Skip to content
  • Innovation-and-advocacy-hero

    Sustainability

    Innovation in service of our markets

    We’re developing new ideas and solutions to mobilise capital to where it’s needed.

The opportunity in our markets

  • Accelerating progress against climate, biodiversity and development goals requires a step change in emerging market financing. It’s in these markets that there is the greatest potential to deploy innovative approaches at scale, to help deliver sustainable, inclusive growth. But the flow of capital to these markets isn’t matching the size of the opportunity.​​

    We advocate in service of our markets and apply our innovative mindset to unlock this capital and drive economic inclusion.

Marisa Drew.
Hear from our Chief Sustainability Officer, Marisa Drew.
Innovations-hub-infographics

Our Innovation Hub model

We use our dedicated Innovation Hubs to look at challenges in our markets through a different lens and find breakthrough solutions for our clients and communities.

Each Hub focuses on a theme where we have a core competency and which is especially relevant to clients in our markets.

Our latest work

Delivering adaptation finance

We’re putting adaptation finance on the global agenda.

Scaling carbon markets

We’re ensuring high-integrity, scalable carbon markets develop to help support climate mitigation.

  • A Standard Chartered colleague presents his work in a meeting.

    A leader in carbon markets

    Our teams have deep expertise in carbon markets development, engaging across several global initiatives which drive capacity-building efforts to help scale these markets.​​

  • Overseas trade in ship

    A breadth of services

    To support global net zero strategies, we offer our clients trading, advisory, financing and risk management services grounded in deep expertise and credibility.​

  • A plane takes off on a runway

    Piloting a new approach

    In partnership with CUR8, UNDO and British Airways, we delivered a global first transaction, demonstrating how we can scale finance for carbon removals.

Bridging the sustainable development finance gap

We’re leveraging blended finance to mobilise private capital at scale in support of a just transition in emerging markets and developing economies.

  • Floating solar panels on a lake in Indonesia.

    Why we need country platforms

    A programmatic approach to blended finance could help bridge the global sustainable development financing gap. But, what are country platforms?

  • Our role in the JETP process

    We are dedicated to supporting the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) process, and are pledging to at least match initial donor funding for Indonesia and Vietnam.

  • The front of Standard Chartered's London HQ.

    A blended finance leader

    We have been identified as a leading blended finance bank across emerging markets and developing economies by Convergence for more than five years.

Shifting financial flows towards nature

We’re catalysing and incubating opportunities to shift financial flows towards halting and reversing nature loss.

  • A shoal of fish swim through some seaweed.

    New investor opportunities

    We are identifying new, innovative opportunities for global investors which support wider development goals, such as the opportunity in seaweed.

  • ""

    Disclosing our impact

    We are committed to incorporating international standards and best practices on nature and biodiversity, including aligning our disclosures with TNFD guidelines.

  • Driving ecosystem change

    We are members of a wide range of industry platforms and memberships, engaging with stakeholders including investors, regulators and civil society.

Contributing to the wider sustainability ecosystem​ 

Our senior leaders are involved in a number of global partnerships and initiatives that seek to enhance the sustainability ecosystem. These range from those that support the development of voluntary carbon markets and foster innovative conservation finance solutions, through to those building social resilience to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

See some of the initiatives we participate in.

  • Happy-young-woman-in-hijab

    Futuremakers

    Futuremakers is a global initiative which empowers young people to find employment, create jobs, and transform their communities.

  • Standard Chartered has an important role to play in supporting our clients, sectors and markets to deliver net zero, but to do so in a manner that supports livelihoods and promotes sustainable economic growth. We provide financial services to clients, sectors and markets that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions however we’re committed to managing our environmental and social risks and to becoming net zero in our financed emissions by 2050.

    Learn more about our approach.