Transition Finance for Africa
The Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, British International Investment, NinetyOne and the Blended Finance Taskforce have co-develop a Practitioner’s Guide to Transition Finance in Africa. Its development has drawn on an active working group of sustainability professionals from leading African financial institutions and other organisations. Find out more
Is the energy crisis an opportunity for banks? Ben Caldecott comments
Financial services companies, especially European banks, are often eager to talk about how sustainable finance, the transition to a lower-carbon economy, is a huge business opportunity for them, writes Dominic O’Neill for Euromoney. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate that this energy transition could award wholesale banks extra revenue of between $15 billion and $20 billion […]
COP27: Mark Carney clings to his dream of a greener finance industry – Ben Caldecott comments
‘There were concerns the announcement was more promotional than tangible. “A lot of this came down to Carney’s desire to have something branded as his own thing,” says Ben Caldecott, finance strategy adviser to the UK government in the run-up to COP26. “It became a running joke among those working on finance for Glasgow.” “Civil […]
Times article: Big businesses are told ‘Your ‘greenwash’ tactics won’t wash’
Greenwashing is set to be a key issue at the Cop27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, which starts today, writes Ben Spencer for the Times. Climate activist Greta Thunberg last week said she will not attend the conference because it is rife with “many different kinds of greenwashing”. Activists have criticised the involvement of Coca-Cola […]
Copernicus Sentinels help to spur green financial investments
Oxford’s Spatial Finance Initative is being supported by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission to accelerate green economic development in Europe and beyond. Imagery from the mission is contributing to SFI to enable investors, regulators and governments to price in environmental externalities and funnel capital towards more sustainable and resilient enterprises. Advancing the responsible management of […]
Big banks and UN green finance group clash in alliance: Wall Street Journal article
An uprising by banks in the United Nations-sponsored climate coalition Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero has been quelled, but opened wounds that could weaken an alliance meant to funnel trillions of dollars to fund the transition away from fossil fuels, per the Wall Street Journal. “GFANZ needs to answer the question: ‘What is it […]
Barclays and Oxford University Announce 3 Year Agri-Climate Partnership
Barclays has announced a three-year partnership with Oxford University’s Sustainable Finance Group (OxSFG) and the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment (CGFI). This first of its kind project will meet the urgent need to generate better emissions data and establish decarbonisation pathways which would enable Barclays and other financial institutions to support clients in […]
BlackRock and Vanguard tell UK inquiry they will not quit fossil fuel investments: Ben Caldecott comments
BlackRock and Vanguard are among the financial institutions that have told a UK inquiry they will continue to invest in fossil fuels and do not subscribe to the view that climate change plans require an end to new coal, oil and gas investment. Ben Caldecott, director of the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, […]
Bloomberg article: Bankers Told They Can Ignore Binding Fossil-Finance Restrictions: Ben Caldecott comments
The world’s biggest climate coalition for bankers says it has the right to ignore a proposal that would require members to phase out the financing of fossil fuels. Tracey McDermott, chair of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, said in a letter on Monday that the 119-strong group, which counts Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. […]
Banks Try Quiet Quitting on Net Zero: Ben Caldecott comments
For some bankers, net-zero is like a new year’s resolution – a pledge one makes and often breaks before a year has passed, reports Alistair Marsh for Bloomberg. Members of the the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) publicly committed their banks to reach net-zero carbon emissions by midcentury. Banks were irked when United […]