The world’s equity markets have historically been the primary source of risk capital, - around 45,000 companies have a total listed market capitalization of about US$70 trillion. In addition is the US$20 trillion in property portfolios, the privately held portion of the US$35 trillion in infrastructure assets and the US$4 trillion in private equity and venture capital. Four key areas for aligning equity markets with sustainability are:

• Sustainability disclosure: Harmonizing and strengthening stock market requirements for reporting on environmental performance and risks.
• Deepen the use of sustainability data by investment analysts and in benchmarks and indices by encouraging greater transparency in both equity analysis and indices.
• Upgrade the capital-raising function of equity markets for example by reducing the registration costs for ‘green IPOs’ and ensuring regulations enable innovative, infrastructure investment vehicles such as green infrastructure investment trusts (yieldcos).
• Mobilize more private capital into infrastructure. Review financial regulations to remove unintentional constraints on investments in sustainable infrastructure. Optimise “blended finance” approaches to ensure that good value is obtained for public spending, and to develop best practice and expertise.