scholarly journals Nordic green bond issuers’ views on the upcoming EU Green Bond Standard

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 222-279
Author(s):  
Linn Björkholm ◽  
Othmar M. Lehner
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Bond Market ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Reputational Risk ◽  
Green Finance ◽  
Bond Issuers ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

The green bond market is growing and becoming increasingly important in green finance and for the transition to a low-carbon economy. Still, the green bond market is to a large extent unstandardised. There is no commonly agreed definition of the term ‘green’. This has been seen as one of the biggest challenges when it comes to the development of the green bond market. The need of a unified EU standard has been raised and as an effect the establishment of the EU Green Bond Standard is now in development. However, new standards might not only bring advantages, but also challenges. Striking the right balance of strictness might be hard. The research has been conducted through qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. Nine interviews were held during November and December 2020. The data was then analysed through thematic coding in order to find patterns of meaning. The results show that Nordic green bond issuers overall are positive towards the EU Green Bond Standard. The EU GBS has a good aim, to harmonise and enlarge the green bond market. However, the standard brings challenges that are to a large extent known challenges which the EU GBS aims to address, such as labour intensive reporting processes, lack of initiative and reputational risk. Also, it is argued that the standard is not fair and applicable for all the countries and companies. Countries national laws may not always go hand in hand with the standard. For example, the requirements for green buildings are seen as challenging in the Nordics. If these challenges are not taken into consideration, Nordic green bond issuers fear that the market will not grow, but instead decrease. Additionally, Nordic green bond issuers argue the adoption of the EU GBS is not a guarantee for issuers. Bigger institutes are seen to be early adopters. For other issuers investor requirement and positive impact on their company reputation is seen as the key drivers for adoption of the standard.

scholarly journals Risk Society and Anti-Politics in the Fracking Debate

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Drake
Keyword(s):  
Energy Production ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Local Newspaper ◽  
Fossil Fuel Energy ◽  
Carbon Economy

Fracking in the United Kingdom has yet to reach full industrial development, but it is still subject to significant opposition. This study uses Beck’s risk society theory and anti-politics to examine the views voiced by opponents to fracking in Yorkshire, England. A qualitative approach was used. Semi-structured interviews with protesters and local newspaper reports were evaluated to provide a thematic analysis. The study drew upon discourse analysis and framing literature to reveal discourses within the interviews. Although there are signs of post-materialist concerns with the environment, these issues did not dominate the discussion. Scientists were not held responsible for the risks involved in fracking. Instead, the economic greediness of politicians and austerity measures were perceived as putting the environment and human health at risk. Interviewees thought fossil fuel energy production was economically advantaged over more sustainable energy and jobs in the low carbon economy. Protesters’ trust in politicians had been eroded, but faith in democracy remained. It is argued that the consensual post-politics of risk society have not led to a reinvigoration of democratic debate. Instead anti-politics have taken place, due to the frustration of citizens. Protesters wanted a citizen-led deliberative approach to the concerns raised. Such a process would have to go beyond the consensual, and recognise the inherently agonistic process of democracy if it is to succeed.

scholarly journals The Moderating Effect of R&D Investment on Income and Carbon Emissions in China: Direct and Spatial Spillover Insights

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaozhou Qi ◽  
Huarong Peng ◽  
Xiujie Tan
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Knowledge Spillovers ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Coal Consumption ◽  
Spatial Spillover ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
D Investment

R&D investment plays a great role in achieving China’s low-carbon economy goals, which has a moderating effect on the relationship between income and carbon emissions. Furthermore, such a moderating effect may have spatial differences, given the possible spatial dependence of carbon emissions. Therefore, this paper explores the direct and spatial spillover moderating effects of R&D investment by adopting the panel spatial Durbin model and data of 30 provinces in China during 1998–2015. The empirical results firstly indicate that R&D investment moderates the positive impact of income on local carbon emissions for both the non-spatial and spatial model, and that more R&D investment can make carbon emissions reach the turning point earlier. Secondly, R&D investment in the local province increases the positive influence of local income on neighboring carbon emissions, which mainly results from the transfer effect of carbon emissions rather than the knowledge spillovers effect. The results are indicated to be robust by three types of robustness analyses. Finally, FDI and patents are the main constrained forces of local and neighboring carbon emissions; coal consumption is the main driver of local carbon emissions.

scholarly journals The “New” Environmental Policy Of The European Union: A Path To Development Of A Circular Economy And Mitigation Of The Negative Effects Of Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zofia Wysokińska
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Carbon Economy ◽  
The Eu

This paper analyses the evolution of the new environmental policy of the European Union in the context of the efforts undertaken to moderate the negative effects of climate change. It describes all the activities in the European Union designed to implement new tools of the EU environmental policy, such as low carbon economy technologies, tools that improve the efficiency of managing the limited natural resources, the environmentally friendly transport package, etc. All of them are aimed at laying the foundations of the circular economy, which may also be referred to as a closed-loop economy, i.e., an economy that does not generate excessive waste and whereby any waste becomes a resource.

