There have been all manner of reports published about the climate policies of nations around the globe. Now, Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division has released an investment report that analyzes all those policies and actually assigns a risk rating to 109 countries, states and regions based on those policies.
The report is called “Global Climate Change Policy Tracker: An Investor’s Assessment” (Climate Tracker). It was created by the DB Climate Advisors group in conjunction with the Columbia Climate Center at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.
According to the executive summary, China, Germany, France and Australia earn lower risk profiles than other countries in the Major Economies Forum because they all have strong programs in place related to greenhouse gas emissions targets, renewable usage and industrial environmental policy. The United States, the United Kingdom and Canada have all been assigned moderate risk levels; in the case of the United States, strong policies at the state level were beneficial.
Like other reports published this year, the Climate Tracker report suggests that the way things are going right now, emissions in 2020 will exceed the level necessary to avoid a worldwide average increase in temperature of two degrees Celsius. As you might expect from an investment firm, the report discusses the capital necessary to kick start industries that could help change this. One especially bright spot is a focus on energy efficiency technology at power plants and at points of use.
