Sustainable investing is a key part of curbing climate change, and the sector is showing some signs of progress.

As in the rest of the private sector, where at least 20% of the world’s 2,000 largest public companies have committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, many leading investors are also focused on reducing carbon emissions. For example, more than 450 firms representing $130 trillion in assets under management have joined the格拉斯哥金融联盟净零, a coalition of sector-specific initiatives from banks, asset managers, asset owners, insurers and other financial service providers.

但是,减少排放量,也称为缓解措施,并不是投资者唯一要做的事情来避免气候变化的最严重影响。必威官网是真的吗

正如《国际巴黎气候变化协定》所阐述的那样,我们还需要建立对气候影响的韧性,并确保必威官网是真的吗公正的过渡适用于受气候行动影响的工人和社区。必威官网是真的吗实现这些目标将需要更全面,全面的财务可持续性概念。没有它,投资者将错过影响力和竞争优势的机会。

The Real Definition of Paris Agreement-aligned Finance

可持续金融是《巴黎协定》的三个主要目标之一,该目标呼吁“使金融流量与低温温室气体排放和气候硫化的发展一致”。必威官网是真的吗Achieving the financial component is essential to achieving the Agreement’s other two goals: limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) and adapting to a changing climate, both achieved in a way that fairly shares the costs and benefits of the transition to a low-carbon economy, known as公正的过渡

尽管投资者主要将温度目标及其必要的排放减少优先考虑,但他们应该专注于适应和正当过渡。没有公正的过渡,这是工人,土著和前线社区以及其他人的生命和生计可能受到实现低碳,气候夸大经济所采取的行动的威胁的其他人,巴黎协定的目标将无法实现。必威官网是真的吗

用最基本的话来说,气候过渡不会发生必威官网是真的吗没有社会正义。And without climate transitions, the impacts of climate change will continue to变得更加严重— not just on humanity, but on market returns.

为什么投资者应优先考虑对气候变化的弹性必威官网是真的吗

必威官网是真的吗气候适应对投资者与气候缓解有关。他们投资的公司需要为变暖世界的影响做好准备 - 从诸如杀死作物的热浪等急性影响到包括气候引起的迁徙在内的慢性疾病。必威官网是真的吗相反,某些公司可能会从中受益offering products对于更富有气候的未来至关重要,例如较硬的必威官网是真的吗农作物或建筑改造。

Heavy floodwaters sweep through Belgium in July 2021.
2021年7月,在德国西部的大雨袭击了邻近的比利时和荷兰。洪水是气候变化造成的物理影响之一,这可能破坏供应链和其他业务运营。必威官网是真的吗RégineFabri/Wikimedia Commons摄影。

Investors should understand this useful market intelligence. The International Monetary Fund found that direct damage from climate impacts cost$1.3 trillion from 2010-2019。气候变化带来或加剧的每一次飓风,干旱,火灾和洪水都会关闭企业,破坏股票并要求工人错过时间。必威官网是真的吗这些物理影响转化为失去的回报。WRI对印度热电厂的研究描述了干旱的方式关闭发电和伤害利润。

Smart businesses and institutional investors are already acting on these risks. But the concern is not systematically integrated into investment products, particularly passively managed funds such as mutual funds and ETFs. Those funds rarely consider resilience or physical risk.

这部分是因为要测量,分类和分析身体风险有多么困难。披露身体风险的框架是斑点,即使是投资者,也试图使用潜在的伪造,非物质或不完整的信息来汇总可持续基金或产品。

Still, no fund can ignore climate impacts. Companies, as constituents of those funds, should proactively incorporate physical climate risks into their overall risk management and make business decisions to increase their resilience to physical climate impacts.

Investors can directly invest in adaptation projects to support companies’ efforts of improving their resilience, but also to improve the resilience of communities where companies operate and their employees live. After all, even if the lights are on at the factory following a storm, productivity is going down if workers find roads, bridges or trains offline. Companies with better adaptation and resilience practices will be rewarded by investors with stock purchases and lower costs of capital.

为什么投资者应优先考虑公正的过渡

For some investors focused primarily on impact, or doing good, a just transition is an easy sell. But investors focused principally on returns should also recognize the materiality of the just transition — and that it’s a great, long-term play. The financial performance of a company increasingly relies on its practices in the workplace, the community in which it operates, and how it improves society as a whole.

The Paris Agreement is clear in its endorsement of a just transition because climate action moves faster and more effectively when it energizes masses of people and avoids harming those it seeks to protect. For example, according to必威官网是真的吗气候重点,在不保护土著土地的情况下达成巴黎协议是“不可能的”since Indigenous and local communities occupy and protect a large amount of the world’s carbon-storing forests.

不支持公正过渡的公司可能会遇到声誉风险。平衡行为可能很复杂,如从案例研究中所见摩洛哥to艾伯塔省。例如,一家金属可以在太阳能光伏电池中使用的镉矿业公司可能仍然污染附近社区的水,即使其产品有助于减少碳排放,也会危害其公司声誉。

Investors will need to proactively identify material just transition issues and perform rigorous due diligence in selecting investments. They should also integrate just transition issues in their stewardship processes, such as engagement and proxy voting, to drive investees towards a just transition.

Going Beyond Net-zero Emissions in the Finance Sector

巴黎协定对齐是一个整体过程。其他要素可持续投资者应该考虑包括,例如,他们支持的公司是否拥有aligned their lobbying efforts with climate action。不排除烟草和武器等领域的无害政策可以确保与巴黎协议一致的投资符合其他问题的最低基准标准。

While many investors have made net-zero commitments to reduce carbon emissions, the Paris Agreement — whose goals almost every government on Earth is committed to realizing — goes far beyond emissions reductions. It establishes goals and a vision of building a decarbonized, climate-resilient, inclusive and equitable global economy.

为了急于进行可持续投资,标准和营销副本有时已经不同步了。与巴黎协议一致的投资仅存在,其中所有三个因素(缓解,适应和公正过渡)都纳入了纳入。