1 day agoThe patchy road towards Net-ZeroIt is more complex than it first appears to tell whether a financial institution is aligned with a long-term emissions trajectory consistent with Net Zero. …Net Zero Finance6 min read
Jul 29ESG has outgrown a single label — but we’re stuck with itIncreasing concerns about greenwashing within ESG have led to suggestions that the term should scrapped or have its definition significantly narrowed. However, the world is complex, and aspirations around covering environmental, social and governance issues won’t benefit from ignoring that complexity, leading rather to short-term gain but long-term pain. By…Esg4 min read
Jul 20We are living in a ‘stress test’ worldStress testing often involves resilience to a single event, comparing projected losses with capital levels. In climate stress tests, the dollar value of projected loss is often much less informative than the qualitative gaps of internal capacity, governance and data quality they can expose, which are harder to reinforce than…Climate Change4 min read
Jul 14ECB stress tests show how few banks can synthesize new climate risk data to improve their strategy or financing decisionsData gaps do play a part in limiting banks’ ability to understand their climate-related financial risks. …Ecb6 min read
Jul 11New ICMA guidance creates ambiguity about how its principles apply to green & social sukukChanges to the ICMA’s green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds framework could inhibit issuance of GSS sukuk and the development of green capital market assets in Islamic markets. Developments from within sukuk markets provide a way for sustainability-linked sukuk to help fill the gap. ICMA releases new guidance to ensure…Green Bond5 min read
Jun 29Corporate depositors have a reason to care about their banks’ financed emission risksBy Dr. Eman Tabet, Research Associate, RFI Foundation Companies with large holdings of cash in banks are more exposed than they might think to financed emissions risks. …Climate Change5 min read
Jun 26Islamic investment screens may provide a way to overcome ESG data limitations in emerging marketsIn the absence of solid ESG data, investors will be looking for other types of ‘low-cost mechanisms’ that include Shariah screens so they can narrow their investment options and find companies that are likely to have lower financial and ESG risks. Unsophisticated application of ESG screening that excludes entire countries…Esg5 min read
May 25In the race to Net Zero, investors cannot only focus on their portfolios when setting targetsIn brief: Portfolio decarbonization appears to be an easier way to align with Net Zero targets, but it can limit investment in the places that most need it, such as emerging markets. With the responsible finance market buzzing about its role in mitigating climate change and risk, there is a…Net Zero Finance6 min read
May 19As Net Zero financial institutions raise their ambitions, they shouldn’t lose the forest for the treesIn brief: Financial institutions that specialize or focus their climate-related efforts too narrowly can see much more rapid diminishing returns on their efforts compared to those with a more systemic perspective. …Net Zero Finance7 min read
May 11Green bonds don’t make a bond fund ‘green’ESG bond funds’ sustainability levels can’t be measured by ‘green bond’ share. They require a more thorough comparison of the investors’ sustainability theory of change against the fund’s ESG policies & implementation investments. An analysis of the ESG bond market has found a surprisingly small proportion of assets were invested…Green Bond5 min read
