Entries for 'Sustainable Finance'
January 28, 2020
With a growing focus on sustainable finance, and particularly the need for a robust toolkit for climate risk management and disclosure, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and European Banking Federation (EBF) conducted a joint survey of their members. The survey of 70 financial firms around the world, with total assets of nearly $40 trillion, finds that the streamlining of measurement and disclosure frameworks, and increased international collaboration, are key to strengthening the climate-related risk analysis and reporting toolkit.
January 23, 2020
As the “decade of sustainability” gets underway, calls for action on climate change will become increasingly strident; With electricity demand soaring, a rapid shift to low-carbon alternatives is needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050… …but in the EU (and beyond) nuclear power remains contentious, as growth in renewables can't keep up with demand
December 16, 2019
A letter from the IIF SFWG to the NGFS regarding climate risk analysis and measurement urging central banks and supervisors to seek alignment on approach.
December 12, 2019
Sustainability accounting hits the big time; Overwhelming demand for ESG data—over 55 data/service providers compete in this $600 million market; Flows to ESG-dedicated ETFs set to top $40 billion in 2019—up over 20% from 2018 levels; New issuance of sustainable debt and loans has surged more than 40% to some $380 billion in 2019; Firms are affected differently by ESG issues—further research needed on “materiality” factors at sector and industry level
December 5, 2019
Reflecting the rapidly growing demand for sustainability-themed research, we will from time to time be publishing a Green Weekly Insight focused entirely on ESG and sustainable finance. Comments and suggestions welcome!
November 22, 2019
S&P Global Ratings’ Director of Sustainable Finance, Mike Ferguson, at the IIF's AMM
November 14, 2019
Global debt surged by $7.5 trillion in H1 2019, hitting a new record of over $250 trillion. With no sign of a slowdown, we expect the global debt load to exceed $255 trillion in 2019—largely driven by the U.S. and China.
November 6, 2019
In a 2019 survey, the IIF Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) polled member firms on their views: a significant majority agreed that industry alignment around simplifying terminology and product names into a few broad categories could greatly advance the goal of scaling up sustainable finance.
October 4, 2019
The Paulson Institute’s Deborah Lehr joins the latest episode of our “All About the Green” podcast.
September 16, 2019
The IIF provides high-level comments on the European Commission’s Technical Expert Group (TEG) report on an EU Taxonomy for sustainable finance.
September 12, 2019
Sustainable debt issuance is on track to reach a record high of $350 billion in 2019—up over 30% from 2018. Non-financial corporates are increasingly active in green bond markets
August 23, 2019
This report, produced under the auspices of the IIF SFWG, aims to provide insight on current “leading practices” among financial firms in implementing TCFD recommendations, providing a snapshot of “what good disclosure looks like.” These examples should help prompt discussion within the industry and inform dialogue with regulators and supervisors on how to achieve the goals of the TCFD, particularly on appropriate pricing of climate-related risks and financial stability.
August 8, 2019
This letter represents the IIF SFWG's reactions to the first comprehensive report from the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Fina...
July 18, 2019
Low rates may boost short-term growth—but will discourage deleveraging even as debt continues to pile up; Incoming EC President Ursula von der Leyen puts climate change and sustainable finance top of the policy agenda; LIBOR transition update: focus on risks for asset managers; Venezuela: estimated total debt of over 200% of GDP, with external debt accounting for 80% of total debt
July 3, 2019
The newest episode of our “All About the Green” podcast takes a look at the important topic of reporting on climate and ESG risks and opportunities. ...
June 27, 2019
Negative-yielding debt hits a fresh record high of over $13 trillion; 75% of that is safe-haven government bonds; Low borrowing costs could provide some breathing room for EMs with high government financing needs; Climate change risks aren’t just domestic: over $29 trillion of G20 (mostly G7) cross-border investments are at risk. With awareness of these risks on the rise, our Green Flows Tracker shows net inflows of $2bn in Q2 (and record inflows for June); Insurer perspectives on LIBOR transition: the regulatory framework for EU insurers still requires a LIBOR-based term structure as the discount rate for insurance obligations.
June 14, 2019
The June 2019 IIF Global Regulatory Update provides updates on Advocacy on Addressing Market Fragmentation, Evaluation of Too-Big-To-Fail (TBTF) Reforms and the Basel III Finalization & Cumulative Capital Impact Study.
June 5, 2019
In this short overview, we highlight climate risks to financial stability; Even in a benign scenario, some $2.5 trillion of global financial assets are estimated to be at risk from the impact of climate change; A low-carbon transition can have a substantial positive net growth effect on GDP, outweighing costs... but transition and physical risks are growing as countries fall behind on emission targets
May 30, 2019
Trade tensions and fears of a global growth slowdown send term premia and bond yields sharply lower; Tariff spat weighs on trade volumes — but inflation expectations in check as importers bear the brunt of the cost; U.S. buybacks and dividends still going strong — but ebbing earnings repatriation flows could signal a decline; Emerging market debt vulnerabilities reflected in higher risk premia; To meet ambitious goals for sustainable infrastructure and the Paris commitments on climate change, low-and medium-income countries would need to spend as much as 4.5% of GDP.
May 16, 2019
Trade and geopolitical tensions drive investors to safe havens as market risks are reassessed; Greater sensitivity to political news flow reflects growing dominance of passive investing, high-frequency trading; New Principles for Debt Transparency aim to help address debt-related vulnerabilities in low-income countries; Green asset-backed securities have surged in popularity in recent years, but are still a niche product