Archive

  • Robeco launches ASCOR-powered euro sovereign bond fund

    12 September 2025

    Robeco has launched a euro-denominated sovereign bond exchange traded fund (ETF) which is built using the pioneering Assessing Sovereign Climate-related Opportunities and Risks (ASCOR) tool.

  • 'A pivotal time' for sovereign engagement

    18 August 2025

    With nations due to present updated climate plans and signs of 'retreat' on climate policy internationally, investors face a crucial period for sovereign engagement, Michael Hurley writes

  • Mixed picture emerging of sovereign progress and retreat on climate, ASCOR says

    30 July 2025

    Signs of a retreat from climate action by some countries come as others raise their ambitions, according to preliminary analysis of climate mitigation and adaptation plans - signalling a complex task for investors targeting climate engagement with sovereign bond issuers.

  • Treat emerging market sovereigns differently in transition investments - BlackRock

    27 June 2025

    BlackRock uses a different scale for assessing progress in the climate transition of emerging market sovereigns than for developed market peers for its transition debt strategies, it said.

  • ASCOR: Growth, refinements to continue after 'strong' 2024

    26 March 2025

    The Assessing Sovereign Climate-related Opportunities and Risks (ASCOR) tool is expected to be expanded to 80 countries by the end of 2025.

  • Putting transition plans to the test: Transition Pathway Initiative and ASCOR

    13 August 2024

    Investors face a tough task scrutinising corporate transition plans - but an increasing number of tools promise to help. In the second article in a series, Michael Hurley examines the TPI tool and ASCOR

  • Investors to challenge sovereign SLB issuers using ASCOR, investor says

    12 February 2024

    Investors plan to use a tool for assessing countries' climate progress to challenge issuers of sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) on the strength of their targets, an investor has said.

  • Biodiversity deserves its own sovereign assessment tool

    11 September 2023

    The topic of biodiversity is sufficiently important and complex that it deserves its own version of the Assessing Sovereign Climate-related Opportunities and Risks (ASCOR) project, according to an expert working on the sovereign climate risk assessment tool.

  • Staying focused: sovereign climate assessment tool resists mission creep

    11 September 2023

    The ground-breaking ASCOR project refuses to allow the number of indicators to 'explode' out of control, as it strives to keep the tool practicable, LSE's Antonina Scheer tells Ahren Lester