Global ETF News Older than One Year
Becoming Material: the systemic risks of sustainability need to be incorporated into Modern Portfolio Theory
June 2, 2021-At the moment, changes in materiality and the risk/return profile of the capital markets are taken as entirely exogenous by MPT
Viewed with historical distance and perspective, the connections between societal norms, law, regulation and corporate behaviour are quite apparent. What is considered socially (market) acceptable changes over time and location, sometimes slowly and sometimes quite rapidly.
Slavery, while always controversial among non-slaves (hardly controversial among enslaved people), was part and parcel of early capitalism, but eventually made illegal (though we note that quasi-slave and clandestine practices continue). The same with child labour, labour health and safety standards, hours of work, workplace discrimination and a host of other issues.
Companies and investors traditionally regard values, during the period when they are coalescing into societal norms, as 'non-financial'. A better term might be 'not-yet-financial', making it clear that norm shifts and new understandings, once adopted by a critical mass of investors, firms, the general population and sometimes regulators, become financially relevant and sometimes legally ‘material.
Source: responsible-investor.com
World Bank Pancakes to Pyramids: City Form for Sustainable Growth
June 2, 2021--A new report, Pancakes to Pyramids-City Form for Sustainable Growth, analyzes the dynamic, two-way relationship between a city's economic growth and the floor space available to residents and businesses.
view the World Bank Pancakes to Pyramids: City Form to Promote Sustainable Growth report
Source: worldbank.org
OECD Economic Outlook, May 2021 No Ordinary Recovery: Navigating the Transition
May 31, 2021--Prospects for the world economy have brightened but this is no ordinary recovery. It is likely to remain uneven and dependent on the effectiveness of vaccination programmes and public health policies. Some countries are recovering much faster than others. Korea and the United States are reaching pre-pandemic per capita income levels after about 18 months. Much of Europe is expected to take nearly 3 years to recover. In Mexico and South Africa, it could take between 3 and 5 years.
Economic growth projections have been revised upwards
Global economic growth is now expected to be 5.8% this year, a sharp upwards revision from the December 2020 Economic Outlook projection of 4.2% for 2021. The vaccines rollout in many of the advanced economies has been driving the improvement, as has the massive fiscal stimulus by the United States. World GDP growth is expected to be 4.4% next year but global income will still be some USD 3 trillion less by end 2022 than was expected before the crisis hit. USD 3 trillion is about the size of the entire French economy.
Source: OECD.org
Carbon Prices now Apply to Over a Fifth of Global Greenhouse Gases
May 25, 2021- A total of 64 carbon pricing instruments are now in operation around the world, covering over 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and generating $53 billion in revenue. According to the World Bank's annual "State and Trends of Carbon Pricing" report released today, these advances represent a 17% increase in revenue from last year, However the full potential of carbon pricing remains largely untapped.
Revenue growth is driven mainly by the rise in EU allowance prices- a program that caps emissions, requiring countries that exceed these limits to purchase additional allowances. Emissions trading systems have been also largely resilient to reduced economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and likely helped by their price or supply adjustment mechanisms.
view the State & Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021
Source: World Bank
Renewable energy jumped nearly 50% in 2020
May 20, 2021--Amidst the global pandemic, 278 gigawatts of renewable energy was added last year.
This was a 45% increase from the year before and the biggest increase in over 20 years.
The IEA attributes the boom to policy decisions in the United States, China and Vietnam.
Renewable power generation grew at the fastest rate for two decades in 2020 according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. 278 gigawatts of capacity was added last year, a 45 percent jump and the largest year-over-year increase since 1999. The growth was even more impressive given that it occurred in the midst of pandemic-induced supply chain challenges and construction delays.
The exceptional level of renewable energy capacity additions is expected to be maintained with 270 GW forecast to become operational in 2021 while 280 GW is predicted for 2022.
Source: weforum.org
World Economic Forum-Half of global GDP at risk due to nature loss, analyst says
May 20, 2021--Over half of the world's GDP is at risk due to nature loss. Akanksha Khatri, Head of the Nature Action Agenda at the World Economic Forum outlines 5 reasons why biodiversity matters to securing jobs, health and the economy ahead of International Biodiversity Day.
Key points:
Biodiversity is declining fast than at any other time in history and this has grave consequences on our livelihoods, health and prosperity.
Over half of the world's GDP is at risk due to nature loss and further encroachment into natural ecosystems increases the risk of future socioeconomic shocks such as pandemics.
According to a recent World Economic Forum report, transitioning towards nature-positive economic models in key sectors could provide almost 400 million jobs and over $10 trillion in annual business value by 2030.
Source: World Economic Forum
Pathway to critical and formidable goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 is narrow but brings huge benefits, according to IEA special report
May 18, 2021--World's first comprehensive energy roadmap shows government actions to rapidly boost clean energy and reduce fossil fuel use can create millions of jobs, lift economic growth and keep net zero in reach. The world has a viable pathway to building a global energy sector with net-zero emissions in 2050, but it is narrow and requires an unprecedented transformation of how energy is produced, transported and used globally, the International Energy Agency said in a landmark special report released today.
Climate pledges by governments to date-even if fully achieved -would fall well short of what is required to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net zero by 2050 and give the world an even chance of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C, according to the new report, Net Zero by 2050: a Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.
view the IEA Net Zero by 2050 A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector report
Source: IEA (International Energy Agency)
The World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything
May 17, 2021--'It is anything but efficient or normal.' Surging corporate demand is upending global supply chains.
A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying.
Today, on the rebound, it's companies furiously trying to stock up.
Mattress producers to car manufacturers to aluminum foil makers are buying more material than they need to survive the breakneck speed at which demand for goods is recovering and assuage that primal fear of running out.
Source: bloomberg.com
Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin over climate concerns, says Musk
May 14, 2021--Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin due to climate change concerns, its CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet.
Bitcoin fell by more than 10% after the tweet, while Tesla shares also dipped.
Tesla's announcement in March that it would accept the cryptocurrency was met with an outcry from some environmentalists and investors.
The electric carmaker had in February revealed it had bought $1.5bn (£1bn) of the world's biggest digital currency.
Source: bbc.com
ETFGI reports assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed in United States broke through the US$ 6 trillion milestone at the end of April 2021
May 14, 2021-- ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETFs and ETPs ecosystem, reports assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed in United States broke though the US$ 6 trillion milestone at the end of April. ETFs and ETPs listed in US gained net inflows of US$76.79 billion during April, bringing year-to-date net inflows to a record US$329.03 billion.
Assets invested in the US ETFs and ETPs industry have increased by 5.1%, from US$5.91 trillion at the end of March, to US$6.21 trillion, according to ETFGI's April 2021 US ETFs and ETPs industry landscape insights report, the monthly report which is part of an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
Assets break through the $6 tillion milestone to a record $6.21 trillion invested in ETFs and ETPs listed in US at the end of April.
Net inflows of $76.79 Bn during April
Record YTD net inflows of $329.03 Bn beating the prior record of $169.67 Bn gathered YTD in 2017.
19 months of consecutive net inflows
Source: ETFGI
