This podcast episode highlights the critical but often overlooked role of financed emissions—the indirect emissions financial institutions are responsible for via their lending, investing, and underwriting activities. 

These emissions, part of Scope 3, Category 15 under the GHG Protocol, often dwarf a bank’s own operational emissions. With real estate alone accounting for ~40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, banks are increasingly under pressure from regulators, investors, and markets to quantify and reduce the climate impact embedded in their portfolios.

Emerging standards like PCAF and new digital solutions such as Lookthrough’s data-driven simulation tools are helping institutions gain asset-level ESG insights, meet regulatory demands, and avoid stranded asset risk. But progress is hampered by data availability, standard fragmentation, and integration challenges. Despite these hurdles, aligning financial flows with climate goals is fast becoming both a regulatory necessity and a competitive advantage.