User talk:Mmurphy17/sandbox

The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is a global partnership established between the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the financial sector. It was created in 1992, following the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro. The UNEP FI consists of 215 members from financial institutions and 41 supporting institutions. These members include banks, investors and insurance companies.

UNEP FI seeks to engage the private sector and the global financial sector, as well as encourage the better implementation of sustainability principles at all levels of operations in financial institutions. Their focus has also been to inspire their members to take Environmental, Social, and Governance issues into their relationships and trade with their customers. The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative is known for their help in facilitating and shaping interactions between a wide range of partners.

UNEP FI is also a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative along with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the UN Global Compact.

History
In 1991, a group of commercial bankers got together and proposed the idea of a group to help spread awareness about the environmental calander. In 1992, the UNEP Statement by Banks on Environment and Sustainable Development was launched in New York after the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro, to insure that sustainable development, among other issues, could be improved. This new initiative bring a broad range of financial istitutions on board such as commercial and investment banks. In 1997, this statement was redrafted in order to be more broad in its appeal and was renamed the UNEP Statement by Financial Institutions on the Environment and Sustainable Development.

The Banking Initiative was renamed The Financial Institutions Initiative (FII). In 1999 it was clear that the FII and the Insurance Industry Initiative (III) were working closely due to the similarities of the works that they did and in 2003 at the Annual General Meeting, the two groupds decided to merge into one single group. This group would be called the UNEP Finance Initiative. Finally in 2010, UNEP Statement by Financial Institutions on the Environment and Sustainable Development and the UNEP Statement of Environmental Commitment merged into a single statement called the UNEP Statement of Commitment by Financial Institutions on Sustainable Development. This statement was finalized in 2011.

Mission Statement
The UNEP FI mission statement is "to bring about systematic change in finance to support a sustainable world, and is highlighted in it's motto, changing finance, financing change". The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative works to sustain and improve the following:
 * Banking
 * Insurance
 * Climate Change
 * Ecosystems
 * Positive Impact
 * Energy Efficiency
 * Property
 * Social Issues
 * Regions

Organization
The UNEP FI secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland, out of the United Nation Environment Programme's Economics and Trade branch within the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE). This organization is managed by the United Nations Environment Programme. The secretariat is responsible for a number of things including fostering active participation of key associates, organizing and servicing relevant meetings, and preparing relevant reports.

The current seretariat is Eric Usher, who was appointed as officer in charge in 2015. Usher has experience in the sustainable energy and finance sectors.

Global Roundtable
In 1994, the first Global Roundtable (GRT), now an event that takes place every two years, took place in Geneva, Switzerland. Global Roundtables have since then crossed the world from Washington, DC, to Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Each event takes place in a different city around the world.

This event brings together hundreds of leaders in the financial sector, as well as the government and the United Nations. The UNEP FI holds this Global Roundtable to kickoff a converstaion between the groups present on issues such as sustainable finance, sustainable development and the challenges of a sustainable market.