Contact

PCAF is supported by Guidehouse, a global consultancy firm specialized in energy, sustainability, risk, and compliance for the financial industry. Guidehouse serves as the Secretariat of PCAF, providing technical support to PCAF signatories in the development and implementation of the Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry. Throughout the development of this Standard, Guidehouse facilitates the PCAF Core Team’s work by moderating their technical discussions, reviewing the content, and compiling and editing the Standard.

If you have questions about PCAF that are not answered in the Frequently Asked Questions below, feel free to contact the following experts from Guidehouse.

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Angélica Afanador, Executive Director

Angélica Afanador, Executive Director

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+49 173 8903 404

Angélica Afanador is a director at Guidehouse, where she leads all activities in the field of sustainable finance. Over the past 10 years, Angélica has supported various financial institutions on greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting of their loans and investments. Angélica is the Executive Director of the PCAF Secretariat, facilitating the work of the PCAF Steering Committee and the PCAF Core Team.

Madeline Schneider, Director of Operations

Madeline Schneider, Director of Operations

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+49 174 3272352

Madeline Schneider is an associate director at Guidehouse and advises financial institutions in designing, implementing, and reporting sustainability strategies and actions on their transition towards net-zero emissions. Madeline is the Director of Operations of the PCAF Secretariat, coordinating all activities related to regional implementation, stakeholder management, and marketing.

Caspar Noach, Technical Director

Caspar Noach, Technical Director

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+31 (0) 6 1162 9148

Caspar Noach is an associate director at Guidehouse with over 15 years’ experience in supporting large international companies creating and implementing strategies towards sustainability. Caspar serves as PCAF Secretariat’s Technical Director, coordinating all PCAFs activities related to standard development and technical support.

Nia Bell, Communications & Partnerships Lead

Nia Bell, Communications & Partnerships Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+31 (0) 30 662 30 10

As part of the PCAF Secretariat, Nia leads the PCAF Communications & Partnerships team supporting PCAF external communications and collaboration with strategic partners. In her role as a senior consultant at Guidehouse she works with business-led partnerships to address challenges related to sustainability.

Arjun Ganguly, Emissions Factor Database Lead

Arjun Ganguly, Emissions Factor Database Lead

database@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+49 173 3862124

Arjun Ganguly is a senior consultant at Guidehouse where he advises financial institutions and large corporates on decarbonization pathways, and supports the development and implementation of carbon accounting solutions. Arjun leads the PCAF emissions factor database and is part of the technical assistance team.

Phillip Schauer, Technical Assistance & UK Regional Lead

Phillip Schauer, Technical Assistance & UK Regional Lead

ta@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+44 (0) 7467 8388 60

Phillip is a senior consultant at Guidehouse, where he advises financial institutions and other large corporates in measuring (financed) emissions to then build coherent and actionable net zero strategies and implementation plans. Phillip leads the Technical Assistance team for the PCAF Secretariat. Phillip also leads PCAF activities in the United Kingdom.

Marco Tormen, Europe & DACHLI Regional Lead

Marco Tormen, Europe & DACHLI Regional Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+31 (0) 6 2501 2874

Marco Tormen is a managing consultant at Guidehouse and helps financial institutions in their transition into a carbon neutral economy by 2050. Marco leads PCAF activities in Europe and the German speaking region (DACHLI).

Chris Snyder, North America Regional Lead

Chris Snyder, North America Regional Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+1 647 228 9308

Chris Snyder is a director at Guidehouse and leads the PCAF Secretariat for North America. He brings more than 25 years of experience in environmental management and sustainable finance. Chris works with financial institutions and other large corporations to assess, develop and implement sustainable strategies.

Tiange Wei, Asia-Pacific Regional Lead

Tiange Wei, Asia-Pacific Regional Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+ 44 2075 504621

Tiange Wei is a managing consultant at Guidehouse where she advises financial institutions and large corporates on decarbonization and climate-related strategy. Tiange leads all regional PCAF activities in APAC and is a member of the technical assistance team.

Marlene Appel, Latin America Regional Lead

Marlene Appel, Latin America Regional Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+49 172 2117018

Marlene Appel is a sustainability consultant at Guidehouse where she advises financial institutions and large corporations on measuring and disclosing their GHG emissions, setting climate targets, and designing and implementing sustainability strategies to transition to net zero. Marlene leads the PCAF activities in Latin America and is part of the PCAF Technical Assistance team.

Bart van Lunteren, Netherlands Regional Lead

Bart van Lunteren, Netherlands Regional Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+ 31 (0) 6 21 580 350

Bart van Lunteren is a managing consultant at Guidehouse, where he supports financial institutions and other large corporations in measuring and disclosing their current emissions, setting targets for their emissions, and defining implementation strategies to reach those targets. Bart leads PCAF activities in the Netherlands.

Dylan Hauser, Africa Regional Lead

Dylan Hauser, Africa Regional Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+ 31 (0) 6 152 12 720

Dylan Hauser is a commercial sustainability consultant at Guidehouse, where he supports and advises financial institutions on decarbonization processes and climate strategy, guiding them on their entire net-zero journey. Dylan leads all regional PCAF activities in PCAF Africa & Middle East, is coordinator for PCAF Netherlands, and is part of the PCAF Technical Assistance team.

