L’infrastructure européenne sera verte

Cet article est initialement paru en septembre 2021 dans le numéro « Spécial Institutionnels » du magazine financier SPHERE.

Après d’âpres négociations, les 27 pays membres de l’UE et le Parlement européen ont accepté en avril d’inscrire l’objectif de neutralité carbone d’ici 2050 dans une « loi climat ». Et ce « Green New Deal » est bien plus qu’un vœu pieux, car il ne se contente pas de fixer des objectifs ambitieux. Il prévoit surtout des investissements massifs, notamment dans l’infrastructure. Alors pour en tirer le meilleur parti, les grands gagnants se trouvent peut-être du côté des investissements directs dans les projets d’infrastructure.

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Net zero emission targets and the carbon offset market

December 2020 was the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate accord, marked by a climate summit held in the UK with 70 world leaders. In advance of this milestone, the UK threw down the gauntlet to other countries by elevating their emissions reduction target to 68% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, 11% higher than the previous target. These targets are considered the second toughest in the world, following only those of Sweden.

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How to avoid a climate disaster

Bill Gates recently published his new book, a green manifesto called ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’. We’re still reading our copy but we believe a core element to this manifesto is noteworthy – addressing the price differential between a fossil-fuel-based way of doing something and the clean, non-emitting way of doing the same thing – what Mr Gates calls the Green Premium.

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Asian economics catch up on climate change

This week South Korea became the third large Asian economy to pledge carbon neutrality, marking a major milestone for the fight against climate change. All three countries, China, Japan and South Korea, are in the top 10 country emitters of carbon dioxide in the world due to a continued reliance on coal-powered energy, and together represent over a third of annual global emissions.

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California wildfires and renewable shift

California seems to be in the eye of the storm at the moment when it comes to the impacts of climate change. Images of yellow smoke-filled skies are proliferating news sources and social media, the result of wildfires that are seasonal for the state due to hot and dry weather, but that this year have burned through over 5 million acres already, worse than any year in the history books. The season for wildfires usually continues until December and may continue to force people to stay at home due to the air quality, further impacting businesses already reeling from the restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

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The shades of grey in sustainable investment

A documentary film called ‘Planet of the Humans’ was recently released online to much controversy. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it describes itself as a “full-frontal assault on our sacred cows’, arguing that renewable energy and green movements have been hijacked by the traditional form of capitalism, and that these technologies are not as good for the environment or society as we’re led to believe.

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