VoxTalks Climate Finance


VoxTalks Climate Finance seeks to play a formative role in covering the debates at the frontiers of the field that will shape the future of finance when it comes to climate.

Episodes in VoxTalks Climate Finance cover groundbreaking new research in academia, leading developments in public policy and private capital markets at the intersection of climate and finance, including the role that finance plays in pricing climate risks and aligning finance flows with low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient sustainable development. The episodes provide a platform for the debates that must be had to make finance integral to the sustainable climate solution.

Subscribe to VoxTalks Climate Finance at Spotify here (other listening channels here).

VoxTalks Climate Finance is part of CEPR’s VoxTalks Economics.

Climate Finance Instruments

Frédéric Samama has pioneered the development and introduction of instruments that make climate finance not only possible, but practical. He tells Alissa Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips about his research, and how investors can incentivise firms to decarbonise.

Frédéric's latest innovation is a Net-Zero version of the S&P 500 index, called the "S&P 500 Net Zero 2050 Paris-Aligned ESG+ Index." The truly innovative and appealing features of this index are as follows:

  1. Initially, the constituents of the net-zero (NZ) index mirror those of the S&P 500.

  2. Over time, the S&P 500 NZ index follows a decarbonization pathway to align its total emissions with the 1.5-degree temperature target.

  3. This entails removing companies with the highest emissions from the index according to a predefined schedule unless they decarbonize.

  4. Thus, the Net-Zero version of the S&P 500 index combines divestment and engagement. Investors can use their voice to encourage corporations in the index to decarbonize, but high-emitting corporations will be divested if they fail to do so.

  5. As the NZ index grows, the impact of divestment on the cost of capital for these corporations increases.

Frédéric's innovation is the first financial product to explicitly address the time urgency of the NZ goal, considering the rapid depletion of the carbon budget, and it boasts a low tracking error.

Solving the wickedest problem

In the brief history of climate finance, Professor Andrew Karolyi has been one of the pioneers, both as an author and a catalyst to encourage other finance experts to become involved. He talks to Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips about what inspired him to take on what he calls “the wickedest of wicked problems”, how he kickstarted research on the topic, and the little-known involvement of King Charles III in the genesis of climate finance.

What is the purpose of the company?

In 1970 Milton Friedman told us that “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its profits.” Faced with climate change, is that still the right objective for a company, and what could replace it? Professor Dirk Schoenmaker, one of the authors of “Corporate Finance for Long-Term Value” talks to Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips.

Is there a market for biodiversity?

Climate change will have an impact on the natural environment, and the natural environment will affect the rate of climate change. Is biodiversity risk reflected in asset prices? Is it possible to use private capital to finance biodiversity conservation and restoration, and what can that achieve? Alissa Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips talk to Professors Johannes Stroebel and Caroline Flammer.

Whither Climate Finance?

Climate finance is an essential part of the fight against climate change. Join co-hosts Alissa Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips for the important debates in climate finance, with the researchers and policymakers who are making a difference. In our introductory episode "Whither Climate Finance?” we ask: What problems can climate finance solve, and how do we solve them? With guests Professors Patrick Bolton, Viral Acharya, and Stefano Giglio.

The VoxTalks Climate Finance Committee consists of:

Viral Acharya, Patrick Bolton, Stefano Giglio, Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis, Dirk Schoenmaker, and Beatrice Weder di Mauro. 

"Continuing VoxEU's tradition of helping to bridge between academic research and public policy and practice, VoxTalks Climate Finance promises to be an exciting series. It will feature leading global thinkers in climate change and its implications for the economy, the markets, and central banking, and thereby contribute to intellectual debate and wisdom around climate transition and how to surmount the attendant challenges in policy design and implementation." 
- Professor Viral Acharya 

"There is growing interest in academia and among practitioners in the climate change implications for finance. The transition to a carbon free economy will necessarily involve the financial industry. The growing urgency of the carbon transition is raising the stakes for the new field of climate finance. The VoxTalks Climate Finance series is helping spread the word on the latest developments and research. It brings together some of the leading scholars and policy makers, providing an accessible, up to date, and engaging introduction into the most salient topics."
- Professor Patrick Bolton

"Climate finance is an area where academic research, the industry, and policymakers can have a major impact on the world, by working together towards the common goal of a climate transition. The Vox Climate Finance podcast series offers a new space to share and exchange insights from these different viewpoints, diving into the many intricate issues in this field, and presenting the latest knowledge on key climate finance topics to the broader public. "
- Professor Stefano Giglio

"The window of action to avert the worst consequences of climate change is rapidly closing. VoxTalks Climate Finance seeks to play a formative role in covering the debates at the frontiers of the field that will shape the future of finance when it comes to climate."
- Professor Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis

"Given the climate urgency, it is high time to step up climate finance from public and private sources. I trust that the VoxTalks Climate Finance can contribute to that. We need in particular to step up climate finance for developing countries, where it is needed most."
- Professor Dirk Schoenmaker