As the need for decisive action on climate change becomes ever more pressing and present, so does the need for corporate accountability and well-defined pathways towards a lower-emissions future. We use SBTi’s latest full-year dataset to bring you insights into the world of net-zero targets.
ECB’s journey to decarbonise its corporate bonds holdings: an update
The European Central Bank (ECB) has committed to strengthening its efforts to combat climate change. With upcoming monetary policy set to dampen the effect of the bank’s existing flow-based approach to decarbonising its corporate bond holdings, we take a look at the proposed stock-based approach and assess progress so far.
European Green Bond Standard: Implications of the provisional agreement
Negotiators from the European Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement last week on a European Green Bond standard. While we are encouraged that the standard brings more clarity to green definitions and transparency to the market, it remains important to ensure sufficient incentives for the standard to become the preferred route for issuers.
The past year brought no shortage of headlines when it comes to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Nordea's Head of ESG Research Marco Kisic reflects on the top ESG debates to watch in 2023.
What to expect from the sustainable finance market in 2023
As sustainability becomes more mainstream, we expect 2022’s focus on awareness and harmonisation to give way to a focus on implementation and execution. We outline out three key trends for 2023.
Sustainable finance markets: 2022, a year in charts
In a year that was unstable in many ways, the sustainable finance market demonstrated promising resilience. The Nordic sustainable bond market proved relatively more stable than the global market, experiencing 3% year-on-year growth compared to a contraction of 23% year-on-year globally. We outline the developments in some key charts below.
Social impact is back in focus. Here’s how to translate it into financing
When it comes to financing structures focused on social impact, the vast majority currently incorporate gender diversity targets as the social KPI, in part due to the availability of established and comparable data. Looking ahead, we expect a wider range of social targets to be reported on and included in sustainable financing where material.
Ability or ambition: How to speed up progress on biodiversity
We must overcome commitment fatigue and resource constraints if we are to make meaningful progress in understanding and limiting biodiversity risks, argues Nordea Sustainable Finance Advisory’s David Ray.
Biodiversity: The next frontier in sustainable finance
The World Bank’s recent issuance of a sustainable development bond raising awareness for biodiversity highlights investors’ growing interest in the issue. Biodiversity loss is directly linked to climate change, both reinforcing each other, with their interaction amplifying the risk of reaching planetary tipping points.
EU Taxonomy reporting: A first look at the challenges and best practices
The EU Platform on Sustainable Finance's long-awaited Recommendations on Data and Usability of the EU Taxonomy offers valuable insight into emerging best practices.
How sustainability risks factor into credit ratings
The integration of ESG factors into credit ratings is an exercise distinct from the ratings and evaluations carried out by ESG service providers, although the two are often compared and confused. We take a look at the differences between the two approaches.
EU Platform’s usability recommendations add clarity to EU Taxonomy in practice
The EU Platform on Sustainable Finance on 11 October released one of the last outstanding reports on the usability of the EU Taxonomy. It provides recommendations on interpretation of the existing Taxonomy and guidance for the remaining environmental objectives as well as alignment with other European sustainable finance regulation.