Archive

Phoenix invests $85m in World Bank project to boost affordable housing

Life insurance and pensions firm Phoenix Group has invested $85 million in a Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)-guaranteed loan, which will be used to improve access to affordable housing in Panama.

Sound climate risk management needs sound measurement, says Macklem

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said that robust measurement of climate risk in the economy is required to manage the "accelerating" risk posed by climate change and the transition to a low-carbon economy, with global initiatives starting to "bear fruit".

ESG news round-up: Calvert joins Morgan Stanley; CofE drops ExxonMobil; HSBC in net-zero pledge

ECB gives green light to sustainability-linked bonds

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced that sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) will be eligible as collateral and for its asset purchase programmes from 2021, delivering an important boost to the nascent asset class.

More energy efficient properties 'cut risk of mortgage default'

The risk of default for mortgages on the most energy efficient properties is lower than less efficient properties, according to a report by the Energy Efficiency Data Protocol and Portal (EeDaPP).

Central banks should step up to face environmental breakdown risk in finance

Market-fixing approaches such as the nascent Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) are "unsuitable" for managing the risks posed by environmental breakdown, an academic paper has argued, instead proposing that central banks and financial regulators should introduce strict industry-wide exclusionary criteria.

Phenix sees growth in affordable housing impact funds

Phenix Capital has observed a significant increase in the number of impact funds being raised to invest in affordable housing in recent months - and predicted that the trend is set to gather pace post-pandemic.

Impact debt fund poised to raise €400m

The manager of a debt fund that links the cost of its lending to pre-agreed environmental and social 'key performance indicators' (KPIs) has said the fund is poised to attract €400 million ($455 million) in commitments.

Banks' fossil fuel commitments accelerate as pressure intensifies

Pension funds must do more to push for low-carbon transition, says Lord Deben

The chair of the influential UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the financial sector is beginning to take environmental concerns more seriously, but more has to be done.