EU Green Deal will involve greater state regulation

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Sector Funds ◽  
The Eu

Subject European Green Deal. Significance The European Green Deal seeks to transform the EU to a low-carbon economy. It proposes radical change in the way goods and services are produced and consumed. While based on a level playing field for all actors within the EU, it implies much greater state regulation of economic and social activities with the aim of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Impacts The Green Deal’s adoption would increase the likelihood of environmental criteria becoming more prominent in trade policy. The mobilisation of additional public sector funds implies rising debt levels on top of the expenditure relating to COVID-19. COVID-19 will delay EU and member state scrutiny and ratification of the Green Deal components.

The EU Emissions Trading System in Crisis-Ridden Greece: Climate under Neoliberalism

2020 ◽  
pp. 048661342091054
Author(s):  
Andriana Vlachou ◽  
Georgios Pantelias
Keyword(s):  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Eu Ets ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Distributional Effects ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Environmental Effectiveness ◽  
Emissions Trading System ◽  
The Eu

Neoliberal capitalism has extended the use of markets to address climate and energy issues. Carbon trading characteristically exemplifies the neoliberalization of climate policy. This paper discusses the workings of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in the European Union (EU) with a focus on its application in crisis-ridden Greece. Beyond environmental effectiveness and distributional effects, the paper explores the interactions of the EU ETS with crisis, austerity programs, energy poverty, and uneven development. Despite adjustments and changes, the EU ETS continues to indicate limited environmental effectiveness and unjust distributional effects. Moreover, by forging a centralized neoliberal transition to a low-carbon economy without consideration of the issues faced by unevenly developed and crisis-stricken EU members such as Greece, the EU ETS leads to additional disturbances and problems for the Greek economy as a whole, its pauperized working people, and its energy and climate options to reduce emissions on its own potential, needs, and priorities.

THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF ANTI-DUMPING AND ANTI-SUBSIDY POLICIES AMONG CHINA, THE U.S. AND THE EU: THE PHOTOVOLTAIC INDUSTRY

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (03) ◽  
pp. 513-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
HUA WANG ◽  
JUE WANG ◽  
ZHONGXIAN FENG
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Economic Effect ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Eu

Since the end of 2011, the U.S., the European Union (EU) and China have been searching for a trade remedy regarding each other’s photovoltaic (PV) industry. Based on the perspective of the value chain of Global Solar Energy PV industry, this paper examines related factors including the tax rate imposed on the PV industry, and uses the global simulation model (GSIM) to predict the trade impact and welfare effects generated from the “double-anti” policy (anti-dumping laws with countervailing duties). The results of the research showed that China has not yet formed a complete value chain of the PV industry that is internationally competitive. The economic effect of the “double-anti” policy on China as a result of the EU is more pronounced than that with the U.S. The “double-anti” policy will have a negative impact on China’s low carbon economy development. The authors conclude that the development of polycrystalline silicon in China needs to be supported by forcible policy measures and targeted measures are proposed.

scholarly journals Has Green Finance Facilitated China's Low-Carbon Economic Transition?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wenqi ◽  
Jingjing Fan ◽  
Jiawei Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Economic Transition ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Green Finance ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Low Carbon Technologies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Carbon Economy

Abstract The development of green finance helps to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy. Using data from 30 provinces in China from 2001-2019, we empirically examine the impact of green finance on the transition to a low-carbon economy and further explore the mediating role of low-carbon technological innovation in this facilitation process. The study finds that (1) green finance can significantly contribute to the transformation of the low-carbon economy from China as a whole. However, when China is divided into four regions: east, central, west and northeast, the contribution of green finance to the low-carbon economic transition in the west is not significant. (2) After adding low-carbon technologies to the model, green finance still has a significant contribution to the low-carbon economic transition, but this contribution decreases with the intervention of low-carbon technologies. (3) There is a strong spatial dependence between green finance development and low-carbon economic transformation in 30 Chinese provinces. However, the dependence among provinces tends to weaken after 2011. And the overall green financial development in China shows a positive spillover effect on the low-carbon economic transition. Based on the analysis results, several countermeasures are proposed to promote the further development of China's low-carbon economy.

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