The reality of climate change grows ever more inescapable. A new report by the Asian Development Bank highlights the impact of climate change on the Asia-Pacific region, noting that it will be among those hardest hit by rising temperatures and the more extreme weather patterns they will create.

While governments finally appear to be taking that threat seriously, as was evident in the renewed commitment to the Paris climate accord at this month's Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, there are quicker moving and more powerful ways to induce changes in behavior to combat this phenomenon. The simplest and most effective are market forces. And indeed, the financial community is waking up to its role in this process.

Recently, 11 of the world's largest banks, managers of more than $7 trillion in assets, pledged to uncover their exposure to climate change-induced risks. The move is part of a pilot project that will implement recommendations of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which reported to the G-20 meeting in Hamburg. The G-20 leaders — all save U.S. President Donald Trump — endorsed the findings in their Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth.