Round Table: Path to COP26 - Financing a Green Future

The Ethical Finance Round Table ‘Path to COP26 – Financing a Green Future’ was held on Feb 27th at Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh. Following a short welcome, Omar Shaikh, GEFI Managing Director outlined GEFI’s plans for 2020:

This was followed by short presentations from Jonathan Taylor, former Vice President of the European Investment Bank for Environment and Climate Action, and Gary Lapthorn, Head of Sustainability & Responsible Business, Commercial Banking at Lloyds Banking Group.

Jonathan Taylor outlined the history of climate change action, through initial scientific warnings, to the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, and the first landmark international treaty agreed at COP3 in Kyoto (1997). Experts from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) then warned that, despite the Kyoto Protocol, global warming was still set to worsen, leading to the all countries agreeing at COP21 in Paris (2015) to a global framework designed to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

Coming 5 years after COP21 and the Paris Agreement, COP26 in Glasgow event offers an opportunity to take stock of progress since Paris and update the Agreement where necessary. In particular, countries will present their plans and progress beyond current declared intentions, which IPCC calculate will lead to 2.6°C – 3.2°C temperature rises.

More attention than ever is focused on the role financial services can play in the fight against climate change, acting as an enabler and transition mechanism for policy, risk management and liquidity. There has been optimism around the UK’s leadership on climate-related regulation in finance, particularly through the Bank of England’s Taskforce on Climate-related Finance Disclosures (TCFD). Ensuring Glasgow is a success will require the right template to be in place for all parties to work and agree upon, and this can only happen with significant bilateral diplomatic efforts. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate calculates that, while a lack of progress poses huge risks to the world economy, bold climate action could deliver at least $26 trillion in economic benefits through 2030.

Gary Lapthorn next outlined Lloyds Banking Group’s commitment to supporting the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy through leadership in financing sustainability in businesses, homes, vehicle fleets, pensions, insurance and green bonds. One issue found at Lloyds was lack of knowledge and education. Many experienced financial professionals are keen to act and support the transition, but lack confidence in their ability to lead on environmental issues. To address this, Lloyds partnered with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership to provide training.

Lloyds is making concrete commitments in terms of both its own operating emissions and those associated with its loan book. It has pledged to halve emissions associated with its loan book by 2030 and to cut operating emissions by 60% over the same timeframe and is currently ahead of schedule. It has also pledged to move to its energy consumption to being 100% derived from renewables and its vehicle fleet to 100% electric. In addition, Lloyds provides financing for a number of environmentally beneficial projects, such as £273m of direct funding for the worlds biggest offshore windfarm, Hornsea Project One.

The presentations from the two speakers were followed by a lively audience discussion, in which participants and speakers explored the practicalities of combatting emissions through finance. The discussion centred on:

  • The extent to which financial institutions are making explicit trade-offs between profit and purpose – Lloyds are willing to accept slightly lower returns when companies agree to do the right thing
  • Whether looser capital requirements can be used to encourage climate-related lending
  • The role of innovation, and specifically financial innovation, in addressing environmental challenges
  • Executive renumeration, and the extent to which commitments are enshrined in incentives for decision-makers
  • Whether moves towards sustainability are making financial services an attractive career for graduates again, moving on from the “lost decade” experienced after the global financial crisis

by GEFI

COP26 – FINANCE SECTOR MEETS IN SCOTLAND TO BUILD GREENER ECONOMY

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE GLOBAL ETHICAL FINANCE INITIATIVE

EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE

COP26 – FINANCE SECTOR MEETS IN SCOTLAND TO BUILD GREENER ECONOMY

Leading financial institutions will come together in Edinburgh today (THU) for the start of a ‘Path to COP26’ campaign to build a greener global economy. A round table event will explore the role of the finance sector in the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy in the run-up to the global climate change summit in Glasgow in November.

To start the process of accelerating the combined efforts of the industry, the event will be addressed by Jonathan Taylor, former Vice President (Environment and Climate Action) at the European Investment Bank, and Gary Lapthorn, the head of sustainability and responsible business at Lloyds Banking Group Commercial Banking.The round table has been organised by the Edinburgh-based Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), which oversees, organises and coordinates a series of programmes to promote finance for positive change.

As part of the ‘Path to COP26’ campaign, GEFI will also host a series of events in the UK and beyond, ahead of the November summit. The campaign is designed to encourage banks, asset management firms and other financial companies to demonstrate their commitment to the climate agenda. According to the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the climate transition will require additional investment of at least $60 trillion from now until 2050 – meaning private sector commitments are vital to tackling the climate crisis.
Bold climate action could deliver at least US$26 trillion in economic benefits through to 2030, compared with business-as-usual, a recent report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate found.

Gail Hurley, senior consultant to the Global Ethical Finance Initiative and former senior advisor to the UN, said:
“The eyes of the world will be focused on Scotland when senior politicians from across the globe convene at COP26 in Glasgow in November to negotiate the global response to tackling climate change.
“Climate change is a large, systemic financial risk that will change asset values as investment moves away from high carbon assets towards a low carbon economy.
“For financial institutions to become enablers and catalysts they must therefore understand the commercial risks and opportunities and know how to act on them.
“Finance can be a positive force for change, and we call upon organisations from across the globe to sign up to our Path to COP26 declaration to help us assist the financial sector to commit to practical efforts to tackle climate change.”

Jonathan Taylor, former Vice President (Environment and Climate Action) at the European Investment Bank, said:
“COP26 in Scotland will be a key milestone on the road to a successful conclusion to the fight against climate change.
“Expectations are high that countries should commit themselves to demanding targets to meet the agreed goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
“So we should all think about what we can do to help ensure success, including financial institutions.
“The GEFI round table’s ‘Path to COP 26’ initiative makes an excellent contribution, and I am delighted to be part of it.”

 

Gary Lapthorn, head of sustainability and responsible business at Lloyds Banking Group, Commercial Banking, said:
“Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking is delighted to support the GEFI round table exploring the role financial institutions are playing in the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.
“As part of the UK’s leading financial services group, Lloyds Banking Group, we can make a real difference to tackling climate change by helping to finance a greener future together.
“This will require new ways of living, working and investing for our business and our customers.
“That’s why we’re setting ourselves an ambitious goal to accelerate working with customers, government and the market to help reduce the carbon emissions we finance by more than 50 per cent by 2030, equivalent to removing the emissions produced by almost a quarter of UK homes.”

 

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

More information is available at www.pathtocop26.com

Broadcast interview opportunities with GEFI are available.

A photo of Gail Hurley is available for download here.

A photo of Jonathan Taylor is avilable for download here.

What is the Global Ethical Finance Initiative?
The Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) oversees, organises and coordinates a series of programmes to promote finance for positive change. It brings together the world’s business, political, and social leaders to build a fairer finance system for people and the planet. The organisation is based in Edinburgh, and hosts the global ethical finance summit. More information is available at www.pathtocop26.com/ethical-finance-2020/

What is ethical finance?
A fairer system of financial management that combines profit with better outcomes for people and the planet. The full working definition of ethical finance: A system of financial management or investment that seeks qualitative outcomes other purely the management of returns. Outcomes sought may reflect ideas from faith, environmental and governance theories.

Why does ethical finance matter?
Although ethical finance is not a new concept the financial crisis has led to a growing interest in sustainability, climate change and social justice. This has seen a collective desire to create a fairer, more inclusive and responsible global financial system. Trust in banks is diminishing and today’s generation of consumers believes that investment decisions should reflect the issues they care about. Ethical finance in the UK is valued at around £40billion, creating thousands of sustainable job opportunities. Today, with the world facing a climate emergency there is a pressing need to develop environmentally sustainable financial solutions.

by GEFI

Round Table: Ethical Finance Market Update - Keynote Interviews

Baillie Gifford – EFH Roundtable

16 December 2019, 16:00 – 18:00

Ethical Finance Market Update, Market Trends

Interviewer: Gail Hurley

Panel Participants: Andrew Cave, Thom Kenrick

Summary:

In a change to the usual format this session, once again hosted by Baillie Gifford, comprised of two keynote interviews which provided reflections (from the investment and banking sector) on the evolution of the ethical finance market and how the market will adapt to on-going political, economic, social and environmental uncertainty.

