PCAF updates reporting framework for financial institutions (2025)
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What’s the story? The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) released an updated version of its "Global Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry."[1] The standard, first published in 2020,[2] and banks, asset managers, insurers, and asset owners use it to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions associated with loans, investments, and other financial activities.
The expansion adds new methods that apply to a broader set of financial instruments, such as loans tied to specific projects, securitized assets, and certain types of public-sector debt.[3] It also introduces new ways to measure insurance-associated emissions and includes guidance for reporting avoided emissions and forward-looking metrics. PCAF said industry working groups contributed to the revisions.
Why does it matter? The updated standard broadens the tools available for financial institutions seeking to assess emissions across complex portfolios.[4] The new methods for financial and insurance products that were not previously covered allow firms to measure a larger share of their financed and insurance-linked emissions.
The revisions also reflect growing demand for consistent and transparent accounting frameworks as climate-risk reporting requirements evolve globally. Institutions using the standard will be able to provide more complete disclosures tied to their lending, investment, and insurance activities.
What’s the background? PCAF launched in 2019 to create a common approach for measuring financed emissions. The organization released its first global standard in 2020,[5] and many financial institutions now use it in their reporting. Participation in PCAF continues to grow, and the new update adds methods for additional asset classes and incorporates feedback from industry groups.
See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia’s ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Carbon Accounting Financials, "Global Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry", accessed December 10, 2025
- ↑ ESG Today, "PCAF Launches Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry", accessed December 10, 2025
- ↑ Carbon Accounting Financials, "Global Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry", accessed December 10, 2025
- ↑ ESG News, "PCAF Expands Global GHG Accounting Standard for Finance and Insurance", accessed December 10, 2025
- ↑ ESG Today, "PCAF Launches Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry", accessed December 10, 2025
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