Tag Archives: decarbonization
How to Bring Paris Agreement Goals to Fixed Income Indices
This blog was co-authored by Smadar Shulman and Paulina Lichwa-Garcia. As the transition to net zero is becoming a critical consideration in portfolio management, the popularity of indices that incorporate the EU’s minimum standards for Climate Transition Benchmarks (CTBs) and Paris-aligned Benchmarks (PABs) has been gathering pace. Such benchmarks aim to select securities that are collectively…
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Net Zero: Time Is of the Essence
This blog was co-authored by Reid Steadman and Fred Samama. At Glasgow’s COP26, banks, insurers and investors representing USD 130 trillion in private capital made a historic commitment through the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest,1 mirroring government pledges. The question remains how to…
Schrödinger’s Carbon: Intensity and Paris Alignment
In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger’s Cat refers to the paradoxical consequences of a thought experiment: can a cat be simultaneously dead and alive? A similarly counterintuitive phenomenon can be found in the context of climate-based analysis: whereby an index may boast a relatively low carbon intensity and yet, perhaps surprisingly, not be judged as aligned with…
Data Driving the Weights within the S&P 500 Net Zero 2050 Paris-Aligned ESG Index
The World Meteorological Organization estimates that there is a 50% chance that global warming will exceed 1.5°C before 2026.1 The International Panel on Climate Change has warned that time is running out—climate change is no longer a problem for the future, and its associated physical risks are materializing more evidently.2 The world may need to…
S&P PACT Indices Target Sector Neutrality
Recently announced results for a consultation on the S&P PACT™ Indices (S&P Paris-Aligned & Climate Transition Indices) reveal that they will now target country and sector neutrality. This has the potential benefit of comparing companies, as much as possible, to close peers (those in the same sector and country), while reducing active risk. The EU’s…
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Business as Usual for the S&P Paris-Aligned Climate Indices
On April 20, 2020, the S&P Eurozone LargeMidCap Paris-Aligned Climate Index (S&P Eurozone PA Climate Index) was launched (see press release). This index has been designed to align with recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and follow the new minimum standards for EU Paris-Aligned Benchmarks proposed by the EU,[1] while remaining as…
The S&P Eurozone Paris-Aligned Climate Index Concept: Implementing the Proposed EU Climate Benchmark Regulation
Introduction In January 2020, S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) released a paper for the S&P Eurozone Paris-Aligned Climate Index Concept (PAC Concept). The PAC Concept conceptualizes the proposals of the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG), as published in its Final Report on Climate Benchmarks and Benchmarks’ ESG Disclosure dated September 2019,[1]…