scholarly journals From Bushfires to Misfires: Climate-related Financial Risk after McVeigh v. Retail Employees Superannuation Trust

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Esmeralda Colombo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Risk Disclosure ◽  
Fiduciary Duties ◽  
Black Swans ◽  
Related Risk

Abstract The year 2020 proved to be a clarion call for global society. There is no longer doubt that increasingly we are experiencing unpredictable events, known as ‘black swans’, ranging from pandemics to financial meltdowns. One of the ’climate black swans’ against which experts have cautioned is the financial crisis caused by climate change. In this context, the Australian case of McVeigh v. Retail Employees Superannuation Trust for the first time tested climate risk and the fiduciary duties of retail pension funds. Settled in November 2020, the case has already raised the bar for climate risk practice in pension funds. In particular, McVeigh suggests that courts, as well as out-of-court settlements, may articulate a duty, rather than grant permission, for pension funds to consider climate-related financial risk in their investment decisions. The article builds on McVeigh to ask two questions. Firstly, what is the role of climate change litigation in promoting climate regulation by pension funds? Secondly, what is the relative importance of pension funds for the risk management of climate-related financial risk via due diligence compared with risk assessment via disclosure? Fundamentally, the article explains climate-related financial risk as a cultural phenomenon and argues that a discussion on pension fund fiduciary duties must consider disclosure in addition to due diligence. It argues that McVeigh articulated the need for a normative approach to pension fund disclosure duties and an extension of the field of climate-related risk disclosure to embrace climate-related risk due diligence.

Climate change and the fiduciary duties of pension fund trustees – lessons from the Australian law

2019 ◽  
pp. 94-127
Author(s):  
Sarah Barker ◽  
Mark Baker-Jones ◽  
Emilie Barton ◽  
Emma Fagan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Fiduciary Duties

scholarly journals Archetypes of Climate-Risk Profiles among Rural Households in Limpopo, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-560
Author(s):  
Fiona Paumgarten ◽  
Bruno Locatelli ◽  
Ed T. F. Witkowski
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Households ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Risk Profiles ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Climate Hazards

AbstractMore frequent and intense climate hazards, a predicted outcome of climate change, are likely to threaten existing livelihoods in rural communities, undermining households’ adaptive capacity. To support households’ efforts to manage and reduce this risk, there is a need to better understand the heterogeneity of risk within and between communities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revised their climate vulnerability framework to incorporate the concept of risk. This study contributes toward the operationalization of this updated framework by applying a recognized methodology to the analysis of the climate-related risk of rural households. Using a mixed-method approach, including a cluster analysis, it determined and assessed archetypical patterns of household risk. The approach was applied to 170 households in two villages, in different agroecological zones, in the Vhembe District Municipality of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Six archetypical climate-risk profiles were identified based on differences in the core components of risk, namely, the experience of climate hazards, the degree of exposure and vulnerability, and the associated impacts. The method’s application is illustrated by interpreting the six profiles, with possible adaptation pathways suggested for each. The archetypes show how climate-related risk varies according to households’ livelihood strategies and capital endowments. There are clear site-related distinctions between the risk profiles; however, the age of the household and the gender of the household head also differentiate the profiles. These different profiles suggest the need for adaptation responses that account for these site-related differences, while still recognizing the heterogeneity of risk at the village level.

Climate change and the fiduciary duties of pension fund trustees – lessons from the Australian law

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Barker ◽  
Mark Baker-Jones ◽  
Emilie Barton ◽  
Emma Fagan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Fiduciary Duties

An exploratory study of intangibles risk disclosure in annual reports of banking companies from the UK, US, Germany and Italy - Some descriptive insights

2013 ◽  
pp. 81-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Durst
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Risk Disclosure ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
The Uk

Intangibles are viewed as the key drivers in most industries, and current research shows that firms voluntarily disclose information about their investments in intangibles and their potential benefits. Yet little is known of the risks relating to such resources and the disclosures firms make about such risks. In order to obtain a more balanced and complete picture of firms' activities, information about the risky side of their intangibles is also needed. This exploratory study provides some descriptive insights into intangibles-related risk disclosure in a sample of 16 large banks from the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Germany and Italy. Annual report data is analyzed using the three Intellectual Capital dimensions. Study findings illustrate the variety of intangibles-related risk disclosure as demonstrated by the banks involved.

Schweizer Wald als Geldanlage: Win-win-Strategie für Waldwirtschaft und Pensionskassen? (Essay) | Swiss forest as an investment opportunity: a win-win situation for both the forestry sector and pension funds? (Essay)

2011 ◽  
Vol 162 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-31
Author(s):  
Daniel Häuptli
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Investment Opportunity ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Monetary Value ◽  
Forestry Sector ◽  
The One

Could there be a win-win situation for both pension funds and the Swiss forestry sector? On the one hand, developments in the forestry sector suggest that the Swiss forest presents a new lucrative investment opportunity. If this is so, then pension funds could be particularly interested, as the low correlation between Swiss forest and other classes of investment, and the long investment periods involved are ideal for pension fund portfolios. On the other hand, large investments made by pension funds could mean that existing problems in Swiss forestry, in connection with its fragmented nature, could be more rapidly solved, and the potential for rationalization in the wood value chain could be fully realized. This would in turn make investments in the forest even more profitable. This hypothesis was investigated through a comprehensive literature analysis, yield calculations for private forestry enterprises of over 50 ha made by the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics 2004–2008, and an interview with the investments director of a large Swiss pension fund. Despite the optimistic assumption that the greater efficiency gained by the investment of pension funds into the forestry sector could lead to costs lower by 50% and a 20% increase in profits, the hypothesis must be rejected, because a calculated annual return of only 0.82% is too low for pension funds. The conclusion is that the price for forest land is high, and forest owners are not only interested in the monetary value of holding forest. Other immaterial values influence prices. It is suggested that a greater emphasis on socioscientific studies concerning the link between the price of forest land and the motivation to buy and sell forest could lead to some important findings.

On Climate Change Risks of Long-Term Socio-Economic Development in Russia

2019 ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
N.E. Terentiev
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Climate Change Risks ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
Management Policies

Based on the latest data, paper investigates the dynamics of global climate change and its impact on economic growth in the long-term. The notion of climate risk is considered. The main directions of climate risk management policies are analyzed aimed, first, at reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions through technological innovation and structural economic shifts; secondly, at adaptation of population, territories and economic complexes to the irreparable effects of climate change. The problem of taking into account the phenomenon of climate change in the state economic policy is put in the context of the most urgent tasks of intensification of long-term socio-economic development and parrying strategic challenges to the development of Russia.

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