COP29 advanced international carbon trading with key agreements. Mixed signals on the energy transition, however, affirm investors’ view of an uneven transformation, while investment to address climate-driven physical risk looks likely to continue apace.

Location and granularity may be the new mantra in assessing climate-related physical risk, while private assets and AI have a growing role in the decarbonization — key takeaways from MSCI’s Climate Week NYC event on “Financial Frontiers: Climate Strategies and Transition Frameworks.”

Ashley Lester and team help investors find the connections between — and evaluate the risks and potential opportunities of — AI, geopolitics and the effects of climate change, as well as the growing importance of private capital and continued influence of monetary policy.

COP28 concluded with an agreement for countries to transition away from fossil fuels, marking a historic pivot away from the primary sources of energy that have powered society for nearly 200 years. How can countries — and investors — address these goals? 

We are on the ground at COP 28!! Right now, in the UAE, most of the world’s power brokers are gathered to talk about the climate emergency, the world’s plans for lowering emissions, and everything in between. For this episode, we interviewed our Global Head of Climate Research, Oliver Marchand, who is at COP 28: meeting folks and having talks. He told us what he has been seeing and how he thinks the talks are proceeding.

Measuring financed emissions is crucial for climate disclosure, but not always straightforward. Proper data alignment and timeliness are essential to help investors make informed decisions and contribute to effective climate action.

MSCI’s Capital for Climate Action Conference brought together leaders from a diverse group of global organizations to untangle the latest developments in the net-zero transition. Here are some of the biggest takeaways. 

The news on our progress toward climate change and biodiversity goals was not great as Earth Day 2023 approached. But there were some bright spots, including detailed proposals to move forward, increased attention from governments in the form of regulation and a growing awareness from investors that accounting for these issues may be the right thing to do for their portfolios. 

COP27 underscored the need for action on corporate climate pledges, the importance of data and a series of initiatives to spur public and private investment for developing countries. We review some of the key developments for companies and investors.

The world of climate emissions’ measurement and reporting continues to be a moving target, and institutional investors face a number of obstacles. We explore these challenges, the important role of regulation and the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) standard.

What was accomplished in Glasgow, and what does it mean for governments, companies and investors? Head of Climate Risk Research, Oliver Marchand, evaluates what happened and what may come next.

Has COVID-19 affected carbon emissions? Using satellite imagery from NASA and the European Space Agency, we examined the empirical data so far to understand the potential impact, and if there may be a decline in global greenhouse-gas emissions in 2020.