Climate Change

The “Green Digital Finance Alliance”, a ground-breaking initiative to harness digital technologies in catalysing financing that addresses global environmental challenges, was launched last week at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland by its two founders, Ant Financial Services Group (Ant Financial), China’s leading online and mobile financial services provider, and UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Financing sustainable development ...

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has said that it will stick to its target of investing around $100 billion in climate action over the next five years, the largest climate finance contribution of any single multilateral institution, and is already exceeding its own targets for climate finance. EIB President, Werner Hoyer, made the disclosure while presenting the EIB Group annual results at a ...

In the latest demonstration of institutional asset owners’ commitment to climate action, New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF), the third largest public pension fund in the US with $184.5 billion in assets, has joined the Portfolio Decarbonication Coalition (PDC). The CRF is the first major US pension fund to join the Coalition’s 28 members, who between them control over ...

France has issued its first “green bonds” with a record seven billion euro ($7.5 billion) sale, paving the way for the establishment of a genuine market in renewable energy bonds. Proceeds from Tuesday’s (24 January, 2017) sale of the 22-year bonds will be used to finance projects to address climate change. Credit Agricole-CIB, which was one of the banks handling ...

As the global economy moves towards implementation of its new climate goals, the world’s largest purchasing organisations are using their buying clout to drive down emissions across their supply chains. A report prepared by CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) titled: “The Missing link: Harnessing the power of purchasing for a sustainable future” and written in partnership with BSR and the Carbon ...

As part of Germany’s G20 Presidency, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is advancing the ‘GreenInvest’ dialogue platform in order to engage developing countries in the mainstreaming and mobilisation of green finance. A first consultation of developing countries under the GreenInvest platform was held in Singapore on 9 and 10 January 2017 with participants from some 25 ...

Corporate climate action is crucial to help governments achieve their central objective under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which is to limit the global average temperature rise to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Microsoft has developed what is considered a trail-blazing emission reduction scheme which is exemplary for other companies. The innovation was showcased at the UN ...

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in this treatise published in Gulf News, describes the next two years as key in cementing global response to climate change In 2015, close to 200 countries – backed by cities, regions, businesses and citizens – agreed to work together towards a low carbon, safer and ...

Scotland is seeking to dramatically cut its reliance on fossil fuels for cars, energy and homes after setting a radical target to cut total climate emissions by 66% within 15 years. In one of the world’s most ambitious climate strategies, ministers in Edinburgh have unveiled far tougher targets to increase the use of ultra-low-carbon cars, green electricity and green home heating ...

A new report offers a strategic guide for cities in developing countries to access green bond market flows, a potential source of finance for cities looking to secure investment in low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure to meet the water, energy, housing and transportation needs of their expanding urban populations. The report is titled: “Green Bonds for Cities: A Strategic Guide for Policymakers in Developing ...