The interviews were conducted by GEFI Senior Consultant Gail Hurley who has recently completed 10 years with the UN in New York as a Senior Advisor.

Gail framed the session within the context of growing interest in driving a fairer, more sustainable financial system and the fact that 2020 will be a significant year for climate issues in Scotland as it welcomes the world to Glasgow for COP26, the UN climate conference.

Andrew Cave, Head of Governance and Sustainability at Baillie Gifford, was first up and he argued that ethical investing has moved from niche to mainstream. While in the past companies would not put their best people and resources into it, today the situation is changing. According to Andrew the overall direction is positive and there is a lot of interest from institutional investors. Continuing challenges include: the complications in defining a positive impact (as the market is still in its early days) and the intractable debate over what constitutes positive social impact.

Andrew offered some fairly candid views on confusion around terminology highlighting the fundamental difference between ESG, which factors issues such as climate risk, data privacy issues and regulation into existing investment paradigms, and responsible investing, which is more directive and it aims to reach a particular outcome. It was suggested that clear rules need to be designed to avoid a risk of diverting money away from those who can make a positive contribution. Another challenge mentioned by Andrew was the lack of quality data on complex value chains. A full view of impact requires improvements in disclosure and standardisation of data, which enables more sophisticated discussions about potential transformations in transportation and production systems.

Thom Kenrick, from the RBS Sustainable Banking team, was next in line to be interviewed by Gail. Unsurprisingly, Thom began by highlighting the major changes that have taken place in the banking sector in recent years and how this has driven RBS’s journey of reform and restructure. The financial crisis fundamentally changed regulation as banks were placed under greater scrutiny by both regulators and wider stakeholders. Thom described the growing interest in ethical finance from RBS customers but pointed out that many still struggle with the lack of consistency in terminology and approaches. In relation to social finance Thom suggested that this means financial inclusion to one, diversity to another and divesting from a power station to someone else. Unlike environmental impact, there is not a right or wrong answer as so many different aspects of social life have no scientific base.

Thom felt that while international standards may help in providing consistency, he pointed out that while PRI (2005) and TCFD (2015) have been around for a number of years few signatories are genuinely delivering to the required standard. That said, according to Thom, the situation is changing as customers, investors and the public are increasingly scrutinising firms so whilst such standards are voluntary, the consequences of not following them risks deterring prospective / existing customers and investors.

Despite the challenges outlined throughout the session the discussion ended on a positive note. Younger generations are more conscious, and their demand is expected to drive ethical finance in the long term. Change takes time and previous developments in ethical finance, whether successful or not, will have played a part in shifting mind-sets and practices. Although nothing is yet set in stone leading market players, such as big Baillie Gifford and RBS, have established dedicated teams, products and services to raise awareness and drive finance for positive change.

by GEFI

GEFI Round Table Discusses Ethical Finance Approaches in the Debt Capital Markets

The Ethical Finance Roundtable was held on Feb 27th at Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh. Entitled "Ethical Finance Approaches in the Debt Capital Markets", the round table covered market developments in the $1.45 trn climate-aligned bonds market (such as green bonds) along with innovative trends in ESG and SDG bonds.

Following a welcome by Chair Omar Shaikh, Graham Smith (Director - Sustainable Finance Unit - Global Banking, HSBC) provided an update on HSBC's strategy to deploy $100bn in sustainable financing and investment by 2025, and an overview of the bank's SDG bond and how it has integrated the Green Loan Principles and Green Bond Principles into its financial products and instruments:

The $100bn is typically deployed through: 1) bonds 2) loans and 3) investments where HSBC maintains a focus on returns. The green agenda is being driven by regulation where some governments are taking measures that encourage responsible lending in the private sector. The Paris Agreement, which set out national contribution guidelines in the form of NDCs, prompted legislation such as the Clean Air Act in the UK. Furthermore, in France, the Government issued Law 173 in making investors disclose green assets from brown banks are obliged to rebalance their assets with a higher ratio of green to brown.

