Analysis

• What's next for the European Commission's Sustainable Finance Action Plan?

  12 August 2019

  June was a key month for the Action Plan. Emmanuel Buttin, Maarten Vleeschhouwer and Tomas Vaclavicek give their assessment of the state of play and what will be the next steps.

  

• Major US insurer stops investing in or insuring coal

  09 August 2019

  Chubb's decision reflects the increasing risks in the coal sector as a result of efforts to tackle climate change, argues Dave Jones

  

• Green bond comment: August 2019 - Should a beef producer issue a sustainability bond?

  08 August 2019

  A 'sustainable transition bond' issued by a Brazilian beef giant stuck in the craw of many sustainable investors. Peter Cripps ruminates on the issue

  

• The state of sustainable finance

  05 August 2019

  How far have we come, and what more needs to be done? Michael Eckhart shares his reflections based on a career working in sustainable finance.

  

• ESG data files - part 3: Ratings reports under the microscope

  01 August 2019

  A look at how three of the biggest ESG raters rate three companies - Johnson & Johnson, Standard Chartered and BYD - reveals significant differences in the conclusions they reach. Graham Cooper reports

  

• Transformation capital - a new investment logic for catalysing systems change

  30 July 2019

  In its 2018 special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) called for the "rapid and unprecedented" transformation of the "socio-technical" systems that constitute modern human civilisation: energy, agriculture, infrastructure, industry, and cities.

  

• ESG data files - part 3, continued: ESG rating providers

  29 July 2019

  The second instalment of this analysis of ESG rating agencies finds that investors are increasingly drilling down into the data that underlies the ratings. Peter Cripps reports.

  

• ESG data files - part 3: ESG rating providers

  25 July 2019

  As ESG ratings become embedded in mainstream investment decision making, they are attracting criticism. Is it justified, asks Peter Cripps.

  

• Is Climate Action 100+ pushing hard enough?

  19 July 2019

  The heavyweight investor engagement initiative has won some victories with fossil fuel giants. But should it be demanding more, asks Elena K Johansson.

  

• Overcoming the obstacles facing blended finance

  17 July 2019

  Junji Hatano examines the issues that must be tackled to achieve dramatic growth in blended finance for sustainable development in developing countries.