Carbon Finance

Praise for Carbon Finance "A timely, objective, and informative analysis of the financial opportunities and challenges presented by climate change, including a thorough description of adaptive measures and insurance products for managing risk in a carbon constrained economy." —James R. Evans, M. Eng. P. Geo., Senior Manager, Environmental Risk Management, RBC Financial Group "Climate change will have enormous financial implications in the years to come. How businesses and investors respond to the risks and opportunities from this issue will have an enormous rippling effect in the global economy. Sonia Labatt and Rodney White's insights and thoughtful analysis should be read by all who want to successfully navigate this global business issue." —Andrea Moffat, Director, Corporate Programs, Ceres "In Carbon Finance, Labatt and White present a clear and accessible description of the climate change debate and the carbon market that is developing. Climate change is becoming an important factor for many financial sector participants. The authors illustrate how challenges and opportunities will arise within the carbon market for banking, insurance, and investment activities as well as for the regulated and energy sector of the economy." —Charles E. Kennedy, Director and Portfolio Manager, MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier Inc. "Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of our generation. Its impact on the energy sector has implications for productivity and competitiveness. At the same time, environmental risk has emerged as a major challenge for corporations in the age of full disclosure. Carbon Finance explains how these disparate forces have spawned a range of financial products designed to help manage the inherent risk. It is necessary reading for corporate executives facing challenges that are unique in their business experience." —Skip Willis, Managing Director Canadian Operations, ICF International "In this timely publication, Labatt and White succeed in communicating the workings of carbon markets, providing simple examples and invaluable context to the new and changing mechanisms that underpin our transformation to a carbon-constrained world. Carbon Finance will be the definitive guide to this field for years to come." —Susan McGeachie, Director, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Graduate Faculty Member, University of Toronto; and Jane Ambachtsheer, Principal, Mercer Investment Consulting, Graduate Faculty Member, University of Toronto

Mastering climate change has been recognised as a major challenge for the current decade. Besides the physical risks of climate change, the accompanying economic risks are substantial. Carbon Finance: A Risk Management View provides an in-depth analysis of how climate change will affect all aspects of financial markets and how mathematical and statistical methods can be used to analyse, model and manage the ensuing financial risks. There is a focus on the transition risk (termed carbon risk), but also a discussion of the impact of physical risks (as these risks are closely entangled) on the way to low carbon economies. This is a valuable overview for readers seeking an analysis of carbon risks from the perspective of financial risk management, utilising quantitative risk management tools.

Outlines a human rights-based approach to carbon finance, a framework for mainstreaming human rights into carbon project implementation.

As the world plans for economic recovery following the global COVID-19 pandemic, major economies are looking to comprehensive strategies for addressing carbon risks and identifying green finance opportunities. Since Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and Michael Bloomberg began tackling climate change as a financial concern, the international financial community has been developing sophisticated analytical tools that will enable the success of comprehensive efforts to address carbon risks and identify green finance opportunities. This timely publication offers a cutting-edge analysis of the financial aspects of climate change. It discusses the most important analytical tools, their origin, how they work, where they can go, and how they fit into a larger strategy. First, reporting frameworks can allow companies to see how well they are addressing carbon risks, in particular with respect to the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Second, by quantifying how much greenhouse gas companies emit into the atmosphere as a direct or indirect result of their operations, carbon footprint calculations can help identify carbon risks with particular companies, especially within supply chains. Third, brown taxonomies can help investors identify current carbon risks by classifying fossil fuel assets in a systematic manner. Fourth, green taxonomies can help investors identify current green finance opportunities by classifying sustainable activities in a systematic manner. Fifth, scenario analysis for assets can help investors identify future carbon risks and green finance opportunities. Finally, stress testing for liabilities can help insurers and banks address future carbon risks and better inform policymakers. Scholars, policymakers, and business professionals will find this book informative. They will gain a comprehensive understanding of the analytical tools supporting efforts to address carbon risks and identify green finance opportunities. This will hopefully make these individuals more successful in their personal endeavors to build a more sustainable and resilient economy for future generations.

This book builds on a decade-long experience with mechanisms provided by the Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It discusses the challenges of climate finance in the context of the post-Copenhagen negotiations and provides a long-term outlook of how climate finance in developing countries could develop. Written by climate finance experts from academia, carbon finance businesses and international organisations, the book provides background, firsthand insights, case studies and analysis into the complex subject area of climate finance.

Maximizing reader insights into the methodologies and cutting-edge research concerning the financial aspects of carbon markets, this book analyzes the economic and financial effects of carbon trading and regulations on the stock market prices of individual companies as well as the joint effects of regulations and of the prices of oil and gas on the prices and volatility of the traded carbon securities. Focussing on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), which is the most developed carbon trading scheme worldwide, the results obtained for the EU ETS are used as a benchmark for the new carbon markets being developed in North America and worldwide. After reading this book, the reader will: • Learn how the European market for carbon emission allowances work; • Be aware of the institutional development of the market and of the regulatory environment of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme; • Get acquainted with the regression methodologies used to evaluate the impact of regulatory and other events on energy and financial markets; • Become familiar with the recent research results on the links between carbon market regulations, energy prices and the returns and volatility of carbon-linked financial instruments and stock market prices; • Get informed about the possibilities of carbon emissions regulations and their impact on financial markets. This book will be instrumental for the market regulators, researchers and advanced students interested in energy finance, and for the finance practitioners and investors in the energy and carbon intensive industries.

Real-life insights into the scope and sources of the value chain within the world of carbon finance and carbon markets.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a framework created by the Kyoto Protocol, was an attempt to link the carbon market and sustainable development objectives in developing countries. Consequently, sequestered carbon is now a globally traded commodity with a huge potential to provide economic returns to land manager. Unlike traditional development models based on deferred and diffused benefit streams, the new carbon-market model offers an opportunity to directly link land management and natural resource conservation with specific and immediate market incentives. Analysis shows that carbon markets can serve a catalytic function in stimulating increased tree planting and improved forest management, thus helping to realize the multiple benefits of forestry and agro-forestry systems. In recent years opportunities for participation in carbon credit trading markets have been growing. The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) now boasts more than six million trades per month. A recent summary of the "State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2006" prepared for the World Bank's BioCarbon Fund, reports a rapid increase in corporate participation in the carbon market. This book focuses on the concept of CDM and other forestry based Carbon finance mechanisms introduced by UNFCCC and its impact on carbon markets. It also presents a brief analysis of the growth of carbon market in India, its present status and prospects in future. It provides a detailed account of Afforestation and Reforestation CDM Projects including the A/R Project Designed Document by UNFCCC in a simplified yet compact manner for better understanding of the procedure as a reference guide.