HSBC is a leader in green finance and is committed to investing in green assets that drive the market forward. With the examples of Clean tech growing by 4% to 5% Graham suggested that investors should be interested in the space green or not.

In March 2018 the Green Loan Principles were published. Graham explained that this important development, with a similar rationale to the Green Bond Principles, applies to broader sections of business and society and has now become the “gold standard” for green loans. Banks can now offer products that they understand.

Graham explained the emergence of products (such as green, social, sustainability bonds and loans to transition loans) and that the Loan Association is likely to provide a much-needed definition for ESG loans in March this year.

With ESG products positioning businesses as good corporate citizens and green products highlighting a commitment to the environment there are PR benefits to be derived from businesses engaged in sustainable finance. In terms of pricing, there is no financial penalty for investing in green bonds but they still prove costly for issuers.

HSBC launched the world’s first bond that directly supports the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. The US$1 billion raised through the bond finances projects that benefit communities and the environment, including hospitals, schools, small-scale renewable power plants and public rail systems.

The key message is that regulations are driving the development of the market, leading to change at the commercial level. A prime example is the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).

Caspar Cook (Head of Analysis, Cameron Hume) then outlined Cameron Hume's client-led approach to ESG, which focuses on a combination of values-based and returns-based strategies, and how this has evolved to successfully grow the Global Fixed Income ESG Fund.

Cameron Hume, an active fixed income specialist, is a signatory to UN PRI. Caspar started by explaining the considerations of applying an ESG approach to fixed income, which differs from its integration into equity investments. There remains a lot of confusion as to the definition of ESG so Cameron Hume has divided its approaches into two categories: returns-driven (ESG factors that are material to performance) vs values-driven (implement ethical social and environmental objectives of different investors). Cameron Hume focuses on returns-driven investment and only practices values-driven investing in segregated accounts that mandate it.

Caspar believes that ESG is a good risk indicator and cited the example of PG&E, a prolific bond issuer known as the cleanest provider of energy in USA. Carbon conscious investors would have found this an interesting play but they filed for bankruptcy following their link to the California wild fires. ESG analysis, using MSCI, would have highlighted risks relating to its poor land use and diversification thereby discouraging investment.

A further example was shared by Caspar. Equifax, the biggest US credit scoring company, had a substantial data breach recently that severely impacted its shares and bonds. MSCI had ranked Equifax 1 out of 10 in data security and flagged this as a material risk. These factors do not typically appear in annual accounts or financial ratios that many investors focus on.

ESG factors help investors focus on neglected risk that leads to more sustainable long-term investing. Cameron Hume’s Global Fixed Income ESG Fund uses responsible investing to bring ESG factors in to the investment process tilted towards higher ESG rated companies.

Following the formal presentations a lively and lively question and answer session followed. Some of the key points raised included:

  • It is easier to influence sovereigns through the bond markets than corporates.
  • ESG policies in businesses tend to be top down and not always filtering to the bottom layer of people making decisions.
  • ESG factors influence investment performance but not necessarily on a consistent basis. Some studies show that it can add 0.5% to 0.8% a year in performance. Participants were skeptical because it is hard to disentangle ESG from other factors.
  • Clients have fiduciary duty towards performance so it is a challenge for fund managers to integrate a universally agreed ethical stance into a portfolio (e.g. Calpers divested from tobacco stocks 15 years ago and recently published that that decision cost them USD6bn).
  • Even if findings suggest that ESG is good for performance over the last few years there is a lack of evidence indicating that it will improve performance going forward.
  • The bond industry must evolve to ensure bonds fulfil their green promises. At the moment they just get declassified but there should be penalties. And declassification often takes place long after the bond has de-greened (e.g. Mexico City airport project).

