Economy & carbon markets

Mobilizing Investors to Protect Climate, Land and Biodiversity

30 March 2020By

The current climate and biodiversity crises call for a mobilisation of finance at scale to support nature-based solutions. Annual investments needed as estimated by the Biodiversity Finance Initiative exceed US$400 billion, but we can track only US$52 billion as of 2019. Investors are discouraged by the high levels of uncertainty and lack of data related to environmental projects.

In response, the organisations Environmental Finance, Finance for Tomorrow, Global Landscapes Forum, Mirova and IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative organised three important events in November 2019, dedicated to exploring ways of investing in natural capital. These events aimed to create common ground and understanding about natural capital investments, help build a track record for investors, and foster partnerships among stakeholders. This 2020 Outlook for Investing in Nature builds on that experience, in order to share key insights for mobilizing economic actors in building sustainable landscapes and protecting our climate, land and biodiversity. It is part of a collective, sustained effort to bring the natural-capital asset class to maturity.

Source: Green Growth Knowledge Platform

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Ecosystems & biodiversity

World Water Development Report 2020 – Water and Climate Change

24 March 2020By

The 2020 edition of the World Water Development Report (WWDR 2020) links the topic of water to climate change; it informs the climate change community about the opportunities that improved water management offers in terms of adaptation and mitigation. The focus is on the challenges, opportunities and possible responses for a more resilient society.

“The scientific evidence is clear: the climate is changing and will continue to change, affecting societies mainly through water.”

The Report observes that to combine climate change adaptation and mitigation through water is a win-win proposal, as it improves water supply and sanitation services and tackles both the causes and impacts of climate change.

Source: UNESCO website

Download and read the Report here

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

Technical Report: Modelling the global economic impacts of environmental change to support policy-making

27 February 2020By

The Earth’s ecosystems are in decline, putting their ability to provide the ecosystem services on which the world’s economies rely at risk. Unless we reverse these trends, the implications for human wellbeing are profound. Although the depth of humankind’s reliance on nature cannot be fully captured in a single economic metric, such as gross domestic product (GDP), analysing changes in GDP does provide meaningful, and alarming, insights into changes in human wellbeing. This report presents the first full set of results from the Global Futures project developed by WWF. The study analyses the loss of ecosystem services using a new model that combines a global economic model with a high-resolution ecosystem services model, generating results that are relevant for both global scale and local, landscape-level analysis.

Read the Full Report

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Economy & carbon markets

Sustainable Investing: Shaping the future of finance – Report

27 February 2020By

By 2036, global assets worth USD 160 trillion are expected to be managed under some type of sustainable investing mandate. This would mean a close to 100% ESG integration in fund management. This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development discusses potential drivers behind generating the level of demand needed from private and institutional investors to enable this exponential growth. It covers some of the major trends that will shape sustainable investing in the years to come.

Read the Full Report

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

Human Development Report 2019 – UNDP

19 February 2020By

The 2019 Human Development Report – Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st century is the latest in the series of global Human Development Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990. The reports deal with major development issues, and provide sound scientifically based discussions. This edition focuses in particular on inequalities, as in every country still many people have little prospect for a better future. Despite many have managed to escape extreme poverty worldwide, even more do not have the opportunities nor the resources to control their place in society due to different social inequalities such as gender, ethnicity or wealth.

Read the Full Report here

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

European Green Deal

28 January 2020By

On the 11th of December, while COP25 was taking place in Madrid, European Commission (EC) President Ursula Von der Leyen outlined the new European Green Deal (EGD) proposal. The EGD package aims to couple economic growth and increased wellbeing with care for the environment with the great ambition of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. It identifies an opportunity for economic growth and increased social welfare in the current climate challenge. The package of measures also includes a roadmap of key policy actions such as cutting emissions, investing in research and innovation and preserving Europe’s environment.

In this context, it is crucial that all stakeholders are involved in the process of transition, to make it just and socially fair. From this concept stems the famous phrase, used by UN Member States when adopting the Agenda 2030: “Leave no one behind”.

Read more about the Green Deal

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

McKinsey Report on Climate risk and response: Physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts

23 January 2020By

This report focuses on the physical effects of our changing climate. Current and future risks are assessed within a 30 year time span and case studies are used to analyse and understand the mechanisms through which physical climate change leads to increased socioeconomic risk. Impacts are also explored with estimates on probabilities and magnitude of potential impacts. The aim is to inform decision makers worldwide to allow them to better assess, adapt to, and mitigate the physical risks of climate change.

Read the Full Report

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2020

22 January 2020By

The Global Risks Report 2020 presents the major risks facing the world in the coming year. It focuses on the need for a multistakeholder approach towards the world’s greatest challenges, and comes ahead of the World Economic Forum’s 50th Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, where the focus is Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World. Stakeholders must be able to find ways to act quickly on such crucial matters as the economy, the environment, technology and public health, even if the global scenario is unsettled. This is the context in which the World Economic Forum publishes the 15th edition of the Global Risks Report.

Download and read the Full Report

Original Source: WEF website

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Other

EAERE Observer Organization at UNFCCC

14 January 2020By

EAERE has officially become an Observer Organization at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties. This admission status accords EAERE the right to nominate representatives of the organization to take part in UNFCCC conferences.

The admission of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as observers at sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) is governed by Article 7, paragraph 6, of the Convention, which provides that, inter alia:
“Any body or agency, whether national or international, governmental or nongovernmental, which is qualified in matters covered by the Convention, and which has informed the secretariat of its wish to be represented at a session of the Conference of the Parties as an observer, may be so admitted unless at least one third of the Parties present object.”

Read the official UNFCCC source & list of organizations

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Economy & carbon markets

EAERE at COP25

20 December 2019By

EAERE had three official delegates at the UN COP25 in Madrid this year: Jos Delbeke, Chairman of the EAERE Policy Outreach Committee (POC); Phoebe Koundouri, President Elect for 2020 and Aldo Ravazzi Douvan, also member of the POC.

In addition to the delegation, many of the more than 1200 members of EAERE went to COP in representation of their institutions, taking part to events and negotiations. In particular, Prof. Lucas Bretschger from ETH Zurich gave a keynote speech on December 10, 2019 titled “New Perspectives on Climate Finance”:

Key Note: Lucas Bretschger, Professor, Center of Economic Research, ETH Zurich

Panel Discussion with:
• Stefan Schwager: member of Swiss delegation/ head of environmental financing
• H.E. Ambassador Janine Felson, member of Belize delegation and AOSIS Chair team, finance co-coordinator
• Barbara Schnell, Head of Sector Policy Department, KfW Development Bank
• Christoph Bals, Policy Director, Germanwatch
• Marte Borhaug, Aviva Investors

Moderation by Anna Stuenzi and Julia Bingler (ETH Zurich)

Watch the video of the keynote speech here

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