The global climate effects of rising carbon emissions are fast becoming too costly to ignore. However, mitigating these effects also carry risks and involve transition costs that can be difficult to estimate upfront. We explore how these developments could affect financial stability and how trends in sustainable finance are being used to respond to the associated threats and opportunities. Introduction: limiting the costs of climate change and the ‘just energy transition’
Following a two-year consultation and development process, South Africa’s first national Green Finance Taxonomy was launched on 1 April 2022, by the Taxonomy Working Group as part of South Africa’s Sustainable Finance Initiative. The Group, chaired by National Treasury and hosted by the Banking Association South Africa, included representatives from national government, financial sector regulators and the financial services sector. What is the Green Finance Taxonomy?
South Africa’s first green finance taxonomy will help investors and financial institutions make more informed decisions on ‘green’ projects, say Webber Wentzel’s Patrick Heron and Joon Chong. Heron and Chong describe the taxonomy, launched by National Treasury last Friday, as an official classification of what is eligible to be defined as ‘green’, while also listing the standards that define economic activities as ‘green’.