The world’s largest companies have responded to investor demands to disclose information on climate change – but now those same investors are asking them to take action, says Craig Mackenzie

It is Australia’s move to price carbon, ultimately through a cap-and-trade scheme, that has generated most attention – and controversy. But carbon pricing is just one element of an ambitious reorientation of the tax and benefits system to penalise pollution and reward work, says Australia’s climate change minister, Greg Combet

Mark Nicholls on what the 'breakthrough' at the UN climate talks really means

Dallas Kachan gives his predictions for the clean-tech sector in 2012, with plenty of eggshells overshadowed by one big possible bombshell

The private equity industry is perfectly positioned to profit from the improved ESG performance of the companies in which it invests – and is waking up to the possibilities, says Adam Black

Hans ten Berge says policy-makers should resist the temptation to fix the EU Emissions Trading System – it isn’t broken

With climate negotiations moving at glacial speed in Bonn, HSBC's Zoe Knight, Nick Robins and D. Saravanan look at how the evolution of the global economy is making traditional ways of regulating carbon increasingly anachronistic, requiring new thinking from policymakers to strike a global deal.

FTSE's David Harris argues that there is growing evidence that responsible investment indexes are influencing corporate behaviour and, in some cases, indicating outperformance

Accenture's Justin Keeble argues that new funding models and finance sector partnerships are needed to raise €2.9 trillion of investment into Europe's low-carbon infrastructure

Ole Beier Sørenson says investors were reassured that Cancún kept the UN climate talks on the road – but they need clearer signals from policy-makers if finance is to flow

James Cameron from Climate Change Capital says pricing carbon is a vital part of the world’s growth strategy – which makes regulatory attacks on the market so baffling

Matt Christensen of Eurosif says the sustainable and responsible investment community should be heartened by a near doubling of assets under management in the past two years – but also realistic about how much deeper SRI needs to go

The planned listing of Coal India is the latest example of how capital markets are failing to price – or even consider – climate change risk, says Mark Campanale

Tokenistic investments in clean-tech funds are not enough – pension funds should urgently address environmental risk and opportunities across their entire portfolios, says Matthew Kiernan

Applying the lessons of the carbon market to biodiversity protection is a recipe for disaster, says Anna Roggenbuck

The financial sector has a mountain to climb to overcome the damage to its reputation caused by the 2008 crash. But, argues Barbara Krumsiek, sustainable finance can and should be central to the effort

The largest US companies are moving away from, rather than towards, the Obama administration’s emission reduction goals. Paul Dickinson calls for a change in direction

Greg Clark sets out how a Conservative government in the UK would ensure the EU Emissions Trading Scheme underpins low-carbon investment

There is an urgent need to mobilise finance behind efforts to tackle biodiversity loss. Could a CDM-like offset mechanism be the answer, ask Julian Metcalfe and Francis Vorhies

Carbon traders and investors need to look to the positive elements of the Copenhagen talks – but the private sector must have a greater role in the climate talks, and greater clarity on their likely outcomes, argues Paul Kelly