By Paul Davies and Michael Green Broadly defined, conservation finance is the raising of capital to support the conservation of land, water and resources. This concept started with “debt for nature” swaps during the 1980s and 1990s whereby developing countries agreed to protect ecosystems using revenues freed up by sovereign debt relief (such deals usually … Continue Reading
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Max Friedman In two recent posts, we discussed how California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) had been thrown into a state of potential upheaval by two interrelated legal challenges commonly known as POET I and POET II, including a recent oral argument before the California Court of Appeal for the … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies, Aaron Franklin, and Andrew Westgate The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released new guidelines (the Guidelines) on the issuance of green bonds on March 2, 2017, marking an important step in the development of what is now the world’s largest green bond market, accounting for 39% of global issuances by principal amount issued … Continue Reading
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Max Friedman Big changes appear to be imminent for California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). As discussed in greater detail in our recent post, the LCFS currently is the subject of two interrelated legal challenges commonly known as POET I and POET II. Here we provide an update on recent proceedings before … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate Climate change has become a key concern for China in recent years, as evidenced by its pledge to reduce carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60% from 2015 levels by 2030. As we have previously written, it has also become a leader in the emerging field of green … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate China’s State Council released its “Plan for Controlling the Implementation of the Pollution Discharge Permit System,” (the Plan), which establishes guidelines and policy goals for the pollution permitting system being designed and implemented by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), on November 21, 2016. The permits will set specific … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green The Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Jonathan Taylor called for “a renewed effort from the world’s financial institutions to make the Paris Agreement a reality” at the COP 22 Conference, held last month in Marrakesh. Green finance will have an instrumental role to play in the transition of … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green Commercial risks to businesses can no longer be neatly divided into financial and non-financial considerations. For example, there is growing recognition, particularly in the pensions sector, that a failure to take account for environmental and social governance (ESG) risks (in particular, climate change risks) can result in adverse financial … Continue Reading
By Antonio Morales and Leticia Sitges Last month, the European Commission presented a package of measures, known as “the Winter Package”, to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness in adopting and leading the clean energy transition. In addition to promoting energy efficiency, the clean energy transition will continue to offer a wide range of investment opportunities. During 2015, … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green A new pensions directive was passed by the European Parliament on 24 November securing 512 votes (only 77 votes against and 40 abstentions), requiring EU workplace pension funds to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. This is considered a ‘landmark’ moment for responsible investment. The new pensions directive … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green The Autumn Statement (the Statement) highlighted sustainability of public finance as key to securing a strong and stable economy for the UK. The need to prioritise longer-term sustainability schemes over short-term economic gain was also referred to by the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in a recent report. The Statement, which … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies, Gary Gengel and Andrew Westgate In April 2015, the Final Report of the People’s Bank of China’s Green Finance Task Force made 14 recommendations to facilitate the establishment of China’s green finance system. Recommendation 13 proposed the imposition of lender liability on banks to force financial institutions “to take environmental impact into … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green Prior to the G20 Leaders’ Summit on 4 September, China and the US ratified the Paris Climate Agreement during a ceremony in Hangzhou, China. This commitment from the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitters is expected to prompt developed nations in Europe to follow suit. The adoption of the Paris Agreement … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate Now in its eleventh year, The G20 Summit heads to the city of Hangzhou, China – the first time a G20 summit has been held for heads of state in China. As this years’ destination, China is maximising its role as the host nation to not only highlight its … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate. According to a recent report released by Clean Energy Pipeline, global clean energy backing in the first half of 2016 totalled US$116.4 billion. China was the largest investor, financing US$15.3 billion worth of solar and wind projects and accounting for nearly 30% of the world’s total solar and wind … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Aaron Franklin China has become the world’s largest green bond market, with green bonds issued in the first half of 2016 reaching 75 billion yuan (US$11 billion), 33% of the world total. This figure is approximately two percent of the total assets of China’s commercial banks, and demand for green bonds … Continue Reading
By Aaron Franklin Green Bonds have led a tremendous growth in environmental finance over the past five years, but that growth has been heavily-weighted towards investment grade credits with their accompanying risk/return. The predominance of investment-grade credits partially results from the all-or-nothing approach of Green Bonds – the bond is either 100% green or 0% … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies, Michael Green and Alice Gunn Powerday plc was issued a record fine in April this year for offences relating to operations involving over 17,000 tonnes of waste deposited and stored illegally. Powerday – one of the biggest waste-management companies in the South-East of England – pleaded guilty and was subsequently fined £1 … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate Green bonds, which tie the proceeds of the issuance to investments that have positive environmental and/or climate benefits, are a rapidly growing asset class. Recent figures have corroborated the narrative of growth predicted by industry experts. In the first quarter of 2016, green bonds totalling US$17 billion were issued … Continue Reading
By Marc Campopiano, Jennifer Roy, and Francesca Bochner California energy agencies and key stakeholders have finished the first step of a statewide planning process to evaluate transmission needs in the state and the region. This process, called the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative 2.0 (RETI 2.0), will culminate in recommendations to the legislature on where to … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) have ordered local authorities to stop construction of coal-fired power plants in 13 provinces where capacity already outstrips demand. A further 15 provinces will be required to delay construction of previously approved coal-fired power plants. These provinces … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Alice Gunn The Paris Agreement, adopted by 195 countries following the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP 21), is the first multilateral agreement on climate change that covers almost all of the world’s emissions. The Paris Agreement will be open for signature from 22 April 2016 and will enter … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies China’s 13th Five-Year Plan – Planning for a Greener Economy Last month China’s thirteenth “Five-Year Plan” (FYP13) was approved, setting out a social and economic development blueprint for the country for the next five years. The plan lays out specific economic targets such as GDP growth rates and social development goals in … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate China has launched a green bond pilot initiative via the Shanghai Stock Exchange, encouraging further foreign investment in a rapidly growing asset class and paving the way for issuances by non-financial institutions. This initiative closely follows the publication of green bond guidelines in December 2015 by the National Association … Continue Reading
