Focussing on emerging markets, Redwheel's 'Adaptation Investing in Emerging Markets in a 1.5°C World' paper, looks at the relationship between climate adaptation need and capacity in these countries to create demand for adaptation solutions.

An active equities and convertible bonds specialist investor, the research uses Redwheel's in-house adaptation capacity index and physical risk mapping through geographic information system (GIS) software to model this gap. It aims to enable investors to identify countries where the need and the ability to adapt to climate change are well aligned to support return-generating investment opportunities.

"This paper addresses an important gap in the market by identifying geographical areas where adaptation needs are high, but capacity is low. In terms of the model itself, the incorporation of multiple indicators - economic, institutional, and social - strengthens it as an overall tool," commented one Environmental Finance Awards judge.

Elsewhere, the 'Expensive electricity: Does Draghi's Diagnosis apply to the UK?' paper examines how electricity prices in the UK compare to those in the EU. It starts with the premise that electricity prices need to be low enough for UK industry to be competitive and to incentivise the shift to decarbonise through electrification.

It then proposes priority solutions to the country's high electricity prices to allow investment to grow.

The paper states the UK faces some of the highest industrial electricity prices in the world, at 45% above the average price in the EU in 2023, and four times the average prices in the USA. It argues that four drivers in the UK make electricity more expensive than in the EU. These are costs of electricity being driven more extensively by gas prices, physical network bottlenecks, a lengthy and uncertain permitting process for new power supply and grids, and higher and non-homogeneous taxation and subsidies.