RFI Newsletter Articles

Blake Goud 22/01/2024 Blake Goud 22/01/2024

Funding Credible And Bankable Transition Finance After COP28

Following the conclusion of COP 28 last year, OIC financial institutions should now focus on how the final declaration points towards key risks and opportunities arising from climate transition risks, as well as the role they can play within the energy transition. One of the most important elements of financial institutions’ strategies across OIC countries will be the role of transition finance.

This has been a hotly debated issue, all but overlooked by binary green/not-green taxonomies. For emerging markets & developing economies it is a critical piece of amassing enough funding to be able to transform economies in a way that will over time promote economic growth while reducing emissions along science-based pathways.

Blake Goud 05/01/2024 Blake Goud 05/01/2024

Climate and nature will be integrated into banking supervision in OIC markets faster than most banks expect

WWF have released their latest update to their evaluation of central bank and financial supervisors’ policy responses on sustainability, climate and nature issues. Among the six OIC countries covered (Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the UAE), there was wide variability in the ways that sustainability, climate and nature risks are being addressed. Policy responses among OIC countries and across the 47 countries covered showed no correlation with countries’ income levels.

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 29/10/2023 Blake Goud 29/10/2023

Time To Iterate New Approaches To ‘Transition Finance’ Within ASEAN

Regulatory authorities in Southeast Asia are providing guidance for financial institutions looking to support decarbonization with reference to transition finance. One consultation released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) focuses on banks and finance companies, while the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) approved guidance targets institutions looking to capital markets.