Australia’s largest financial companies are targeting net-zero emissions over the next 30 years as the global shift to a low-carbon economy gathers pace.

The Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative on Tuesday released 37 recommendations to help the financial sector target climate neutrality by 2050 and ensure it remains competitive.

They include setting interim carbon reduction targets when deciding lending, insurance and investments as the next decade will be critical to achieving the goal, according to the plan.

The road map from 80 Australian finance industry organizations, including banks, insurers and pension funds, comes amid demands for a so-called green recovery from the nation’s first recession in about three decades.

As one of the world’s biggest biggest per-capita polluters, Australia gets almost one third of it’s national income from industries exposed to economic disruption as the world shifts to a low-carbon economy.

“There is an urgent imperative for Australia’s financial services sector to act to remain globally competitive in a world increasingly prioritizing a sustainable economy,” the initiative’s co-chair Jacki Johnson said.

“We are seeking to re-orient capital – where capital is lent, what it insures and where it is invested – to supporting and building value today while strengthening the economic, natural and social assets that underpin our long-term prosperity.”

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