?

The future of climate change finance lies in its ability to attract private capital. It is a complex task, but the key to its success will be in keeping products offered to investors as simple as possible.

There are so many challenges related to climate change, so many disparate actors required for their remedy and so much money required to do it, that it is tempting to see the whole situation as unfixable. Perhaps that is why some of the countries most vulnerable to climate change are not willing to talk about it. There is one positive counterbalance: all the ingredients needed to meet climate finance goals are available. But getting the money where it needs to go, with private capital alongside, will require a level of global coordination rarely seen.

Climate change finance for the V20 and other vulnerable states will need innovative thinking. It turns out plenty has already taken place, including a detailed proposal to bring funding to those who can’t raise it independently.

No nation is more at risk from rising seas than the Maldives. Yet the government seems more interested in tourism than sustainability, and access to international funds is difficult. Has the climate change debate lost relevance in the country that inspired the creation of the V20?

Cesar Purisima was secretary of finance of the Philippines when Typhoon Haiyan devastated much of the country. It was a lesson he hadn’t forgotten when he became the founding chair of the V20, a vehicle for the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations to speak collectively.

Blue states lead lagging US on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing; pension funds hold investment managers accountable.

While an increasing number of studies point to diversity having a positive impact on business performance, it needs to be coupled with inclusion if financial services companies want to see cultural and societal change.

Market for social and sustainable projects will improve the visibility of asset class.

Americas wealth management division partners with specialist investment fund to back tech companies with women at the helm.

Gender lens investing is on the rise, and with good reason. Not only do companies perform better with greater female representation on their boards, but a multi trillion-dollar wealth transfer to women and millennials means greater investment focus on social issues like diversity.

Societe Generale has accelerated its transition and is using important mandates to convince its internal and external audiences alike.

The bank’s chief executive has led from the front to create an institution that is more diverse and better reflects the society in which it works.

The bank’s 10-year ScotiaRise programme has gone from strength to strength, reaching out to indigenous communities and aligning with its truth and reconciliation committee’s work.

The bank is leveraging all its resources to reach six million individuals by 2025. It is well on its way.

With a chief executive pushing sustainable finance from the very top, HSBC is leading from the front in the global banking industry’s response to the climate emergency.

It is not enough to have the data, banks also need to bring intelligence and financial analysis to bear in sustainable finance to keep progressing.