What is FINZ?
SBTi recently released its Standard tailored for financial institutions, the SBTi Financial Institutions Net-Zero (FINZ) Standard. Achieving this standard allows a financial institution to be recognized for the quality of its climate strategy.
This standard shares with the ACT Finance methodology several relevant concepts such as tracking the share of financial flows allocated to companies and assets in the portfolio that are aligned, a more forward-looking indicator than just tracking financed emissions, which is a backward-looking indicator that does not allow for relevant capital allocation by pushing to divest from the most emitting sectors. However, these sectors are precisely those that most need to develop a credible and robust transition plan and to secure funding to implement it
How does it work in practice?
SBTi has published a document listing the various methodologies that, according to the FINZ Standard, allow a company to demonstrate transition or a low-carbon asset. Through this, financial institutions can set targets for financing climate-aligned assets, which must meet a minimum ambition (climate-alignment targets, see FINZ C12.1).
How was ACT selected by the FINZ standard?
The SBTi’s FINZ standard has validated the ACT methodologies according to a protocol that ensures their quality based on 5 criteria:
- Quality of the methodology’s governance and transparency
- Relevance of the alignment methodology
- Coverage of the company’s activities scope
- 1.5°C alignment of reference transition scenarios
- Effective consideration of prospective elements
Many French and international financial institutions already use the ACT assessment, prior to investment decisions or to measure the progress of companies already in the portfolio, but this recognition should enable a broader adoption of our methodologies on a global scale and confirms the coherence and compatibility between the ACT and SBTi initiatives.
Useful links
The SBTi FINZ Standard
- Web page
- One-pager, Executive summary or Full FINZ Standard
- List of recognized alignment methodologies (including the ACT methodology)
- Webinar presenting the FINZ standard on September 10, 2025 by SBTi
The ACT initiative
- Sectoral and generic methodologies
- The categorization framework for classifying companies
- WBA and ADEME ratings of companies based on public data