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Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE)

This resource is also available in French.

France's Financial (Eco) System highlights experience from France in improving the integration of sustainability issues into financial decision-making.

A key area of focus has been on improving information and market analysis. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting requirements were first introduced in the New Economics Regulation law of 2001, and strengthened by the 2010 ‘Grenelle II’ law and 2015 the Law on Energy Transition for Green Growth (EETG).

France has also practised direct public interventions to mobilize capital and enable new markets and expertise to develop. Public financial institutions such as the Caisse des Dépôts and Bpifrance are able to leverage regulated savings accounts and other sources of capital to provide financing in line with sustainability mandates. They committed to mobilising €15 billion towards low-carbon transition by 2017. French institutions have also played a leading role in the development of the green bonds market.

Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System (UN Environment Inquiry)
How Does the Development of the Financial Industry Advance Renewable Energy?: A panel regression study of 198 countries over three decades investigates how the development of the financial industry connects with renewable energy. The authors analyze 198 countries over three decades in various model settings (fixed effects, random effects, dynamic panel). They use a wide range of proxies for the development of the financial industry and establish that in general this development has a positive impact on renewable energy capacity. Especially, the relative size of the commercial banking industry as well as of private credit and the size of the financial industry play a crucial role in advancing renewable energy investments.
 
This paper was presented at the UNEP Inquiry/Centre for International Governance Innovation Academic Symposium on the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, held in Waterloo (Canada) in December 2014.
Organisation :
Finance Norway
Finance Norway has developed a Roadmap for Green Competitiveness in the Financial Sector, pointing the way to a profitable and sustainable financial sector in Norway by 2030.
Climate Strategy & Partners
The Inquiry's Annual Overview 2017 provides a summary of our work on aligning the financial system with sustainable development during 2017, divided in four themes: Country engagement; International collaboration; Cross-cutting themes: Green Invest and Green Digital Finance Alliance; Selected events
Singapore Institute of International Affairs
The Collaborative Initiative for Green Finance in Singapore report aims to mainstream and socialise the idea and opportunities associated with Green Finance