News

EU carbon market update: 13 October 2020

EU Allowances lost ground last week and the momentum is with the bears, says Tom Lord

Green supporting factors "an important debate" in Solvency II review

Lower capital charges for sustainable assets is going to be "an important debate, at least from a political perspective", in the Solvency II review, according to Didier Millerot, head of the European Commission's insurance and pensions unit

Trase Finance launches to combat deforestation finance risks

An open-source data platform that shines a light on the deforestation risk facing more than 12,000 financial institutions exposed to companies trading Brazilian beef, Brazilian soy and Indonesian palm oil has been launched.

ESG news round-up: BMO secures engagement mandate, NextEnergy makes maiden Portuguese investment, IETA urges UK ETS and more

Carney: 'Urgent' steps needed for net zero transition

Financial leaders such as former bank of England governor Mark Carney and former chair at the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen have called for 'urgent and practical' steps to shape incentives, reduce uncertainty, and accelerate the transition to a net-zero emissions economy.

Boston Common: Differing methodologies for bank sustainable financing 'unnecessary competition'

Boston Common Asset Management (BCAM) has criticised the increasing number of methodologies used to assess how a bank's sustainable financing commitments impact its portfolio, as a distraction from core climate goals.

Climate risk vulnerability significantly hikes emerging economy borrowing costs

Emerging economies that are highly vulnerable to climate risk have been hit with "significant rises" to their cost of borrowing, according to a report, more than doubling the sovereign bond yield premium compared with lower risk peers.

Re/insurers facing sixth consecutive year of major US wildfire losses

The US has endured its worst wildfire season, in terms of area burned, since the statistics began being tracked, and will result in multi-billion dollar insurance payouts, according to Aon.

Phoenix invests $85m in World Bank project to boost affordable housing

Life insurance and pensions firm Phoenix Group has invested $85 million in a Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)-guaranteed loan, which will be used to improve access to affordable housing in Panama.

Sound climate risk management needs sound measurement, says Macklem

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said that robust measurement of climate risk in the economy is required to manage the "accelerating" risk posed by climate change and the transition to a low-carbon economy, with global initiatives starting to "bear fruit".