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The FiNANCIAL As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group convene their spring meetings, researchers at Oxford University find that most governments have paid scant attention to the effect that climate change could have on their ability to repay debts built up over the pandemic, Oxford University notes.
They estimate that $783 billion has been borrowed from the private sector through sovereign bonds that mature 30, 50 or 100 years from now. However, 77% of countries have not disclosed the risks they face due to climate change in this same time period, in a world projected to face growing climate impacts. This lack of disclosure could lead to a severe debt crisis. Over the 30 to 50-year period covered by much of the COVID-19 lending, changes in global average temperatures alone could cause GDP to drop by tens of percentage points in some countries.
By Megan Rowling
BARCELONA, April 7 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As countries step up borrowing to fund COVID-19 stimulus spending, few governments are paying attention to how climate change could limit their ability to repay the debts, researchers warned on Wednesday.
Increasingly severe climate shocks, such as hurricanes, and chronic pressures such as water shortages and drought are already hurting economies, and could worsen in the future, scientists say.
But researchers at Oxford University, who estimated national governments issued 193 long-term bonds worth $783 billion in 2020, reviewed investor prospectuses for 50 and found about three-quarters did not disclose any climate-related risks.
The findings suggest governments do not understand the economic impacts of climate risks or are unwilling to report them , they said in a commentary published in the journal Nature.
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BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As countries step up borrowing to fund COVID-19 stimulus spending, few governments are paying attention to how climate change could limit their ability to repay the debts, researchers warned on Wednesday.
Increasingly severe climate shocks, such as hurricanes, and chronic pressures such as water shortages and drought are already hurting economies, and could worsen in the future, scientists say.
But researchers at Oxford University, who estimated national governments issued 193 long-term bonds worth $783 billion in 2020, reviewed investor prospectuses for 50 and found about three-quarters did not disclose any climate-related risks.
The findings suggest “governments do not understand the economic impacts of climate risks or are unwilling to report them”, they said in a commentary published in the journal Nature.
Climate-blind borrowing risks credit crunch for future generations reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC and Barclays, which have pledged to stop financing new coal projects, have been challenged by a legal group over a Japanese bond it says will contribute to the financing of coal-fired power in Vietnam.
FILE PHOTO: HSBC logo is seen on a branch bank in the financial district in New York, U.S., August 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
Both banks have come under pressure from investors keen to see them do more to help the world shift to a low-carbon economy and HSBC faces a shareholder vote over its fossil fuel financing at its annual meeting in April.