Of Interest/ESG News
you are currently viewing::Accelerating Blue Finance: Instruments, Case Studies, and Pathways to ScaleJune 7, 2025--The ocean drives economic prosperity and environmental stability for billions of people. Yet it is under threat from overfishing, pollution and climate change.
Blue finance-or a range of financial instruments-can plug the gap. But accelerating these solutions requires action from governments, private investors and local communities. Accelerating and scaling the effective use of blue finance requires a shift from fragmented pilot projects to coordinated, system-wide action. Blue finance instruments-such as blue bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, and parametric insurance-have already demonstrated their potential to address fiscal pressures, enhance climate resilience, and support ecosystem restoration across diverse contexts. These successes were not isolated; they were underpinned by conductive policy frameworks, robust data systems, inclusive governance structures, and the strategic alignment of financial instruments with policy objectives. Source: worldbank.org |
Global Carbon Pricing Mobilizes Over $100 Billion for Public Budgets
June 10, 2025--Over one quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions are covered by carbon pricing
Carbon pricing revenues exceeded $100 billion in 2024, according to a new World Bank report released today. Over half of this revenue generated for public budgets was earmarked for environment, infrastructure, and development projects, representing a slight increase from previous years.
The Longevity Dividend
June 3, 2025--Aging populations should be embraced, not feared
The story of demographic doom has become familiar: Declining birth rates will cause populations to shrink, while longer lifespans will increase the costs of pensions and eldercare. Relatively fewer workers will have to pay for it all.
Sustaining Growth in an Aging World
June 2, 2025--Older populations need not lead to slumping economic growth and mounting fiscal pressures
The demographic dividend that has supported global economic expansion in recent decades will soon make way for a demographic drag. In advanced economies the share of working-age people is shrinking already.
Green Technologies: Decarbonizing Development in East Asia and Pacific
June 2, 2025--East Asia is helping the rest of the world decarbonize and encouraging the domestic adoption of renewable energy. But there is an imbalance: Even as the region's innovation and investment improve global access to green technologies, the region's own emissions continue to grow, because of the reluctance to penalize carbon-intensive practices.
A Critical Look at Dollar Dominance
May 23, 2025--The dollar remains central to the global economy despite the search for alternatives.
How has the US dollar dominated the global financial system for so long? Harvard economics professor Kenneth Rogoff seeks to answer this question in Our Dollar, Your Problem. As the world comes to terms with the dollar’s weaponization in geopolitical rivalries and recent flight from US financial assets, the book couldn't be timelier.
Economics and Nature's Laws
May 23, 2025--A provocative new book proposes a radically different approach to economic theory
Among ongoing efforts to rethink the basic tenets of mainstream economics is a provocative new book by James Galbraith and Jing Chen. The authors sweep aside the intellectual structure of mainstream theory-which rests on concepts like the marginal utility theory of value, market equilibrium, and a steady state for the economy-and propose a radically different approach: "entropy economics."
AI Needs More Abundant Power Supplies to Keep Driving Economic Growth
May 13, 2025--The power-hungry technology requires policies to help expand electricity supplies, incentivize alternative sources, and help contain price surges
Artificial intelligence is an emerging source of productivity and economic growth that's also reshaping employment and investment.
Africa Poised to Become a Global Leader in Carbon Markets, Says New Report
May 7, 2025--A new report, the 2025 Africa Carbon Market Outlook (ACMO 25) says Africa is poised to become a global leader in carbon markets.
Charted: Countries Accumulating the Most AI Patents
April 22, 2025-Key Takeaways
According to the 2025 AI Index Report. China has accumulated 70% of global AI patents
Evidence suggests that the majority of China's AI patents are only applied for and protected within China
State of the Global Climate 2024
April 15, 2025-Key messages
Key climate change indicators again reach record levels
Long-term warming (averaged over decades) remains below 1.5℃
Sea-level rise and ocean warming irreversible for hundreds of years
