RFI Newsletter Articles

Climate Risk Blake Goud Climate Risk Blake Goud

Nature-Related Disclosures Will Widen Data Gaps In The Financial Sector That Technology Will Be Critical In Filling

  • The Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures is taking final feedback ahead of a September 2023 release

  • Financial institutions already challenged by climate-related risks & disclosures will face an added burden to incorporate nature risks

  • Technology will play an important role in understanding, measuring and disclosing nature risks, a key rationale for the RFI’s Blue Finance Challenge

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Climate Risk Blake Goud Climate Risk Blake Goud

Emerging Market Banks Are Highly Vulnerable To Nature Risk

  • Financial institutions in emerging & developing markets have 45-55% of their financing assets exposed to at least one ecosystem service risk

  • Nature risks are often linked with climate risks, which has raised regulatory concerns about their impact on financial stability risks, as well as microprudential risks that banks should consider

  • Because nature risks are so embedded throughout global supply chains, they may attract capital to mitigate the risks that have been more limited in response to climate change, and banks will need to understand the sources of their nature & climate risks

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FinTechs Blake Goud FinTechs Blake Goud

FinTech Startups Need A Responsible Finance Strategy To Help Avoid Pitfalls As They Navigate ESG

  • Bain & Company and EcoVadis, as well as IBM, each released research finding operational performance benefit for companies with strong ESG characteristics

  • Evidence is growing outside of large, listed companies, including private companies, that ESG has operational benefits, but also comes with several barriers to adoption including when companies become overwhelmed by a magnitude of issues and revert to a ‘compliance’ mindset

  • RFI’s Responsible Finance FinTech Program can help FinTechs who are being pushed to focus on ESG issues get started in the right direction to avoid ESG becoming a distraction, and rather to make sure they see benefits by doing well on the right ESG issues

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Policies & Regulations Blake Goud Policies & Regulations Blake Goud

Climate Disclosures Heighten The Risk To Companies That Aren’t Planning Financing For Their Transitions Today

  • High-emissions companies already face less appetite from banks to lend to them, according to a study by BIS researchers using data on Japanese banks

  • Greater regulation on climate disclosures, especially for companies in Islamic markets, is going to increase the scopes of emissions that impact bank evaluations of companies’ climate risks

  • Increasing physical risk outcomes that hurt banks’ financial strength will amplify the impact of more and better disclosures of emissions

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Policies & Regulations Blake Goud Policies & Regulations Blake Goud

The new ASEAN Taxonomy incorporates a ‘coal phase-out’ classification to support more transition finance

  • The second version of the ASEAN Taxonomy outlines the conceptual framework in more detail about how countries at widely varying levels of economic development can align taxonomies under a regional framework

  • The ‘coal phase-out’ plan is one of the most eagerly awaited in light of prominent initiatives like the Energy Transition Mechanism and Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) that progressed during Indonesia’s presidency of the G20

  • As ASEAN member states adopt their own taxonomies, the practical challenges for the financial sector to navigate diverse national taxonomies and align with the ASEAN Taxonomy will be a challenging element as the region makes investment in the climate transition

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