Mark Carney has been appointed as UN special envoy for climate action and finance as he prepares to step down as governor of the Bank of England in January.

Carney replaces billionaire Michael Bloomberg in the part time pro bono climate action role after the former New York mayor stepped down to focus on the US presidential race.

The governor has been signed up to galvanise action among financial institutions ahead of the 26th round of global climate talks in November 2020. His main focus will be on mobilising private finance to invest in schemes that will help achieve the Paris climate agreement goal of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Michael Bloomberg, left, and Mark Carney. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

His remit will include building frameworks for financial reporting and risk management.

Carney said the new role, for which he will be paid a token $1 a year once his term at the Bank of England ends, would provide “a platform to bring the risks from climate change and the opportunities from the transition to a net-zero economy into the heart of financial decision-making.”

He said: “The disclosures of climate risk must become comprehensive, climate risk management must be transformed, and investing for a net-zero world must go mainstream. The Bank of England, the UK government and the UK financial sector can play leading roles in making these imperatives happen.”

Carney has previously spoken out about the need for change, warning in October that the global financial system was backing carbon-producing projects that would raise the temperature of the planet by over 4C.

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Carney is due to end his six-and-a-half-year stint at Threadneedle Street at the end of January but the government has postponed the announcement of a successor until after the general election.

Carney has twice extended his term but the Treasury has indicated it is confident that the new government will be in a position to make an appointment from a slate of candidates soon after the election on 12 December.

The shortlist is thought to include Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority; Minouche Shafik, head of the London School of Economics; Shriti Vadera, chair of Santander UK; and Ben Broadbent and Jon Cunliffe, both deputy governors at the Bank.