Publications

The 2019 Edition of I4CE’s Landscape of Climate Finance provides an overview of the investments made by governments, households and businesses in support of the French government’s climate-related objectives. The 2019 edition of the Landscape reveals that climate investments exceeded 45 billion euros in 2018 in France. These investments were made by households, public authorities […]

The vote on the state budget is a key moment in the fight against climate change. In France,more than 250 budget measures have been identified: expenditures, tax exemptions, taxes, all of which have a significant influence, upward or downward, on national greenhouse gas emissions. 250 reasons to keep a close eye on the state budget. […]

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, financial institutions and other economic actors have taken commitments to ‘align’ their activities with the goals agreed to by national governments in 2015. A growing body of literature from both the research community and practitioners has emerged on ‘alignment’ with the Paris Agreement goals – but to date […]

Foreword from Pierre DUCRET,  Chair and Benoît LEGUET, Managing Director “Economic expertise must be grounded in reality. The yellow-vest protests serve as a reminder of this fact” I4CE WAS BORN FROM A CONVICTION: economic expertise is essential for climate action. This is because the building of a carbon-neutral and climate-resilient society requires transition financing, the […]

The financial system has an important role to play in financing the transition of the economy and the drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and must take into account in its activities the risks that climate change poses to it. The French government has begun to mobilize on the subject, as have the Paris financial […]

France is by no means the only country with difficulties – that is an understatement – in introducing an accepted carbon tax. And not the only one to have taken up the challenge of a public policy leading to higher energy prices for households and businesses. In 2018, the World Bank identified 29 countries or […]

I4CE’s 2019 Global Carbon Accounts present the main trends in the implementation of global carbon pricing policies in 2019.   5 key trends in 2019   As of May 1, 2019, 25 carbon taxes and 26 Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) were operating worldwide. The jurisdictions covered by one or more explicit carbon price account for […]

Following the 2018 review of the European carbon market- the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS)- and the significant increase in the price of allowances, many stakeholders made the assumption that it was “fit for purpose” until 2030. However, the EU ETS needs to evolve as it adapts to new developments such as the implementation of […]

Recent bankruptcy of Californian utility PG&E reckons that companies and their financial stakeholders are already exposed to the potential physical impacts of climate change, also called “physical climate risks”. While risk is at the heart of financial institutions decision-making, only a few of them disclose how their portfolios – with potential PG&Es – are exposed […]

Food consumption is responsible for around 28% of total greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (see I4CE study on the issue) Which dietary practices have the largest potential for reducing food-related GHG emissions? Is it possible to reduce food-related emissions while also targeting public health and environmental goals such as the preservation of soils or water quality? […]

A large share of global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions comes from food production and consumption. Measuring the total footprint of world diets remains however a challenge. The main reason is the lack of harmonization on consumption based emission accounting methods. While a few estimates are available, their results are often hardly comparable, may be rather […]

Why is it both important and useful to track climate investment and finance flows at the domestic level? In this policy brief, WiseEuropa, New Climate Institute and I4CE present an overview of how systematically tracking these flows can help governments and other stakeholders with quantitative data to assess progress towards national climate objectives as well […]

Climate change induces disruptions of our ecosystems, and the transition to a low-carbon economy significantly affects the political, economic and social landscapes. Businesses have to adapt to those changes, which entails risks and opportunities. Some changes are already visible today, but the deepest changes are expected to materialize over the mid to long term, and […]

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 […]

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: […]

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 […]

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 […]