Every six months the Global Green Finance Index (GGFI) evaluates the depth and quality of 78 financial centres. GGFI serves as a valuable measure of the development of green finance for policy and investment decision-makers. The top 20 centres in GGFI 7 are shown in the table below.

Global Green Finance Index (GGFI) 7 Headlines

• Amsterdam took first place in GGFI 7, narrowly pipping Zurich, with London a close third.

• San Francisco rose four places into the top ten, with Los Angeles entering the top ten for the first time.
• Asia/Pacific centres performed strongly, with Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, and Singapore all consolidating gains and challenging or displacing incumbents from Western Europe.
• The margins separating centres at the top of the index is narrowing. Among the top 10 centres the spread of ratings is 29 out of 1,000, compared to 51 out of 1,000 in GGFI 6.
• The mid-rankings in the index are brutally competitive, with the Latin America & Caribbean and Eastern Europe & Central Asia regions overtaken by Asia/Pacific and North America centres.
• Ratings of green finance rose in nearly all centres for both depth and quality. As ESG (environmental, social, governance) reporting, green bonds, policy performance bonds, and other aspects of green finance penetrate mainstream financial activity, there is growing confidence in the development of green finance across all regions.

The emergence of North America and Asia/Pacific regions

Although Western Europe continues to dominate the top 10 places, its crown may be slipping with such stiff competition from both the North America and Asia/Pacific regions. A number of leading Western European centres are likely be displaced from the top 10 over the next two or three editions of the GGFI if this trend continues.

GGFI 7 includes a supplement examining how the flow of private capital into green finance can be harnessed by international financial centres for green and socially inclusive development. This analysis has been developed in partnership with We Are Guernsey.

Professor Michael Mainelli, Executive Chairman of Z/Yen Group, said: “For the first time, Western Europe’s domination of the Global Green Finance Index is under pressure from Asia/Pacific and North American financial centres. The encouraging focus on green and sustainable finance by financial centres could materially improve the nature of economic recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.”