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green premium

Green premium

“It is a challenge to be overcome if we want to reach our climate targets,” say global experts, investors and economists. The green premium concept helps measure progress on green technology deployment and, at the same time, establish what the next steps should be for a rapid low-carbon transition. A review of sources, definitions and data to understand a key factor in the climate transition. 

Climate technology

Can they fix a deepening climate crisis created by dirty technologies and systems? In recent years, climate technology has entered the lexicon of innovators and decision-makers in an effort to speed up the development and transfer of effective solutions. An in-depth definition of climate technology and the solutions they bring to climate-related issues.

vertical farming

Is the future of farming vertical?

Efficient, resilient and future proof or wasteful, energy intensive and prohibitively expensive? To some the future of food production lies in indoor vertical farms, where food is grown locally and in controlled environments that are resilient to the fast changing outside world. Others are not buying into the hype.

Game over: The future of skiing and winter tourism

If the winters disappear can we engineer them or do we need to start looking into alternative approaches? As more and more evidence piles up against the demise of the ski industry as we know it, mountain communities and researchers start to explore new heights.

Be prepared for the polycrisis era

Diverse crises spanning over three different timeframes. They are interconnected and put us in the middle of a shift in power. This is the time to adapt ourselves to a “new order”, but this is also a period of crucial opportunity for moving forward. Insights from the Global Risks Report 2023.

Carrot and stick: The competitiveness of sustainability

How to find a balance between incentives and disincentives? Two different visions from either side of the Atlantic. With the USA launching its Inflation Reduction Act, Basile Chartier and Thorfinn Stainforth from the Institute for European Environmental Policy, walk us through some of the most important American and European environmental policy developments.

Carbon border adjustments

As countries implement measures to curb emissions they are also looking to protect local industry players from unfair competition and ensure that emissions aren’t simply shifted outside of their jurisdiction. Carbon border adjustments use levies and rebates to do just that. How do they work and why are they contentious?

Decoupling (emissions from economic growth)

Is it possible to build a zero-carbon world and, at the same time, guarantee sustainable development and well-being prospects? The answer depends on how capable we are of building development models in which economic growth does not go hand in hand with growth in greenhouse gas emissions.

Science and Research Can Close the Loop, For a Genuinely Circular Economy

The circular economy is all about replacing the current “linear” model of growth and reducing the strain on planet Earth’s limited resources. Currently, the global economy is only 9% circular – just 9% of the 92.8 billion tonnes of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass that enter the economy are re-used annually. However, as policymakers and businesses start embracing the circular model they need science and research to provide fact based knowledge that can dictate policy and direct businesses towards effective strategies and away from pointless “greenwashing”.

The European Green Deal: Boosting the Economy and Leaving No One Behind

“Moving first and moving fast” to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050: ambitious objectives and an investment plan that will activate over one trillion in new capital flows as well as generating jobs. Not to mention a new Climate Law that has the potential to become the most innovative legal regime in the history of environmental legislation. The European Green Deal illustrated in detail.

Making the Case for Direct Air Capture for Carbon Storage

The idea of mitigating climate change by removing carbon from the air is nothing new. It has been present on the desks of academics, businessmen and policymakers for over twenty years, taking a central role in climate change prediction models and leading to intense debates on its feasibility and potential for scale up so as to avoid catastrophic climate change. A new study published in the Energy and Environmental Science journal outlines a new ground-breaking technology that may be able to overcome some of the criticisms levelled at direct air capture for carbon storage technologies.

The Global Banking System is not Immune to Climate Change.

Climate change will have a growing influence on the stability of the banking system, potentially contributing to future financial crises. A new paper published in Nature highlights the detrimental effects of climate change on the banking system, adding to established literature on the effects of climate change on economic growth and productivity of labour. However, financial regulation authorities can act to reduce climate-related risks by implementing targeted measures.