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    The Week in Green (November 17th edition)

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    Norwegian gauntlets, ‘Sustainable Cooking’ and Accelerated Reduction

    Norwegians added water to the green mill this week, with Storebrand announcing new coal exclusions, and throwing the gauntlet to the investment community. At COP23 in Bonn, Norway also teamed up with Unilever  to announce a new $400 million fund dedicated to building resilience to climate change in vulnerable countries. In Stockholm, Arabesque sustainability director Maria Mähl showed NordSIP how to cook sustainability with an S-Ray, the company’s tool to sift through big data to find the right ingredients for its sustainable investment process. Meanwhile, a transition to a water-secure world is underway, with companies developing board-level oversight of water issues, according to the latest report from CDP. McKinsey has analysed investable opportunities to accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions in cities that could achieve 90 per cent of the emissions reductions needed by 2030. And in the first in its series of educational articles, NordSIP looks at the constitution and trajectory of Green Bonds (NordSIP).

    Heard on E-Street

    The American Prospect takes a deep dive into fossil free finance and the success of the divestment movement as an anti-carbon organizing strategy, while global warming is increasingly being fought in courtrooms, The Economist finds. Australia’s QBE Insurance Group drew applications of over $8.25 billion (AUD) for a $400 million “gender equality bond” (Reuters), Norway’s Government Pension fund is managing to balance ESG with returns (Chief Investment Officer), while MIFIDII triggers a sea of requests for clarification and confuses the Danes (Bloomberg).

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    Quote of the Week

    “The certificates are going to be taken out of this scheme [the Emissions Trading System, the market mechanism which is the EU’s main tool for reducing emissions] in order to be able to develop it into a meaningful instrument… We know we have a responsibility here – we still use a lot of coal, particularly lignite. Even within a wealthy country like Germany there are conflicts that need to be solved in a calm and reliable manner” – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, addressing the free allowances that have driven down the price of carbon, which in turn has not motivated companies to reduce their emissions (Deutsche Welle).

    Question of the Week

    Which $350 million fund is actually the largest green bond fund in the world?

    Famous Last Words

    “The authentic company you share, the time you take and being in the moment is what matters. This brings out the true flavours of conversation and company. Constant innovation and change just to be different, does not” – TBLI founder Robert Rubinstein on the annoyances of modern coffee production and, more importantly, innovation for its own sake.

    Enjoy your downtime!

    Your NordSIP team

     

     

    Image: © NosorogUA-shutterstock

     

    Glenn W. Leaper, PhD
    Glenn W. Leaper, PhD
    Glenn W. Leaper, Associate Editor and Political Risk Analyst with Nordic Business Media AB, completed his Ph.D. in Political and Critical Theory from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2015. He is involved with a number of initiatives, including political research, communications consulting (speechwriting), journalism and writing his first post-doctoral book. Glenn has an international background spanning the UK, France, Austria, Spain, Belgium and his native Denmark. He holds an MA in English and a BA in International Relations.

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