The session concluded with a discussion on the role the debt capital market industry can play in driving standardisation in pricing, measuring and reporting. The key points raised were:

  • At the moment the industry tends to tick boxes and gets PR recognition for this (e.g. the CDP used by the TCFD).
  • There is no perfect measure for transition risk, which will play a key role in consolidating many sectors in the medium term.
  • A nuance that influences the development of the industry positively is that asset managers pay for MSCI scorings while issuers pay for credit ratings.
  • As investors increasing focus on analysing and challenging data a virtuous cycle will be created to drive up the availability and quality of data.
  • A limitation on green bond reporting is the risk of breaching client confidentiality.
  • The proof of concept is just as poor in green project proposals that are submitted for debt funding. This leads to a serious lack of viable sensible pipeline to invest in (especially in the SDG space). Large lenders end up majority invested in their own assets as a result (e.g. HSBC’s SDG Bond

by GEFI

Overview of Ethical Debt Instruments

Introduction 

Debt instruments that provide a coupon as well as a social or environmental return are broadly dubbed as ethical debt instruments. They come in a variety of forms, and innovative new structures are increasingly coming to market.

The major driver of this is investor demand (such as pension funds, insurers and millennials) and issuers keen to tap into this rich pool of investment capital at equal to lower cost than purely financial return focused bonds. Investors increasingly believe that these forms of debt financing better capture long term and existential risks as well as seek to provide non-financial returns.

The most important factors to focus on when evaluating such instruments is whether the issue meets a common set of Social Bond Principles, namely use of proceeds, project or investment selection process, management of funds in accordance with a pre agreed framework that has been evaluated by a third party (e.g. Sustainalytics or CECERO) and aligns with a recognized global or national set of principles (such as the Green Bond Principles, the Social Bond Principles and/or the Sustainability Bond Guidelines) and impact metrics monitoring and reporting.

Green Bonds

By far the largest ethical debt market place at the moment, with USD11.9bn issued to date in 2019 alone. Last year there was USD167.3bn in issuances. This year is forecasted to mobilise USD250bn in issues. The majority of these bond issuances are aligned with the Climate Bonds Initiative to provide environmental integrity. A few are certified by the climate bond standard which is backed by a board of investors that represent USD34tr in AUM.

Essentially the proceeds of the bond must be used in areas that are consistent with the 2-degree Celsius warming limit specified in the Paris Agreement. BNP Paribas is consistently in the top five underwriting league tables for green bonds. Several stock exchanges have a dedicated section allocated to green bonds, such as Oslo, London, Mexico, Luxembourg, Italy, Shanghai, Taipei, Johannesburg and Japan. Interestingly the US, China and France are the largest sources of labelled green bonds.

Issuers range mostly from multi sector to energy or building related. Structures are sophisticated and diverse ranging from covered bonds and asset backed securities to green Schuldschein, green sukuks, mortgage backed securities and medium-term notes. Apart from issuing its first green bond (USD500mn) as early as 2015, HSBC has also issued an equity linked green bond for EUR34mn (2017) that pegs returns to the performance of a basket of ESG compliant listed companies that are measured against 134 KPIs (STOXX Europe ESG Leaders 30 Index). The proceeds are dedicated to projects that improve energy efficiency.

SDG Bonds

SDG bonds are a type of sustainability bond that aligns the projects it finances or refinances with social and / or environmental impact linked to specific SDGs. These may include all the SDGs or only some of them, such as in the case of the ANZ SDG Bond that seeks to contribute to the achievement of nine of the seventeen goals including health, education, sustainable cities and climate action or the HSBC UN SDG Bond that uses proceeds towards projects that achieve one or more of seven specified SDGs including clean water, energy, education and infrastructure.

In both cases the proceeds can also be used on its own operating or capital expenditures as long as it contributes to the achievement of one or more of the nine SDGs identified.

