The Shifting Perceptions: ESG, credit risk and ratings - Part 1- the state of play report looks at why ESG factors matter in credit risk analysis, what investors and credit-rating agencies (CRAs) are currently doing on this front, and what their expectations are.
This paper documents an emerging strategy to manage natural assets such as woodlands, wetlands, and creeks in urban areas as part of a sustainable infrastructure strategy. Specifically, the paper explores Canadian local government experience through the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI) to identify, value, and account for natural assets’ contribution to municipal government service delivery, services that would otherwise need to be delivered by engineered assets. Evidence from MNAI suggests that a structured, asset management-based approach holds great promise to tackle the twin challenges of declining urban infrastructure quality and declining ecosystem health and could have applicability well beyond Canada.
The paper Decarbonizing Electricity Generation with Intermittent Sources of Energy examines public policies and technological solutions that aim to decarbonize electricity production by replacing fossil fuel energy by intermittent renewable sources, namelywind and solar power.
The CARISMA Project started in February 2015 and intends, through effective stakeholder consultation and communication, to ensure a continuous coordination and assessment of climate change mitigation options and to benefit research and innovation efficiency, as well as international cooperation on research and innovation and technology transfer.
This guide has been developed in response to the interest of developing markets in the potential for capital markets to connect institutional private capital with projects that deliver positive environmental impact. Green bonds are a vehicle for doing this. The guide has been written for those with responsibility and interest in achieving environmental goals and commitments, in particular green growth and infrastructure development. It may be particularly useful for environment, finance and planning ministries and related teams in regions and cities.
The guide draws on learning from CDKN’s project to assess the potential for a successful green bond market in Colombia, and its broader climate finance work in other developing and emerging markets.
This interim report of the High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (HLEG) of the European Commission identifies two imperatives for Europe’s financial system. The first is to strengthen financial stability and asset pricing, by improving the assessment and management of long-term material risks and intangible factors of value creation. The second is to improve the contribution of the financial sector to sustainable and inclusive growth, notably by financing long-term needs such as innovation and infrastructure, and accelerating the shift to a low carbon and resource-efficient economy.
The report presents the initial analysis, options, dilemmas and trade-offs that the HLEG has identified and outlines key areas where European policymakers could further align financial practices with sustainable policy objectives.