Politicians change their minds
If we are to make regulatory changes permanent, a greater focus is needed on the costs of sustainability related regulation. Yes, we understand the longer term benefits, but every change will create financial losers, and we need to get better at funding the transition periods.
Sunday Brunch: is failure on climate change really financially harmless ?
We talk a lot about climate models and how GHG emissions impact temperature, but not so much about climate damage function models. And yet this second set of models have a massive impact on financial decision making.
What caught our eye - week 49
Are positive climate actions really cost free? Can property-linked finance unlock £ bns of investment? Electrification of agriculture
Is the real issue with nuclear different from what you think?
If you talk to most sustainability professionals about nuclear, the most common concern is safety (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and perhaps most importantly Fukushima), followed by build cost (ie OL3 in Finland and others). But as well as these issues, should we also be thinking more about decommissioning costs? According
Green industrial project funding - momentum building?
Decarbonising industry is key, with hydrogen playing a big part. What to watch out for.
Insetting - defining and implementing at scale
Organisations can reduce their net greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to zero ('net zero') by either making changes to their businesses that mean they produce no net emissions themselves or they can offset any net emissions they have to some degree by purchasing carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are programmes
Sunday Brunch: diabetes, fertiliser and Jurassic Park
When resources are scarce we may need to prioritise their use. So even if we can, maybe we shouldn't.
What caught our eye - three key stories: week 48.
EU reverses pesticide phase out; green buildings also offer financial gains; impact investing generates financial returns.
ESO becomes the terminator of phantom projects
Getting new energy generation projects up and running and delivering energy to people who need them in the form that they need may seem to hinge on getting the technology to work and/or getting the required financing and other resources in place. However, it can often hinge on approvals.
Why are we not cutting fossil fuel use?
A recent podcast from Rachel Donald (interviewing Ketan Joshi in an episode entitled Climate Delay and the Fossil Fuel industry) contained the following answer to the question - why is fossil fuel usage not falling? "The answer is complex, of course. One part, though, is that governments are the
Artisanal Mining – No Longer Invisible (a round up)
Artisanal mining deserves more attention. In the last of his series, Rob Karpati summarises why it's important, and the practical steps being taken to solve the challenges.
Sunday Brunch: can the real sustainable investor please stand up?
The big sustainability questions we all face suggest we need to move to a different relationship between the providers of capital (the asset owners), and the organisation's that invest it on their behalf. One based on a better alignment of interest.