In HSBCs case the bond is majority invested in two of its LEED Gold certified headquarters in the Midlands and in Dubai. The HSBC bond which was launched in 2017 was USD1bn, 3x oversubscribed and matures in 2023. The more recent SDG bond issued by the World Bank links return on investment to the stock performance of thirty listed companies that make up the Solactive Sustainable Development Goals World MV Index. Proceeds will be used to finance their development projects. BNP Paribas arranged the bond while Banque SYZ placed it.

ESG Bonds

ESG is now a mainstream topic steering investment towards it, and this will continue at a steady pace given that Millennials, who put greater emphasis on adopting these values, will become 75% of the work force by 2025. One of the challenges the industry faces however is a lack of standardization making it difficult for investment funds to set a fixed ESG criteria. In addition, the size of ESG bond issues are generally small relative to their conventional peers and are issued by those with no track record thereby making it difficult for large institutional investors to participate. In fact 50% of European investors in a recent report said they did not think there were enough ESG products in the fixed income space. Another influencing factor in the debt capital markets is that whether labelled as a type of sustainability bond or not, 85% of European investors apply ESG criteria to at least investment grade bonds. (RBC Global Asset Management & Cerulli Associates)

Blue Bonds

These are bonds that raise financing for projects that support the sustainable use of ocean resources, inspired by the green bond movement but at a naisant stage. Only one issuer has raised a blue bond so far and that is the Seychelles, an island highly dependent on the ocean for its livelihood. The issue size was a modest USD15m and the coupon is part guaranteed by the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility. Considering the size of the issue only three investors participated: Calvert Impact Capital, Nuveen and Prudential.

Vaccine Bonds

Vaccine bonds were in fact pioneered in 2006 by the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) launched by GAVI (The Vaccine Alliance) and began the movement by the financial sector towards developing a set of principles to hold the socially responsible bonds universe together. Vaccine bonds are directly aligned to SDG 3, which aims to end the preventable death of children under 5 years of age by 2030. GAVI has been able to raise USD5.7bn so far as effective bridge financing until grant providers can step in.

Other Bonds

Other kinds of social & development impact bonds include Tobacco Social Impact Bonds (TSIB), a rhinoceros conservation impact bond, a cocoa and coffee production bond in Peru and a youth unemployment program bond in Serbia. Sometimes referred to as a pay for success model or a social benefit bond, these innovative financial instruments tend to be driven by private investors with an interest to offer upfront capital for a particular and specific social or environmental goal. These investors work with governments, philanthropists and/or aid donors to come up with mutually beneficial structures that reward them if outcomes are met.

Conclusion

Although the green bond marketplace has taken off well over the last few years, it is not enough to fill the USD3 to USD5 trillion annual gap that is required to meet the SDGs. Banks are in a perfect situation to align just part of their broad loan books towards SDGs that are material to them to drive more capital towards the achievement of the SDGs. Certain sectors can be identified as most closely aligned and a framework for tracking and reviewing annually can be put in place based on industry learnings from the green bond issuance space. As a result, banks will not only be able to expand their product offering and client base but also support their clients who wish to similarly begin engaging with and reporting on their contributions to the UN SDGs.

References: ICMA, UN, Dealogic, MSCI, European Commission, Climate Bonds Initiative and HSBC

Ethical Finance Round Table

HSBC is an active lender in the sustainable finance industry globally and a member of The ICMA Green Bond Principles Executive Committee, The Catalytic Finance Initiative, The Equator Principles Association, The WEF Climate Leaders CEO Group, The Climate Bonds Initiative, The Social Bond Guidance Steering Committee, China’s Green Finance Committee, and the Adopted Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosure. It is the founder of the HSBC Centre of Sustainable Finance and the award-winning Climate Change Centre of Excellence and the first sovereign Green Bond arranger (EUR750mn Polish Bond 2016). HSBC will be speaking at the Ethical Finance Roundtable in Edinburgh hosted by GEFI on Feb 27th 2019. To be considered for an invitation, please click here.

by GEFI