Mostly working: Australia’s wholesale electricity market | The Grattan Institute
High electricity prices are here to stay, according to a new Grattan Institute report that calls on politicians to tell Australians the truth about the future of energy costs.
Climate Horizons Report 2018 | Centre for Policy Development
"Climate change is not some distant threat. It is a global tragedy unfolding before our eyes, disrupting ecosystems, communities and economies. For companies, investors and financiers the risks and opportunities are immediate and pressing. The expectations of markets and policymakers on emissions reduction targets and adaptation measures are ramping up. Customers, shareholders and regulators demand increasingly sophisticated responses. If Australian businesses and company directors fail to react urgently and coherently, then they will jeopardise their own future: assets will be stranded or uninsurable, investment will stall, debts will go unpaid, and companies will collapse.” Download the full report here
Rising seas: 'Florida is about to be wiped off the map' | The Guardian
"Take the 6 million people who live in south Florida today and divide them into two groups: those who live less than six and a half feet above the current high tide line, and everybody else. The numbers slice nearly evenly. Heads or tails: call it in the air. If you live here, all you can do is hope that when you put down roots your choice was somehow prophetic."
Financing a Sustainable Economy | John Price, Commissioner, ASIC
Climate change
Keynote address by John Price, Commissioner, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Centre for Policy Development: Financing a Sustainable Economy, Sydney, Australia, 18 June 2018
“However, notwithstanding these issues, as a general proposition we do not consider that the law or our policy would impede an entity from undertaking scenario analysis. Likewise, we do not think that director liability should be a major impediment to reporting under TCFD Recommendations provided that the modelling adopts reasonable assumptions and inputs and discloses them in full. This can be achieved by making sure the disclosure is the product of a robust assessment of the best evidence available at the time”
Download the full speech here
The Effects Of Weather Events On Corporate Earnings Are Gathering Force | Resilience Economics and S&P Global
"A review of the earnings call transcripts of S&P 500 companies in the past ten years revealed that "climate" and "weather" combined were among the most frequently discussed topics among executives, even more common than "Trump", "the dollar", "oil", and "recession”.
Climate risks should be a priority for boards of directors | The Fifth Estate
"Climate risks are risks to businesses and therefore need to be on the radar for boards of directors, David Singleton argues. "
ASIC warns on climate risk as heat turns on directors | The Age
"In another sign the corporate cop is closely focused on the issue, Mr Price also said ASIC was working on a review of how companies across the ASX 300 index disclosed information on climate change, and it planned to publish the findings later this year.”
We just got a clear sign the trillion-dollar coastal property bubble could burst any time | Think Progress
Their analysis of home prices versus flood risk reveals that from 2007 to 2017, homes at “high” or “very high” risk of extreme flooding saw a 4.8 to 5.6 percent drop in price, while homes at the lowest risk saw an 8.4 to 9.6 percent rise.
When planetary catastrophe is your day job | The Monthly
“Meanwhile, back at home, the shambles that is Australian climate policy limps on, with some backbenchers as fossilised as their favourite fuel. Defying global trends, the government wound back the Renewable Energy Target, and we remain the only developed country to repeal a carbon price.”
Scientists to America: Embrace climate action or lose your coastal cities | Think Progress
“The situation in 2070 — roughly 50 years away — is a calamity. Sea levels will have risen nearly half a meter (20 inches, or 1.6 feet) since 2000. Flooding of coastal cities will be costing the world more than $1 trillion a year.”
Australian firms told to catch up on climate change risk checks | The Guardian
Majority of U.K.'s largest pension funds engage on climate change risk | Pensions and Investments
The majority U.K.'s 25 largest pension funds are engaged when it comes to climate change risk to their portfolios, but a minority are "worryingly complacent”.
The new rules of competition in energy storage | McKinsey&Company
The costs of energy-storage systems are dropping too fast for inefficient players to hide. The winners in this market will be those that aggressively pursue and achieve operational improvements.
Carbon bubble' could spark global financial crisis, study warns | The Guardian
“Crucially, the findings suggest that a rapid decline in fossil fuel demand is no longer dependent on stronger policies and actions from governments around the world. “
What investors need to know about technology and climate change: the race of our lives | Jeremy Grantham
Jeremy Grantham talks about the challenges we face from climate change. His deep insight is an eye opener!
