Publications

In 2015, France pioneered requirements for climate-related disclosure from financial institutions, asking them to explain their strategy for integrating climate-related risks and for contributing to the achievement of the Paris Agreement objectives and the French national low-carbon strategy. Three years of implementation yielded mixed results and requirements are in the course of being updated in […]

The Landscape of Climate Finance is a comprehensive study of domestic investments which support climate mitigation in France. This study maps the financial flows supporting investments leading to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) across the French economy.

For local governments, it is when expenditures are debated that it is possible to question them and to channel them towards the climate transition. That’s why I4CE and its partners co-constructed a common and shared methodology to assess a local budget according climate issues.

For local governments, it is when expenditures are debated that it is possible to question them and to channel them towards the climate transition. That’s why I4CE and its partners co-constructed a common and shared methodology to assess a local budget according climate issues.

For local governments, it is when expenditures are debated that it is possible to question them and to channel them towards the climate transition. That’s why I4CE and its partners co-constructed a common and shared methodology to assess a local budget according climate issues.

While the financial consequences of climate impacts are already materializing, the regulators are implementing their agenda of actions to stimulate financial institutions into analyzing and managing their exposure to “physical climate risks”, and disclosing how they do so as recommended by the TCFD. How can financial actors make quick and efficient progress on analyzing and […]

In recent years, financial regulators have encouraged financial actors to take account of “climate risks” in order to ensure both financial stability and the efficient functioning of markets, the two traditional objectives of regulation. This risk-based approach is an important first step, but will it be enough to deliver on climate objectives?

In recent years, financial regulators have encouraged financial actors to take account of “climate risks” in order to ensure both financial stability and the efficient functioning of markets, the two traditional objectives of regulation. This risk-based approach is an important first step, but will it be enough to deliver on climate objectives?

As part of the EUKI-supported project “Landscape of climate finance: Mainstreaming climate finance in the CEE region”, I4CE supported the Polish think-tank Wise Europa in the elaboration of a Landscape of climate finance in the sector of energy retrofitting of existing buildings in Poland.

I4CE and its partners make available, free of charge, to interested local authorities a methodology to evaluate local budget under the prism of climate issues. It is a transposition of Green Budgeting approaches, such as the one carried out on national French budget, to the budgets of local authorities.

While France must adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate disruption, it is necessary to monitor the financial resources that the State devotes to it. However, as the Senate's Foresight Delegation pointed out in 2019, the issue of financing adaptation is characterised by a lack of clarity on the level of needs and the amounts allocated.

Climate Action and Sustainable Development are two parts of the same challenge and must be addressed together. Both adopted in 2015, the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development frame a set of global objectives that are deeply connected.

Foreword from Pierre DUCRET, Chair ...

One of the main elements of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2021-2027 exercise is the shift of part of the funding towards an obligation to achieve environmental results. Is that an expensive development? Environmentally effective? In order to answer these questions, this I4CE study analyses numerous mechanisms, more or less oriented towards performance obligation.

States and more generally public authorities will not finance the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy on their own. Private financial actors have a key role to play and, over the past decades, they have taken numerous initiatives to promote "responsible investment" and "sustainable finance". However, the impact of these initiatives is far from commensurate with the climate challenge, , and financial regulation must play a role. This I4CE study analyses the different objectives that regulators can pursue to help the financial sector respond to the climate urgency, and provides an overview of the instruments at their disposal. It also highlights the challenges of implementing these instruments and identifies those that need to be used in the short term and those that need more time to be implemented.

In sharp contrast with the stimulus strategy adopted in France in 2008, which focused exclusively on directly visible economic benefits, each public euro invested to recover from the crisis will have to value the environmental and health co-benefits. This is the thesis of this article by I4CE and Terra Nova. With the increase of the French public debt and the eventual reduction of budgetary room for manoeuvre, valuing all the co-benefits of public action is no longer a simple option but an imperative. It would reduce the 50 billion euros/year costs of air pollution in France, among other societal benefits.

Explicit carbon pricing systems - a tax or a carbon market - continue to develop around the world. In the 2020 edition of its Global Carbon Accounts, I4CE presents the main trends and provides an overview of these public policies: the countries that have adopted them, the sectors covered, the price levels, the revenues generated and what is being done with them. Find all this information in graphics.

From implementation to disclosure by companies in the TCFD framework   The transition to a low-carbon economy represents risks and opportunities for companies. Indeed, far-reaching changes are expected in socio-economic systems, with uncertainties about their timing and magnitude, and their economic and financial consequences. In this context, forward-looking methods –in particular scenario analysis – are […]

Confronted with a health crisis that has caused a global social and economic shock, the European Union and countries around the world are adopting major economic support programs. Following the initial focus that must be on overcoming the health emergency itself, actions that contribute to climate goals can be an effective part of improving both the economy and the resilience of our society. I4CE’s proposal calls for a public finance package of 7 billion euros per year that is estimated to trigger 19 billion euros of additional public and private investment. Altogether, this package would contribute to the economic recovery post-crisis, while simultaneously reinforcing our society against future shocks without reducing France’s contribution to international climate goals.

Climate change dynamics are on a trajectory of intensification which may require the use of new and notable measures. The Paris Agreement recognized the urgency of directing financial flows toward low carbon activities and climate-resilient development. However, the latest special Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report 1 stated that to limit global warming to 1.5oC, the financial resources directed to green activities are by far insufficient and investments on carbon intensive projects are still far too high. At the same time, climate-related risks continue to potentially endanger the stability of the financial sector and they are only marginally addressed by Basel III capital requirements.