Publications

COP24 in Katowice just ended and was marked by the difficult adoption of a package of practical rules - the Katowice Climate Package - on transparency, the content of national contributions or their revision. It was also a COP marked by deep concerns about the willingness of Signatory Countries to increase their climate ambition in the coming years. Currently, countries' commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will lead to global warming well above 2°C, the threshold above which our climate would jump into the unknown.

Financial institutions are already exposed to the potential physical impacts of climate change also called “physical climate risks” in finance. These require immediate attention from financial institutions, in order to understand how well prepared are the economic actors that they finance.   Yet financial institutions still lack tailored information to analyze their exposure to these […]

The I4CE team will be present throughout the two weeks of negotiations, in order to present its latest achievements in about ten side-events, whether on carbon pricing, climate investment tracking, climate action by financial actors or carbon certification of innovative practices in the land sector. Please see below the full list of events organized by I4CE - or where I4CE will be participating.

This week, the finance community gathered in Paris for a series of events focusing on climate change and sustainable development. With more than 1500 participants and 100 speakers from the financial community, the week was marked by major events of this week were the UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable and the 4th Climate Finance Day.

This policy paper, a collaborative effort of four European think tanks, aims to help French, German and EU policy makers address current environmental, economic and societal challenges. It proposes eight concrete steps where active cooperation between France, Germany and other European countries could make decisive contributions to the Energy Union that benefit all European citizens: […]

On November 27th, French President Emmanuel Macron installed a High Council for Climate Action. Composed of around ten scientists, economists and engineers, this High Council will evaluate France's climate policies: are they sufficient to respond to the climate emergency? Do they provide concrete solutions for all households to get out of their dependence on fossil fuels?

The 2018 edition of I4CE’s Landscape of Climate Finance provides an overview of climate investments made by governments, households and businesses in France.   In 2017 climate investments exceed €40 billion, equitably distributed between households, businesses and public authorities. Nevertheless, investment needs are estimated at between €50 billion and €70 billion per year; investment needs […]

In 2015, article 173-VI of the French Energy Transition for Green Growth Act set a global precedent by requiring investors to be transparent on the climate impacts of their investments.   After two years of investor climate reporting, covering their activities in 2016 and 2017, what lessons can be drawn from article 173-VI? This is […]

Environmental taxation is a hot topic in France right now, at a moment where increasing fuel prices have put the carbon tax and other green fiscal instruments under the spotlight. is contributing to the discussion on how to strengthen support for environmental taxes:   By quantifying the revenues generated by carbon pricing schemes in France […]

Pierre Ducret, Chair of I4CE is appointed Co-President of FC4S an international network that brings together initiatives for the sustainable finance of about twenty financial centers.

The amount of finance for forest carbon projects has never been as high as in 2015 when it reached USD 888 million (Goldstein & Ruef, 2016). In most cases, a reliable monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon removals or emissions reductions is necessary to access most carbon payments. After an overview of forest carbon […]

Carbon sequestration in biomass and soils is essential to achieve carbon neutrality targets by 2050. It is therefore important that is sector is properly taken into account in countries’ climate objectives. As of 2020, the land-use, land-use change and forestry sector (LULUCF) will be fully included in the European climate targets for 2030. Following an […]

This climate brief highlights that while there is an acceleration of carbon pricing policy implementation, associated revenues are on the rise (USD 32 billion in 2017). This increase raises the issue of the use of revenues. I4CE distinguishes between 4 main uses of carbon revenues: Investment in low-carbon projects; Allocation to the general budget; Reduction […]

The transition to a low-carbon economy implies significant investments in buildings, transport systems, vehicles, power plants, industry, agriculture. However scaling-up those investments to meet climate and energy objectives requires an improved knowledge base in investments and financial flows in those sectors, as well as policy assessment tools.   This is why I4CE has developed since 2013 a “Landscape of domestic climate […]

A little less than a year ago, France organized the One Planet Summit and, among many commitments, joined the OECD’s Green Budgeting initiative, along with Mexico. A first assessment of these commitments was held on 26th September in New York, and the next steps on this particular initiative unveiled. This includes case studies to assess the potential scope and limitations of green budgeting in all OECD countries, including France.

The Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS), organized by the State of California from the 12th to the 14th of September, brought together “non-state actors” from around the world – including representatives from states and provinces, regions, cities, businesses, financial institutions and civil society. Its slogan of ‘Taking Ambition to the Next Level’ made clear the objective of the Summit: to demonstrate the commitment and engagement of non-state actors as a means of convincing governments to “step up” and revise their national climate policies, as needed to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

At the Global Climate Action Summit, the Climate Action in Financial Institutions Initiative released a Joint Statement demonstrating how financial institutions are supporting local climate action.