The spirit of green

This session looks at the expected sustainability policies in 2021 and the important role of a price on carbon as part of that. The winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis outlines the best approaches from a policy perspective and how the private and public sector need to work together. Importantly he outlines how carbon footprints can actually be reduced at very low or no cost. View William’s presentation slides here[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22William%20Nordhaus%20%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Sterling%20Professor%20of%20Economics%20and%20Professor%20of%20Forestry%20and%20Environmental%20Studies%2C%20Yale%20University%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22William%20Nordhaus%20was%20born%20in%20Albuquerque%2C%20New%20Mexico%20and%20completed%20his%20undergraduate%20work%20at%20Yale%20University%20in%201963%20and%20received%20his%20Ph.D.%20in%20Economics%20in%201967%20from%20the%20Massachusetts%20Institute%20of%20Technology%2C%20Cambridge%2C%20USA.%20He%20has%20been%20on%20the%20faculty%20of%20Yale%20University%20since%201967%20and%20has%20been%20Full%20Professor%20of%20Economics%20since%201973%20and%20also%20is%20Professor%20in%20Yale%E2%80%99s%20School%20of%20Forestry%20and%20Environmental%20Studies.%20Professor%20Nordhaus%20lives%20in%20downtown%20New%20Haven%20with%20his%20wife%20Barbara%2C%20who%20works%20at%20the%20Yale%20Child%20Study%20Center.%20He%20won%20the%20Sveriges%20Riksbank%20Prize%20in%20Economic%20Sciences%20in%20Memory%20of%20Alfred%20Nobel%202018%20for%20integrating%20climate%20change%20into%20long-run%20macroeconomic%20analysis.%5CnHe%20is%20a%20member%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20and%20a%20Fellow%20of%20the%20American%20Academy%20of%20Arts%20and%20Sciences.%20He%20is%20on%20the%20research%20staff%20of%20the%20National%20Bureau%20of%20Economic%20Research%20and%20has%20been%20a%20member%20and%20senior%20advisor%20of%20the%20Brookings%20Panel%20on%20Economic%20Activity%2C%20Washington%2C%20D.C.%20since%201972.%20Professor%20Nordhaus%20is%20current%20or%20past%20editor%20of%20several%20scientific%20journals%20and%20has%20served%20on%20the%20executive%20committees%20of%20the%20American%20Economic%20Association%20and%20the%20Eastern%20Economic%20Association.%20He%20serves%20on%20the%20Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20Panel%20of%20Economic%20Experts%20and%20was%20the%20first%20chair%20of%20the%20advisory%20committee%20for%20the%20Bureau%20of%20Economic%20Analysis.%20He%20was%20the%20first%20chair%20of%20the%20newly%20formed%20American%20Economic%20Association%20Committee%20on%20Federal%20Statistics.%20In%202004%2C%20he%20was%20awarded%20the%20prize%20of%20%E2%80%9CDistinguished%20Fellow%E2%80%9D%20by%20the%20American%20Economic%20Association.%5CnFrom%201977%20to%201979%2C%20he%20was%20a%20Member%20of%20the%20President%E2%80%99s%20Council%20of%20Economic%20Advisers.%20From%201986%20to%201988%2C%20he%20served%20as%20the%20Provost%20of%20Yale%20University.%20He%20has%20served%20on%20several%20committees%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20including%20the%20committee%20on%20Nuclear%20and%20Alternative%20Energy%20Systems%2C%20the%20panel%20on%20Policy%20Implications%20of%20Greenhouse%20Warming%2C%20the%20committee%20on%20National%20Statistics%2C%20the%20committee%20on%20Data%20and%20Research%20on%20Illegal%20Drugs%2C%20and%20the%20committee%20on%20the%20Implications%20for%20Science%20and%20Society%20of%20Abrupt%20Climate%20Change.%20He%20recently%20chaired%20a%20panel%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20which%20produced%20a%20report%2C%20Nature%E2%80%99s%20Numbers%2C%20that%20recommended%20approaches%20to%20integrate%20environmental%20and%20other%20non-market%20activity%20into%20the%20national%20economic%20accounts.%20More%20recently%2C%20he%20has%20directed%20the%20Yale%20Project%20on%20Non-Market%20Accounting%2C%20supported%20by%20the%20Glaser%20Foundation.%5CnHe%20is%20the%20author%20of%20many%20books%2C%20among%20them%20Invention%2C%20Growth%20And%20Welfare%2C%20Is%20Growth%20Obsolete%3F%2C%20The%20Efficient%20Use%20Of%20Energy%20Resources%2C%20Reforming%20Federal%20Regulation%2C%20Managing%20The%20Global%20Commons%2C%20Warming%20The%20World%2C%20and%20(joint%20with%20Paul%20Samuelson)%20the%20classic%20textbook%2C%20Economics%2C%20whose%20nineteenth%20edition%20was%20published%20in%202009.%20His%20research%20has%20focused%20on%20economic%20growth%20and%20natural%20resources%2C%20the%20economics%20of%20climate%20change%2C%20as%20well%20as%20the%20resource%20constraints%20on%20economic%20growth.%20Since%20the%201970s%2C%20he%20has%20developed%20economic%20approaches%20to%20global%20warming%2C%20including%20the%20construction%20of%20integrated%20economic%20and%20scientific%20models%20(the%20DICE%20and%20RICE%20models)%20to%20determine%20the%20efficient%20path%20for%20coping%20with%20climate%20change%2C%20with%20the%20latest%20vintage%2C%20DICE-2007%2C%20published%20in%20A%20Question%20Of%20Balance%20(Yale%20University%20Press%2C%202008).%20Professor%20Nordhaus%20has%20also%20studied%20wage%20and%20price%20behaviour%2C%20health%20economics%2C%20augmented%20national%20accounting%2C%20the%20political%20business%20cycle%2C%20productivity%2C%20and%20the%20%E2%80%9Cnew%20economy.%E2%80%9D%20His%201996%20study%20of%20the%20economic%20history%20of%20lighting%20back%20to%20Babylonian%20times%20found%20that%20the%20measurement%20of%20long-term%20economic%20growth%20has%20been%20significantly%20underestimated.%20He%20returned%20to%20Mesopotamian%20economics%20with%20a%20study%2C%20published%20in%202002%20before%20the%20war%2C%20of%20the%20costs%20of%20the%20U.S.%20war%20in%20Iraq%2C%20projecting%20a%20cost%20as%20high%20as%20%242%20trillion.%20Recently%2C%20he%20has%20undertaken%20the%20%E2%80%9CG-Econ%20project%2C%E2%80%9D%20which%20provides%20the%20first%20comprehensive%20measures%20of%20economic%20activity%20at%20a%20geophysical%20scale.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2243060%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22%22%7D%5D” title=”Speakers” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Director%2C%20institutional%20content%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20%20%20%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22White%20is%20responsible%20for%20the%20content%20across%20all%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%20institutional%20media%20and%20events.%20She%20is%20responsible%20for%20directing%20the%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium%20which%20challenges%20global%20investors%20on%20investment%20best%20practice%20and%20aims%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts%2C%20as%20well%20as%20promote%20the%20long-term%20stability%20of%20markets%20and%20sustainable%20retirement%20incomes.%20She%20is%20the%20editor%20of%20conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com%2C%20the%20online%20news%20and%20analysis%20site%20for%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20institutional%20investors.%20White%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20journalist%20for%20more%20than%2020%20years%20and%20has%20edited%20industry%20journals%20including%20Investment%20%26%20Technology%2C%20Investor%20Weekly%20and%20MasterFunds%20Quarterly.%20She%20was%20previously%20editorial%20director%20of%20InvestorInfo%20and%20has%20worked%20as%20a%20freelance%20journalist%20for%20the%20Australian%20Financial%20Review%2C%20CFO%2C%20Asset%20and%20Asia%20Asset%20Management.%20She%20has%20a%20Bachelor%20of%20Economics%20from%20Sydney%20University%20and%20a%20Master%20of%20Arts%20in%20Journalism%20from%20the%20University%20of%20Technology%2C%20Sydney.%20She%20was%20previously%20a%20columnist%20for%20the%20Canadian%20publication%2C%20Corporate%20Knights%2C%20which%20is%20distributed%20by%20the%20Globe%20and%20Mail%20and%20The%20Washington%20Post.%20White%20is%20currently%20a%20fellow%20in%20the%20Finance%20Leaders%20Fellowship%20at%20the%20Aspen%20Institute.%20The%20two-year%20program%20consists%20of%2022%20fellows%20and%20seeks%20to%20develop%20the%20next%20generation%20of%20responsible%2C%20community-spirited%20leaders%20in%20the%20global%20finance%20industry.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2243061%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%3ForiginalSubdomain%3Dau%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Key takeaways

