Technical solutions won’t take hold without strong narrative positioning. Our thesis for this piece of work was that non-executive directors in financial institutions generally understand climate risks. What they tend to lack are the tools to articulate a clear, consistent position under pressure - for example when shareholders push back, or when political attacks start to land.

We partnered with the Climate Governance Initiative and Chapter Zero to develop strategic narrative-building tools for financial sector boards. Rather than producing a framework document, we build immersive workshops in which NEDs practise shaping narratives using fictional case studies.

By using fictional scenarios, we create space for bold, inventive thinking. The constraints of organisational politics and accountability are temporarily removed. Here, we built ABC Bank: a UK lender whose bold climate finance plans have attracted shareholder accusations of activism, political attacks, client exits, and NGO allegations of greenhushing. Participants took on roles within the organisation and worked through ideas for navigating various pressure points.

The guide introduces a five-element narrative framework: common cause, problem, solution, call to action, action. It also tackles the particular challenge of making the business case for nature-related action in financial services, where direct exposure is less immediately obvious. Here we reframe nature, looking at it through the filters of credit risk, insurance losses, asset value stability, and regulatory expectations.

The workshop was first delivered during London Climate Action Week 2025 and the guide is now used by Chapter Zero members across financial institutions.
You can download the guide here.

“With growing challenges and complexity in the climate debate across business, regulatory, political and societal audiences, it's very valuable to give practical guidance to financial services NEDs, so they can be more effective contributors to that debate.”

NED participant