An international independent think tank specialised in unlocking private finance for a sustainable transition.

The Sustainable Finance Observatory is an international independent think tank specialised in unlocking private finance for a sustainable transition. Private capital represents 70 to 90% of the financing required to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. However, systemic barriers continue to prevent this vast potential from being fully unlocked. Our mission is to remove barriers to private financing across the entire financial value chain, structured around three fundamental pillars: Transparency, Impact, and Bankable Sustainable Solutions. This gives us a unique positioning that covers the full financial value chain, addressing both the supply side (financial institutions and financial products) and the demand side (the real economy).

How we work

An ecosystemic approach across the financing value chain

The Sustainable Finance Observatory operates across the entire financial value chain, working simultaneously on the supply side (financial institutions) and the demand side (the real economy).

Our work is grounded in robust financial expertise, supported by a multidisciplinary team of former bankers, sustainable finance analysts and lawyers, as well as by a Scientific and Expert Committee bringing together around fifty senior academics and practitioners. This specialised expertise enables us to deliver high-quality analysis and to develop bankable solutions with transformative impact.

We focus on developing methodologies, tools and financing solutions. Across all our programmes, we place strong emphasis on producing practical, directly usable outputs for stakeholders.

Our activities aim to drive changes in financial practices and develop financing solutions that support a sustainable, low-carbon economy. We adopt a pragmatic, solution-oriented approach, combining analysis, tools and methodologies to directly benefit public and private actors and generate real-world impact.

Our work spans a wide range of activities, including:

analytical work and regulatory analysis;
development of data, tools, and methodologies;
provision of expertise and technical assistance;
coordination and participation in multi-stakeholder coalitions; and
contribution to public debate through advocacy.

Our work on Transparency and Impact is fully accessible and designed to benefit all stakeholders through open data and data-visualisation tools.

This positioning allows us to engage with the full ecosystem of sustainable finance actors: public and private financial institutions, public authorities, regulators and supervisors, national and sub-national governments, economic actors as beneficiaries of bankable sustainable solutions, as well as academia and civil society.

The Sustainable Finance Observatory is independent, pragmatic, science-based, solution- and innovation-oriented, and committed to developing collective intelligence in the general interest.

Transparency – Impact – Bankable Sustainable Solutions

Our three pillars of intervention ensure a unique positioning across the entire financial value chain – from the supply side of financial institutions to the demand side of the real economy:

Transparency – monitoring financial institutions’ sustainability practices and commitments.
Impact – assessing the real-economy outcomes of financial products.
Bankable Sustainable Solutions – creating demand by developing bankability models aligned with financiers’ requirements.

Our history

At the end of 2024, the French branch of the international think tank 2° Investing Initiative and the Observatoire de la finance durable officially joined forces to create a unified organisation focused on unlocking private finance for the sustainable transition.

Founded in 2012, 2° Investing Initiative has been a pioneering think tank supporting private financiers on climate alignment and impact investing.

The Observatoire de la finance durable was established by the French Minister of the Economy and Finance in 2019 to monitor ESG commitments and the alignment of the Paris Financial Centre with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

This merger brought together two well-established organisations with complementary expertise, creating a stronger collective voice to advance sustainable finance practices and solutions globally.

Over the past 13 years, the Sustainable Finance Observatory has generated significant impact by fostering regulatory reforms and standards (including ISO standards, globally recognised climate-alignment methodologies, and national labels), improving transparency, strengthening financial practices, and supporting the reallocation of private investment towards sustainability through robust analysis, data collection, and ESG disclosure monitoring.

Discover our history through key dates:

Our values

Non-commercial & committed to the public good
We have no commercial contracts and provide all of our research open source and IP rights-free. This policy minimizes financial conflicts of interest and guarantees the public good-driven nature of our work.

Independent and interest-neutral
Our governance and our funding structure is designed to be diversified and multi-stakeholder. This helps ensure that our research does not represent a particular interest group, but rather our best understanding of the truth.

Science- and evidence-based
We continuously aim to expand and improve the evidence base for decision-making in sustainable finance.

Collective intelligence and general interest
We believe in the strength of the group, which is why we work with profiles from all walks of life to create intelligence that serves everyone.