What will be the big issues for sustainable finance in 2023? Luca Bonaccorsi at Transport & Environment points at four. Firstly, the EU Taxonomy defines what counts as āgreenā investment. There has been much criticism of the inclusion of gas, and critics will continue publishing their analyses of what is truly sustainable and what is greenwash. Next, ESG ratings have also been severely criticised. They are an investorās main tool for capital … [Read more...]
COP 27: a way forward for methane, fossil fuel (not just coal) phase-out, and U.S.-China competition?
COP 27 was never expected to have the impact that COP 26 did, and thatās how it turned out, explain Ben Cahill, Sandeep Pai and Taiya Smith at CSIS. But there are three issues that can have long term positive impacts if carried forward successfully. The first is some good news on methane emissions. The U.S., the EU, Japan and other countries announced an important producer-consumer effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions from traded gas, while … [Read more...]
COP 27: āLoss & Damageā can become the fourth pillar of climate action, along with mitigation, adaptation and finance
COP27 saw two major outcomes on the finance front: the creation of a āLoss and Damageā fund and a call to reform international financial institutions. It made fewer, if any, advances to reduce emissions, and narrowly missed sending a global call to phase down oil and gas consumption. But funding the emissions reductions of developing and vulnerable nations was a gap that had to be filled, and so this is a big step forward, explains Lola Vallejo … [Read more...]
European green steel makers are securing funding ā and big customers – for production plants
European steel makers are leading the way in building the first green steel production plants. The big step forward is the securing of finance from a range of private and public banks and credit guarantors, says Soroush Basirat at IEEFA. Swedish start-up H2 Green Steel and industry leaders Thyssenkrupp and Salzgitter are now set to spend billions, while pre-sales to and commitments from BMW, Miele, Mercedes and Ford are helping to create the … [Read more...]
COP 27: an analysis of what gets prioritised and ignored at UN climate negotiations
Getting an issue on the agenda of a COP is essential for its chances of being dealt with properly. Jennifer Allan at Cardiff University and Rishikesh Ram Bhandary at Boston University, writing for Carbon Brief,Ā have analysed 218 agendas, tracking 502 agenda sub-items, going back to the first COP in Berlin in 1995. Certain agendas stand out ā Adaptation, Mitigation, Finance, Transparency, Technology, Capacity Building, Response Measures, … [Read more...]
$78tn net gain for compensated global Coal phase-out, when social benefits are added
Is replacing coal with renewables too expensive? No, itās the opposite, explain Tobias Adrian at the International Monetary Fund, Patrick Bolton at Imperial College London and Alissa Kleinnijenhuis at the Oxford Martin School who summarise their paper. When the social benefits are added, the net gain globally is around $78tn under a conservative estimate. Thatās equal to 1.2% of current world GDP every year until 2100 ā these are real economic … [Read more...]
Will price caps on Russian oil work? Three experts debate
Whatever the G7 does, the objective is to cut revenues flowing into Russia, not oil flowing out. And whatever the sanctions, getting compliance from neutral and pro-Russian countries will need a strong positive incentive. Hence the idea of a price cap which would keep prices low. Here, three experts ā Edward Fishman and Brian OāToole at the Atlantic Council, and Mark Mozur at S&P Global Commodity Insights (with background by Atlantic … [Read more...]
Rotterdamās World Hydrogen 2022 Summit & Exhibition: 3,000+ attendees, 120+ businesses, 9-11 May
The World Hydrogen 2022 Summit & Exhibition will open its doors to over 3,500 industry professionals on 9-11 May in Rotterdam where more than 120 leading hydrogen companies will be showcasing their technologies, applications and solutions at the cityās largest arena, the Rotterdam Ahoy.Ā The anticipated meeting is the first large-scale hydrogen-focused event to take place following the pandemic in Rotterdam, a city recognised for its advances … [Read more...]
EU Taxonomy: labelling Gas āgreenā is a gift to Putin
Many of todayās clean energy technologies were given their first boost in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, explains William Todts at T&E. He now hopes the current confrontation between NATO and Russia over Ukraine will shake up and deepen Europeās commitment to the energy transition. But entirely the wrong signal was sent over the New Year, says Todts. He describes the European Commissionās inclusion of gas in the EU Taxonomy for sustainable … [Read more...]
Imagine itās 2030 and net-zero is on track. How did we do it?
Imagine itās 2030. The energy transition is on track and net-zero goals are entrenched across the global economy. How did we get there? Tim Buckley at IEEFA imagines it for us and sends us a postcard from the future. Writing in the past tense, he flags actual events and policies happening today to ārememberā the major changes that took place to achieve it. Weather-related disasters compelled governments to act, recognising ā apart from the … [Read more...]
COP26 and the Glasgow Pact: a summary of achievements, and shortfalls
Experts from around the world summarise their reaction to the outcomes of this yearās UN climate summit, COP26, including the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed by all 197 countries attending the talks. Each expert covers their area of interest: overall targets, greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel finance, nature conservation, transportation, cities and buildings, energy sector transitions, science and innovation, and gender equality. The overall … [Read more...]
Climate Finance: the loopholes that are causing greenwashing
How do you know when an investment is truly āgreenā? Whether companies and fund managers monitor themselves or are externally policed, the correct rules need to be identified. And then it gets harder. Clearly defining and then measuring carbon footprints is a bigger challenge, explains Meredith Fowlie at UC Berkeleyās Energy Institute at Haas. She draws parallels with food nutrition labelling rules. But whereas counting the calories in a food … [Read more...]
Next German governmentās climate and energy plans: what will Olaf Scholz do?
Olaf Scholz led Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) to an unexpected win in the 2021 elections held in September. He now needs to finalise a coalition with the Green Party and the pro-business FDP before forming a government and becoming chancellor. Like his predecessor Angela Merkel, Scholz has said he wants to become a "climate chancellor". Kerstine Appunn and Benjamin Wehrmann at Clean Energy Wire try to understand what his climate and energy … [Read more...]
Green Finance standards: the EU Taxonomy and Chinaās āCatalogueā
The EU Taxonomy was published in June 2020. It is the first official document to define and classify what is a truly sustainable economic activity in Europe. Six months later Chinaās regulators published their own version, a new edition of the China Green Bond Endorsed Project Catalogue (the Catalogue). Both documents will act as important standards for green finance institutions and investors in Europe and China. They are intended to improve … [Read more...]
EU-India cooperation: how to tap the large potential for climate action
India is the worldās fifth largest economy, the second most populous, and over the next few decades is expected to see energy demand grow more than any other country. Ritu Ahuja and Mekhala Sastry at TERI, Abhishek Kaushik at the Centre for Global Environment Research, and Alexandra Deprez and Lola Vallejo at IDDRI look at Indiaās challenges and which areas show the most potential for partnership with the EU. They focus on five themes: energy, … [Read more...]
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