[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Unanswered questions and answers

[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Poll results

TBC[vc_line_chart][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Related reading

Climate change: The ultimate challenge for economics The Nobel Memorial Prize for William D. Nordhaus

Sponsored Content

Leave a Comment

Climate the No.1 priority for 2021

Climate the No.1 priority for 2021

Climate is by far the number one sustainability priority for investors in 2021 according to a poll of asset owners from more than 32 countries which came together for the Top1000funds.com online Sustainability event in March.

Sort content by

Regulation will enhance sustainability

Integrating sustainability into investments will become much higher profile under new EU regulations that take effect this year. Coming into force over the course of 2021, the EU’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan represents one of the most impactful pieces of regulation to hit the investment management industry since MiFID II beefed up reporting and transparency in 2018.  A core tenet of the plan is the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which will classify investment funds according to their sustainability credentials for the first time.

The future of energy

The election of Joe Biden as America’s 46th President is just one more important signal that change is imminent, for energy markets and the broader economy. With the world aligned and committed in the fight against climate change, the global movement towards a sustainable energy supply is gaining considerable momentum.

AM’s yet to embrace sustainability

Proxy voting is a powerful tool for shareholders to steer corporate agendas towards sustainability-focused decision making. Despite the increased attention to the integration of sustainability in investment solutions, asset managers generally vote against environmental and social proposals. This trend is more pronounced among large and passive players.

Big Book of Sustainable Investing

The title says it all. In The Big Book of SI, we analyze sustainable investing today and examine the trends that will shape our future. This new publication also gives investors guidelines on implementation, includes interviews with experts and client cases, and highlights the link between ESG integration and performance. All that in just 102 pages.

SWFs need to move on climate

Sovereign wealth funds need to take immediate action to mitigate the effects of climate change, according to a first of its kind survey of sovereign wealth funds.

Behind OTPP’s net zero 2050 plan

Ontario Teachers' has launched its plan to reach net-zero portfolio emissions by 2050, the culmination of a decade of work by the fund in addressing climate change. Amanda White looks at the fund’s climate journey, which has significant lessons for other funds looking to move to net zero.

Previous