RFI Newsletter Articles

Blake Goud 19/12/2023 Blake Goud 19/12/2023

OIC financial institutions need a comprehensive approach to align with COP 28 outcomes

Since the Paris Agreement was signed at COP 21, one of the most important issues has been defining how the world makes “finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate-resilient development”. The global stocktake released at the end of COP 28 provides updates on the activities the financial sector will need to align in order to mitigate climate change by 2030.

Blake Goud 27/11/2023 Blake Goud 27/11/2023

Transition finance mapping highlights key gaps

Transition finance is a particularly challenging concept to move from idea to reality. In contrast to sustainability, which has been defined in taxonomies, there are far more pieces in the puzzle when creating transition finance. It is made up of more discrete thresholds when evaluating and assessing credible transition thresholds. The Climate Bonds Initiative has compared a range of transition guidance methodologies and created a mapping of the issues covered or omitted from each guidance, some related to transition finance and others focused on corporate transition planning.

Blake Goud 12/11/2023 Blake Goud 12/11/2023

Trying to create a singular measurement of climate risk can distract from urgent efforts to address climate change

A short brief from the Environmental Defense Fund digs into some of the challenges of interpreting the financed emissions data released by financial institutions. It examines the disclosures made by two U.S.-based financial institutions on absolute emissions and emissions intensity, and it looks behind the numbers to illustrate a point about the way that financial institutions report their financed emissions.

Blake Goud 06/10/2023 Blake Goud 06/10/2023

AI will be an important tool for assessing transition plans against the growing range of frameworks

The most acute issue across ESG in recent years has been the relationship between relative outperformers and underperformers and the absolute outcomes that define issues such as success in addressing climate change. Many of the issues in greenwashing come down to promoting as ‘sustainable’ activities that improve on the norm, even if they fall short of what is required to bring about climate change mitigation, nature protection, or sustainable development.

Blake Goud 27/09/2023 Blake Goud 27/09/2023

RFI releases financed emissions report and open-access database

The RFI Foundation has released a report and database with estimates of financed emissions across 11 OIC markets in a continuation of our focus on improving financial institutions’ ability to address climate change. The urgent need for this type of resource is reinforced by the conclusions of the Global Stocktake that the world has until 2025 to reach peak global emissions.

Blake Goud 14/09/2023 Blake Goud 14/09/2023

The Global Stocktake offers a wake-up call for financial institutions working towards long-term climate targets

A Global Stocktake to update on the world’s progress towards goals set down in the Paris Agreement shows notable ambition, although not enough ambition or follow-through to keep on a 1.5° C trajectory. One of the upcoming milestones required to stay on track is for the world to reach peak global emissions by 2025. The nearness of this deadline highlights an important reality in addressing climate change – the world is working on mitigating an issue that will bring catastrophic consequences if unmitigated, and we will only know whether we’re back on target long after the actions we are discussing today may be completed.