Eleven major banks including Barclays, Citigroup and UBS said they’ll seek ways to address the financial risks of global warming, after Bank of England governor Mark Carney urged investors to act on the threat.

The group, representing more than $7 trillion, started a pilot project to implement the recommendations of a taskforce set up by Mr Carney to increase financial reporting standards on issues related to the environment, according to a statement from the United Nations Environment Finance Initiative on Tuesday.

The group also includes Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Banco Bradesco, National Australia Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Banco Santander, Standard Chartered, Unibanco Holding and TD Bank Financial Group, according to the statement.

Climate change

The taskforce, which was led by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News and its parent Bloomberg LP, said companies impacted by climate change should conduct scenario analysis and include results in their financial reports.

The final report was submitted to the Group of 20 Countries at their summit in Hamburg last week.

The taskforce warned that banks can be exposed to climate risk through their borrowers, particularly if they provide loans to fossil fuel producers or agricultural and food companies.

– (Bloomberg)