PCAF

Financial institutions financed emissions standard.

Definition

PCAF Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for Financial Industry published 2020 ; 2nd edition published 2022. Asset Classes covered: Listed equity and corporate bonds, Business loans and unlisted equity, Project finance, Commercial real estate, Mortgages, Motor vehicle loans, Sovereign debt. Data Quality Score 5 levels (1 reported verified - 5 estimated based on proxies). Key integration with PRB (Principles for Responsible Banking UNEP-FI), SBTi for Financial Institutions, NZBA Net-Zero Banking Alliance.

The standard has three parts: A for financed emissions (2020, 2nd edition in 2022, 3rd edition in December 2025), B for facilitated emissions from capital-markets transactions (December 2023) and C for insurance-associated emissions (November 2022, 2nd edition in December 2025). For financed emissions, an attribution factor applies the institution's share held or financed to the financed entity's emissions.

Origin

PCAF initiated 2015 by 14 Dutch financial institutions ; North America expansion 2019, global 2020 ; PCAF Standard published 2020 ; ~470 signatories 2024.

Example in context

JPMorgan Chase uses PCAF methodology to measure its financed emissions ~700 MtCO2e (Scope 3 cat 15 investments) ; annual reporting and SBTi target oil-gas portfolio 2050 net zero.

Related terms

• SBTi — aligned targets.
• SBTi Pathway — target-setting framework.