More Countries Are Pricing Carbon, but Emissions Are Still Too Cheap
July 22, 2022--As the world gears up to avoid a climate catastrophe by limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius, more countries are putting carbon pricing at the center of their mitigation strategies. Yet designing ways to put a price on carbon can be complicated and countries face multiple choices.
Globally, ETSs and carbon taxes cover 30 percent of emissions, with prices rising as high as $90 per ton (in the European Union).
Despite the proliferation of carbon pricing schemes, policymakers should do more. To limit global warming, coverage must expand while prices rise from a global average of $6 per ton of CO2 today to $75 by 2030.
Just 10 financial actors hold the key to climate change
July 21, 2022--Summary:
A new report has identified the 10 financial actors with the most influence on the fossil fuel economy and outlines the decisive role they can play in helping de-carbonize our future.
The study found that the top 10 most influential actors, including investment advisors, governments, and sovereign wealth funds from around the world, own 49.5 per cent of potential emissions from the world's largest energy firms.
Source: sciencedaily.com
The New York Stock Exchange and SGX Group Announce Wide-Ranging Collaboration including Dual Listing of Companies
July 21, 2022--The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, and Singapore Exchange (SGX Group), Asia's leading and most international multi-asset exchange, announced today the signing of a new agreement to collaborate on the dual listing of companies on both exchanges and work together in a number of other key areas focused on the capital markets.
This collaboration represents an important initiative for both markets. In a virtual ceremony today, NYSE President Lynn Martin and SGX Group Chief Executive Officer Loh Boon Chye signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the terms of the agreement.
Source: Intercontinental Exchange, Inc
Global market tumult slows growth in ETF industry
July 20, 2022--Net inflows decline 30 per cent in the first half of 2022 to $464bn
New business for exchange traded fund providers dropped by almost 30 per cent in the first six months of the year as equity and bond markets both fell sharply in response to soaring inflation and rising interest rates.
Global net inflows into ETFs reached $463.8bn in the first half of 2022, down 29.6 per cent from the same period last year, according to ETFGI, a London-based consultancy.
Source: ft.com
Slow Moving Regulatory Decision Making for Cryptocurrency not Economically Favourable, New World Economic Forum Study Finds
July 20, 2022-New white paper says continuing the current indecisive regulatory approach for digital currencies is the least effective and sustainable option for supporting monetary and financial stability
Allowing cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to play a regulated role in the economy was found to be the most effective option
The Macroeconomic Impact of Cryptocurrency and Stablecoins examines the macroeconomic benefit of regulatory options for digital currencies through interviews with 15 expert macroeconomists globally
Read more on the Macroeconomic Impact of Cryptocurrency and Stablecoins here
A new study by the World Economic Forum suggests that the current, indecisive regulatory approach for both crypto and stablecoins poses the greatest risk to financial and monetary stability while also hindering innovation.
Source: weforum.org
IMF-Hall of Mirrors: How Consumers Think about Inflation
July 19, 2022--July 19, 2022--A deeper understanding of how consumers think about the economy would help policymakers control inflation
Their answers may help them make important personal financial decisions. Should they go ahead and buy that new refrigerator, rather than wait until later and risk seeing the price go up? Should they ask their boss for a raise to make up for the loss of purchasing power?
The answers won't affect just individual households but the economy as a whole. The reason: central bankers and academic economists view inflation partly as a self-fulfilling prophecy. If consumers believe prices will rise at a faster pace, they may behave in ways-buying a refrigerator or asking for a raise-that will fuel more inflation.
Source: imf.org
OECD Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy, 2nd Edition
July 12, 2022--Executive summary
Space activities are growing globally, and the services derived from them are increasingly important to society. This second edition of the Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy responds to the needs of policymakers from multiple economic sectors that are reflecting on such changes in their measurement strategies.
It takes account of the evolving landscape of space activities, technologies and user needs surrounding two core observations:
Source: OECD
World population to reach 8 billion this year, as growth rate slows
July 11, 2022--15 November 2022 is predicted to be the day that the global population reaches eight billion. The projection is revealed in the UN's World Population Prospects 2022 report, which also shows that India is on course to surpass China as the world's most populous country in 2023.
The latest UN projections suggest that the world's population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050, before reaching a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s.
The population is expected to remain at that level until 2100.
Slowest growth rate since 1950s
However, the annual World Population Prospect report, released on Monday to coincide with World Population Day, also notes that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen to less that one per cent in 2020.
Fertility, the report declares, has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries: today, two-thirds of the global population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is below 2.1 births per woman, roughly the level required for zero growth in the long run, for a population with low mortality.
Source: un.org
BIS-Big tech interdependencies-a key policy blind spot
July 5, 2022--The increasingly prominent role of large technology firms (big techs) in the financial sector has raised questions about their inner workings and regulation.
Big tech business models are characterised by strong internal and external interdependencies.
Intragroup dependencies arise from the common use by big tech entities of a general payment infrastructure, technological platforms and applications; and from sharing data and insights derived from those data across the services they provide.
External interconnections arise from partnerships of big tech entities with financial institutions to provide financial services. The financial services industry and regional big techs have come to heavily rely on technological services provided by global big techs, such as data analytics and cloud computing.
Source: bis.org
Explained: How engineered crops can fight climate change
July 4, 2022--Global food systems feed a growing world population, but are a major contributor to climate change.
Scientists are developing a suite of genetically engineered crops that will more efficiently remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Creation and use of engineered crops must be done in collaboration with stewards of ecosystems in order to meet the needs of the environment, local populations, and the wider global community.
Food systems account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Any successful strategy for reaching the ambitious - and critical -emissions targets outlined in the Paris Agreement must involve changes to how we grow, process and distribute food.
The pursuit of net-zero can be divided into two parts. First, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible and second, the absorption of any remaining emissions from the atmosphere.
Source: wef.org