Treasurer Jim Chalmers is wooing big investors driven by his "values-based capitalism" to help bankroll cleaner forms of economic growth.
"This is not some left-wing fringe idea," he told a roundtable in Sydney.
"It's about better designed and better-informed markets and more co-operation between investors and governments to modernise our economy and deepen and broaden our industrial base, powered by cleaner and cheaper energy."
The meeting was convened on Wednesday by the Australian arm of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative, which represents $120 trillion of international assets under management.
"The investors represented here, and the broader investment and business community, don't just support values-based capitalism - you've driven it," Dr Chalmers said.
"Tens of trillions of dollars of capital is represented here because you understand how and why financial, economic, environmental and societal objectives should align not collide."
The PRI, a network of financial institutions, works to understand the implications of investment by looking at environmental, social and governance to shape decisions on investment and ownership.
Federal government consultation on a climate-related risk disclosure framework for Australia will close in mid-February, bringing new rules to align with global trends.
The more than a dozen attendees included superannuation funds AustralianSuper, AwareSuper, CBUS, Hesta and Rest Super, IFM Investors, the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, investment advice group JANA, Frontier Advisors and the Investor Group on Climate Change.
