In this article Louise Pryor, Roelof Coertze and Tim den Dekker overhear a surprising conversation implying that we are more worried about the solvency of our insurers than about the safety of our planet.
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Carbon prices in NGFS scenarios
In this article Tim den Dekker and Roelof Coertze explore whether the carbon prices that are assumed in the NGFS scenarios are high enough to steer real estate investment decisions towards lower carbon design alternatives.
Continue reading “Carbon prices in NGFS scenarios”Holistic Retirement Planning and Financing Green Home Retrofits
In today’s world we face a multitude of challenges, including the rising cost of living, the need for stronger retirement savings, the need for more optimal provision of retirement benefits, and of course the urgent need to decarbonise our economy. In this article Neil Dissanayake and Gowri Kotur introduce the case for alternative thinking that could provide some help in addressing these pressing concerns. They consider a variety of questions from two main perspectives.
Continue reading “Holistic Retirement Planning and Financing Green Home Retrofits”Sharing remaining carbon emissions: what is fair?
By Louise Pryor
In order to meet the net zero goal that supports the Paris Agreement, global emissions will have to be drastically reduced over the coming years. In fact there is a limit on the remaining amount of emissions that the atmosphere can absorb before the global temperature rise will move above the agreed bounds – this limit is the remaining carbon budget. Global emissions will have to be cut drastically to stay within the budge. The question that this paper considers is how the remaining carbon budget should be allocated, and what might be considered “fair” in this context.
Continue reading “Sharing remaining carbon emissions: what is fair?”Financing Net Zero
By Colin Wilson and Alastair Gilg
There is much debate about how the UK can secure the necessary investment to deliver the transition to net zero needed to mitigate climate change and how it can be financed. In this paper we look at Government policy and recent commentary from the Climate Change Committee to ask if more needs to be done.
Continue reading “Financing Net Zero”Climate solvency and investment management actions
By Neil Dissanayake
In ACC’s discussion paper 2, we introduced the idea of climate solvency. In this paper we draw a comparison with insurer solvency which highlights the urgency of the situation and the need for credible committed actions to address it. We suggest some practical actions that insurers and investors can take to help in tackling the climate emergency.
Continue reading “Climate solvency and investment management actions”What does “net zero” mean?
By Roelof Coertze, Izaak Jephson and Kateryna Swiegers
As the world attempts to mitigate the impacts of climate change, the concept of ‘net zero’ is central to many strategies and targets. However, ‘net zero’ is often not explicitly defined and varies for different entities. This note explores what ‘net zero’ means for various levels of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emissions aggregation and discusses associated considerations for each of them. Specifically, we consider the following views at which the concept of ‘net zero’ is typically used: the planet, country, company, product and individual levels.
Continue reading “What does “net zero” mean?”Applying the Markov model to Carbon Flows
By Gowri Suresh Babu
As actuaries, we are trained to model uncertain futures. Probabilities are one of the most used tools in our actuarial toolkit, and are a very powerful metric. The common example that affects everyone’s daily life is the weather – probabilities are used to make predictions which help us to decide whether or not to take that umbrella!
Climate change has many uncertainties over an extended period. Gowri Suresh Babu considers combining probabilities, a Markov model and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) to gain useful insight into what RCP the earth may be in at future points of time.
Continue reading “Applying the Markov model to Carbon Flows”Comment on the WLCN/LETI/RIBA Framework for assessing the carbon emissions of buildings
By Louise Pryor and Simon Sturgis
In May 2021 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) and the Whole Life Carbon Network (WLCN) published Carbon Definitions and Targets. These consolidate targets previously published separately by the RIBA, LETI and the Greater London Authority (GLA), and provide a Framework for going forward.
The document links the RICS methodology to specific Definitions and Carbon Targets with the aim of standardising and coordinating these aspects of carbon assessment and reporting.
Continue reading “Comment on the WLCN/LETI/RIBA Framework for assessing the carbon emissions of buildings”Trees and Negative Carbon
In this paper Louise Pryor and Izaak Jephson outline the potential for reforestation and its impact on atmospheric carbon, as well as some of the additional benefits it can provide. They then discuss issues around the timing, permanence and uncertainty of the carbon removal provided by reforestation.
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