Analysis

• Fossil fuel exclusion proves a slow burn for US insurers

  07 October 2019

  US insurers say they are ready to stop investing in climate-harming coal. But only one has divested from the fossil fuel to date. Could Chubb’s move be the start of a wider transition by US insurers away from fossil fuels or is it empty talk? Sarfraz Thind reports.

  

• ESG data files: Part five - the impact of the EU's taxonomy

  04 October 2019

  Will the EU's sustainability taxonomy reduce the reporting burden on companies, or could it be another weight on their shoulders? Michael Hurley reports

  

• Green bond comment: BIS backing signals market's maturity

  02 October 2019

  The launch of a green bond fund by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), on 16 September, marks a new milestone on the market's long march to maturity.

  

• Insurance and Climate Risk Americas 2019

  30 September 2019

  Delegates at Environmental Finance’s Insurance and Climate Risk Americas conference in New York heard how climate-related legislation is racing up the agenda in the US, Michael Hurley reports

  

• A Canadian take on sustainability

  26 September 2019

  Canada's resource-intensive economy can be a sustainability transition model for others, Tiff Macklem, chair of Canada's Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, tells Michael Hurley

  

• Q&A with California State Treasurer Fiona Ma

  25 September 2019

  Ahead of the Green Bonds California conference, the Treasurer explains why green bonds are a key part of her strategy for the state's finances

  

• Spurring sustainable investments with capital charges

  23 September 2019

  As sustainability makes its way into regulation, the question of capital charges punishing 'brown' investments or incentivising 'green' investments has come to the fore. While regulators are asking for risk-based evidence, stakeholders are not all in agreement on how to proceed. Vincent Huck reports

  

• Monoline-wrapped renewables project financing could be a game-changer

  20 September 2019

  The application of insurance-wrapped debt to renewable-energy project financing is likely to emerge as a valuable addition to the green capital markets toolkit, writes Keith Mullin

  

• Setting the benchmark for sustainable banking

  18 September 2019

  The Principles for Responsible Banking are due to be launched this month. Could they be a game-changer for the sector, Michael Hurley asks

  

• Sustainable finance: it's all about transition! Part two

  13 September 2019

  In the second of this two-part series, Hervé P. Duteil explores the concept of Transition Finance and its limits, and proposes a non-prescriptive framework to start thinking about transition bonds (and loans)