Eslam Mahdy, MENA Regional Lead

Eslam Mahdy, MENA Regional Lead

info@carbonaccountingfinancials.com

+49 30 726210200

Eslam is a managing consultant at Guidehouse. He has more than 10 years of experiences in preparation of sustainable development policy instruments and energy efficiency and decarbonization strategies. Eslam leads PCAF activities in Middle East and North Africa Region MENA.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions about PCAF

What is PCAF?

PCAF stands for the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials. It is a global industry-led initiative to measure and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions financed by loans and investments. Ultimately, this is meant to trigger changes in banks’ and investors’ portfolios which align with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Why was PCAF created?

PCAF was created because a group of financial institutions, ranging from banks, insurance to asset owners and managers, realized their role was crucial in accelerating the transition to a decarbonized economy. Banks represent most of the available capital globally and since the Paris Climate Agreement the largest banks have still invested more than $3.8 trillion into the fossil fuel sector. This is equivalent to more than $2bn for every day since the end of 2015, with no downward trend and no assessment of the carbon impact of that finance. Given the scale of the climate challenge and the crucial role of the financial sector in facilitating the net zero carbon transition, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials was created.

What are the objectives of PCAF?

PCAF has set two objectives: (i) develop a global greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting standard making GHG accounting common practice within the financial sector; (ii) attract more than 1,000 financial institutions by 2025 globally that assess and disclose the emissions associated with their loans and investments.

What are the main characteristics of the PCAF Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard?

Building on the GHG accounting methodologies developed in the Netherlands and North America, a harmonized global GHG accounting standard for financial institutions was developed. The Standard covers various asset classes (such as mortgages, commercial real estate, business loans, listed equity and corporate bonds, etc.) and is open-source and transparent.

What are the key benefits of joining PCAF?

As PCAF develops a globally harmonized standard for the way financial institutions measure and disclose climate impact, specifically financed emissions as defined under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, it becomes possible to act to reduce impact and align with global and national policy goals.

The GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard developed by PCAF is a foundation for various other initiatives, making PCAF complementary to existing climate initiatives.

Through GHG accounting, PCAF members become aware of their impact and are triggered to have a tangible impact in the real economy.

How does PCAF create a tangible impact in the real economy?

PCAF enables the financial industry to take meaningful, collective, and global action against climate change by creating open-source GHG accounting methodologies covering various asset classes.

At the end of 2018, PCAF members measured the GHG emissions associated with these assets: a total of $1.2 trillion USD. Furthermore, some PCAF members are already taking action on their portfolios by developing dedicated financial products that incentivize clients to engage in low-carbon solutions.

  • Example 1: To stimulate home owners to improve the energy efficiency of their house, Triodos Bank developed a dedicated financial product that offers a lower interest when the energy efficiency of the house is improved.
  • Example 2: ABN AMRO developed several tools in the past years to track CO2 emissions in real estate and to support clients in the transition to sustainability.
  • Example 3: Beneficial State Bank calculates the emissions from their consumer vehicle loans and incentivizes clients to purchase low emitting vehicles.
How is PCAF different from or complementary to other climate finance initiatives?

PCAF is the only industry-led initiative in the market that enables financial institutions to assess and disclose greenhouse gas emissions of loans and investments through an open-source and transparent approach built on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

PCAF complements other climate initiatives addressing the financial sector, such as:

  • Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): PCAF provides a framework for financial institutions to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, which is one of the TCFD recommendations.
  • Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment (PACTA): PCAF complements PACTA by providing GHG accounting methods for a wider scope of financial assets (i.e. beyond equity and corporate bonds). The data used in PACTA’s tool is helpful for the implementation of PCAF’s approach for listed equity and corporate bonds.
  • Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi): PCAF has developed GHG accounting methods for relevant asset classes and financial institutions can use them to calculate their current exposure of their portfolio, which is the first step to set SBTs.
  • UN Principles on Responsible Investing and Banking (PRI and PRB): PCAF fully aligns with PRI and PRB and helps investors and banks to fulfill the principles on transparency, accountability and disclosure.
Who manages PCAF?

PCAF is organized by a steering committee comprised of representatives of: ABN AMRO, Amalgamated Bank, ASN Bank, Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), Morgan Stanley, the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (represented by Nordea Life & Pension), NMB Bank, and Triodos Bank.

Which organizations support PCAF?

PCAF is sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the IKEA Foundation. Various other actors are endorsing and promoting PCAF within their regions or among their members.

Do financial institutions need to pay a fee to join PCAF?

Yes. Participation in PCAF includes an annual fee to support the activities of PCAF. Please contact the PCAF Secretariat for more information.

Access to PCAF's web-based emission factor database and corresponding database methodologies is exclusively available to PCAF signatories.

PCAF pursues inclusive growth to attract financial institutions of all types, considering diversity of geographies and sizes of institutions. The signatory fee is dependent on size, enabling participation of smaller financial institutions with no or low fees.

What does it entail to join PCAF?

Financial institutions that join PCAF commit to assess and disclose the GHG emissions associated with their portfolio of loans and investments within a period of three years using jointly developed accounting methodologies. A commitment letter can be provided on request.

Furthermore, financial institutions that commit to PCAF will obtain free technical assistance to start measuring emissions financed by loans and investments. More details on what is included in this technical assistance are available here.