"Very few investors realise how rapidly the environment is being wounded, not just by climate change but also by overuse and by chemical waste. We may have created a world that is simply hostile to most living creatures including us.
Contrastingly, very few realise how favourably and dramatically fast the relevant science is progressing and the cost of necessary technologies declining. These opposite forces will determine whether we can even retain a world with as stable a global society as we have today, a modest definition of success. The results will certainly transform the entire world of energy, resources and food in a few decades with unprecedented financial consequences."
Mr. Grantham co-founded GMO in 1977 and is a member of GMO’s Asset Allocation team, serving as the firm’s chief investment strategist. He is a member of the GMO Board of Directors and has also served on the investment boards of several non-profit organizations. Prior to GMO’s founding, Mr. Grantham was co-founder of Batterymarch Financial Management in 1969 where he recommended commercial indexing in 1971, one of several claims to being first. He began his investment career as an economist with Royal Dutch Shell. Mr. Grantham earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Sheffield (U.K.) and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, holds a CBE from the UK and is a recipient of the Carnegie Medal for Philanthropy.
View the presentation slides from this lecture here.
HLEG Recommendations and the bilateral trade agreement - what are the implications?
Last week, the EU announced that it is going to immediately proceed with new regulations that will impact a broad range of financial services. The new regulations will be based on the recommendations made recently by the High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance.
The Australian Government and the EU jointly announced last week they are going to fast track a bilateral trade agreement. This will open up new opportunities to the Australian financial services industry – but also potentially make them subject to EU regulations. See below for more on these two important announcements.
EU Announces Plans to Implement HLEG Recommendations
24 May 2018.
Vice-President of the EU Commission Valdis Dombrovskis
Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union said: "We should put our money into projects that are compatible with our decarbonisation objectives and the fight against climate change. This is important for the environment and the economy, but also for financial stability. Between 2007 and 2016, economic losses from extreme weather disasters rose by 86%. The proposals presented today show that the European Union is committed to ensuring that our investments go in the right direction. They are about harnessing the vast power of capital markets in the fight against climate change and promoting sustainability."
The proposed Regulation will introduce consistency and clarity on how institutional investors, such as asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, or investment advisors should integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment decision-making process. Exact requirements will be further specified through Delegated Acts, which will be adopted by the Commission at a later stage.
But the council has added a warning that it wants to make sure the deal doesn’t compromise its high standards of social and environmental protection, or hurt small and medium sized business. Read More
EU-Australia Free Trade Negotiations Start - Sydney Morning Herald
22 May 2018
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. Photo: AP
European officials will land in Australia next month to begin negotiations on a free trade deal, after the EU’s governing council gave its long-awaited official authorisation on Tuesday to begin negotiations for trade deal with Australia.
“The council also approved negotiation of a similar deal with New Zealand. They expect the agreement to increase EU exports to New Zealand and Australia by about a third in the long term, through removing customs duties and other barriers. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the deal would “safeguard high standards in key areas such as sustainable development”. Read more
‘Climate Change Is Real,’ Carmakers Tell White House in Letter | Bloomberg
“Automakers remain committed to increasing fuel efficiency requirements, which yield everyday fuel savings for consumers while also reducing emissions -- because climate change is real and we have a continuing role in reducing greenhouse gases and improving fuel efficiency,” David Schwietert, executive vice president of federal government relations at the Alliance, wrote in the letter, which was made public Monday.
Road charging needed now: Productivity Commission | AFR
"Australia needs to bite the bullet on road-user charging in the next few years before the disruptive influence of electric vehicles and more fuel-efficient cars blows a hole in government revenue, according to Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris.
Describing the inability of Australia to embrace road pricing as the "greatest failure of my time in infrastructure", Mr Harris said the failure of successive governments to sell the idea of paying for a quicker trip home or to work was a key reason for user charging always being left in the "too-hard" basket."
Executive Perspective: Determining What is "Green" | Thomson Reuters
“If you want to set rules and regulations, that’s why you need definitions, and that’s why green taxonomy is an important part of the European policy agenda.”
Dr. Paul Fisher, Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, discusses the determination of what “green” is . He unpacks the importance of identifying green definitions to better set rules and regulations, and create metrics to measure green investments and products at the 2018 Climate Bonds Initiative’s Annual Conference, in conversation with Sherah Beckley, Editor of Thomson Reuters Sustainability.