News
The day the Norwegian sovereign wealth weakened the oil sector’s financial stronghold
8 March 2019 may be remembered the day in which the largest shareholder in the world, Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, announced that it is divesting from “oil exploration and production companies" due to financial reasons!
Sustainability linked loans: a new favorite for companies...and banks
Sustainability linked loans are the new sustainable finance products on the rise. After the stalled growth in green bonds in 2018, positive incentive credits, with rate indexes based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, are experiencing triple-digit growth. This is not a bubble,...
Despite being challenged on climate, top oil companies still link production increases with executive compensation
To maintain a 2°C trajectory, it is a known fact that two-thirds of all fossil reserves have to be kept underground. However, the majority of oil and gas companies screened by Carbon Tracker continue to base executive compensation on the growth of hydrocarbon production and the increase in their...
Climate change could provoke a financial crisis similar to 2008
The current climate crisis could provoke a financial disaster. A group of researchers from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in the United Kingdom estimate that the link between climate, social and economic risks have been greatly underestimated until recently. According to them, the...
Natural disasters causing insures to lose profits
Almost all Insurance and reinsurance companies have seen their financial results impacted by the numerous natural disasters that occurred in 2018. The increase in economic losses related to climate events is beginning to worry insurers, but not so much in the short-term.
Meeschaert management company launches a social footprint for investments
Meeschaert wants to understand the impact of its investments on employees. The management company has recently developed its own method for calculating the social footprint of its portfolio and is now using this information to engage with companies. Accidents at work, employee turnover, parity......
Drax power plan successfully captures CO2...But let it back into the air
It's a world’s first pilot, a British biomass plant has managed to capture the CO2 it emits. This is an important step forward in the fight against climate change. The IPCC estimates that this technology could remove about fifteen million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year by 2030.
Global call to massively mobilize capital for the climate
Elected officials, economists, scientists, and academics may all propose different plans, but they all have the same goal: ensure that not a single euro or dollar finances global warming, particularly through the development of fossil fuels. These calls must move global decision makers from inaction...
Mining giant Glencore will limit its coal production amid investor pressure
Glencore is not withdrawing from coal. However, the group’s recent announcement is almost the same thing for the stunned public, after expressing their desire to cap coal production. Pressured by investors to align their strategy with the Paris Agreement, Glencore will focus its business on premium...
Top rating agencies turn to ESG criteria for credit quality
Gone are the days when rating agencies were only interested in financial information. Climate, social and governance risks are beginning to influence issuers' credit ratings for better or worse. It remains to be seen how to integrate such extra-financial criteria into the credit quality equation.
An Australian court invokes the climate to reject major mining project
An Australian court just reached a potentially far-reaching decision for the mining industry. In order to reject a coal mining project, the court invoked climate change and the Paris Agreement.
PG&E electric: the first bankruptcy linked to climate change
The recent bankruptcy of energy giant Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) is a very concrete illustration of climate risk. Suspected of being at the origin of the fires that devastated California last November, the company alone is paying a heavy price for its poor consideration of climatic...
10 signals proving the ecological transition is on the right path
Global temperatures are rising, and biodiversity is degrading. Some experts are even predicting the collapse of our civilisation in the near future. Yet, the WWF along with the Banque de France have identified how renewable energy development, agricultural transformation and corporate engagement are...
Vale’s dam disaster in Brazil is one disaster too many
On 25 January, a Vale mining dam collapsed in Brumadinho, Brazil. The avalanche of mud waste caused hundreds of deaths, creating a human and environmental disaster for the mining giant. The incident highlights the need to integrate social and environmental risks in the sector’s performance,...
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund attacked over ethical investment strategy
Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund has found itself under fire by conservative Norwegian critics. The new conservative coalition in power is particularly alarmed by the number of sectors excluded from the fund’s scope of intervention. The Ministry of Finance will set up a commission to review the...
Unlisted green funds: many opportunities but very little impact
Nearly €60 billion has been invested in unlisted European green assets by 223 funds. This is the result of the new Novethic study on unlisted green asset funds, conducted in partnership with Ademe, revealing an asset class that interests investors more for its profitability than its positive...
From the geopolitics of oil to the geopolitics of renewable energy
If the geopolitics of oil were far from simple, it may be even more complex for renewable energy. It is a multifactorial domain that incites much negative reaction. Between the criticality of raw materials, the technological transfer to developing countries and the implication of oil-producing...
Coca-cola to use atmospheric CO2 for sparkling water
Coca-Cola has recently unveiled an original plan for one of its products. In conjunction with the startup Climeworks, the group will capture atmospheric CO2 to form the fizz in Valser bottles, the group’s Swiss sparkling water brand. Climeworks affirms that is a way to fight against global warming,...
Disappearance of biodiversity: a systemic risk for the economy that remains underevaluated
The disappearance of natural capital is the second major risk factor the world faces in the next ten years, according to the Davos Forum Annual Global Risks Report. Yet at a time when biodiversity is at great risk, sustainable finance has its eyes set on climate change. To improve the situation, we...
Amazon employee shareholders push for climate action
At the end of 2018, a group of employee shareholders for the e-commerce giant submitted a resolution calling on Amazon to implement a plan to fight climate change. The group, which has made several environmental commitments, is regularly singled out for its lack of transparency and for lagging...