Archive

News round-up, 23 May 2018

Other significant announcements relating to sustainable finance

Carbon market sentiment strengthens

Sentiment about carbon prices is becoming increasingly bullish, but "a huge gap remains between current price expectations and what's needed to achieve the 2°C goal" set by the Paris climate agreement.

CBI updates green bond water criteria to accommodate natural capital

Wetlands, watersheds and forests will become an acceptable use of proceeds for Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI)-certified green bonds under revised criteria.

Green bond experts rebut GPIF charge they are a 'lose-lose' product

A valuable benefit of green bonds is that they enable fixed income investors to 'engage' with issuers on topics such as climate change, as is already common practice in the equity markets, according to Frederic Samama, co-head of institutional clients coverage at Amundi Asset Management.

Top investors put pressure on Shell, but climate resolution rejected

Royal Dutch Shell faced mounting pressure from investors to set concrete targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at its annual general meeting (AGM) but a climate-related shareholder resolution was rejected.

QBE commits A$100m to impact investing

QBE Insurance Australia, the domestic arm of Australia-based underwriter QBE, is to invest A$100 million ($75.2 million) to impact investing globally, via instruments such as green and social impact bonds.

Renewi converts €550m banking facility to ‘green loan’

Renewi has converted its main €550 million ($650 million) banking facility into a green loan, paving the way for green bond and green debt placements in the future.

Government revenues from carbon pricing soar

Carbon pricing mechanisms – including both taxes and emissions trading systems – brought in $33 billion for governments around the world last year, a rise of 50% since 2016, the World Bank said.

EU carbon update, 21 May 2018

Report your impact on all of the SDGs, not one or two, urges WWF

The trend that sees companies and investors identify which of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) their activities support was criticised by the President of WWF, who said: "You either have to be the champion of [all of] the SDGs or not".