@bencaldecott.bsky.social
Director, Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, University of Oxford. Finance, climate, energy, sustainability and nature. Working globally with financial institutions, companies, governments, regulators and civil society.
Delighted to host Emmanuel Faber, Chair of the @ifrsfoundation.ifrs.org ISSB, @ox.ac.uk for a public lecture on “Future Proofing Capital Markets with Sustainability Disclosures”, as part of him winning the Oxford Prize for Greening Finance. See: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKqC...
Oxford Sustainable Finance Group & Theia Finance Labs are working together on an exciting new initiative. 'Silicon Boundaries' are thresholds where the benefits of AI and related technologies are outweighed by their contributions to societal instability: mailchi.mp/cgfi/invitat...
It was wonderful to host Ruth Davis, the UK’s first nature envoy, at the University of Oxford on Friday where she gave a wonderfully thoughtful and expansive speech on nature that was simultaneously challenging and inspiring, as well as deeply personal. A treat! Recording and transcript to follow.
The world needs a strong Japan, and Japan’s Green Transformation programme (“GX”) can be a cornerstone of that strength: www.nikkei.com/article/DGKK...
Geological storage needs to be stewarded wisely, more wisely than this research implies. A fraction of that estimated will be accessible at a price society is willing to pay. Carbon removal budgeting is needed to optimise the use of this scarce resource. on.ft.com/4nigq4Z
Delighted to be hosting Ruth Davis, the first UK Special Representative for Nature, for a lecture @UniofOxford on 3 Oct 2025. Opportunity to hear directly from Ruth on the UK's priorities for nature ahead of COP30 and following UNGA week. Register here: www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/event/lectur...
Yet more inflation statistics show that the UK is more vulnerable to the drivers of inflation than peer economies. This report, from a project I chaired, had some excellent supply side proposals to fix the problem: ukonward.com/reports/targ...
Delighted to be confirmed as an @ipcc.bsky.social Coordinating Lead Author for the Finance Chapter of AR7 WGIII. Looking forward to working as part of the IPCC and with members of the wider climate finance community who will contribute over the next few years www.ipcc.ch/assessment-r... @ox.ac.uk
Over 2 days we interrogated polarisation and populism, litigation risk, the promise and perils of AI, and the future of carbon markets, among many other things. Each of the summit sessions is available to watch here: sustainablefinance.ox.ac.uk/summit/video...
A recalibration of sustainable finance is underway. We hosted our third Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit on the theme of reinvention and renewal. If you missed #OSFS25, you can check out some highlights here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_AY...
We mapped all 117,116 of England’s farms – here’s why that matters for transition finance and net zero www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/news/we-mapp...
Excited to welcome participants to our 3rd Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit this week. Theme is Reinvention & Renewal. Progress is not linear or assured. Our task is to confront realities head-on and identify practical pathways that make progress. sustainablefinance.ox.ac.uk/summit/
Extreme weather is the UK's new normal, says Met Office www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
European and UK pension funds drive transatlantic split on sustainable investing on.ft.com/4k5C4bu
Climate impacts will worsen - it is a question of whether they are terrible, really bad or just bad. It is a no brainer to scale up investment in adaptation. This will save money and spur economic activity. Climate resilience is a competitive advantage. www.theccc.org.uk/2025/04/30/t...
New satellite will see through clouds to 'weigh' Earth's forests www.bbc.com/news/article...
"State Street loses £28bn of assets to Amundi and Invesco over ESG goals. US asset manager previously managed all of The People’s Pension’s £33bn in assets" www.ft.com/content/541c...
The next Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit is taking place on Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th July 2025. Registration is now open! Find out more here: sustainablefinance.ox.ac.uk/summit/
“…while China added a record 356GW of wind and solar electricity-generating capacity in 2024, it also began building coal power plants with 94.5GW of capacity…” on.ft.com/4jUZyQQ
Risk of breach of 1.5C of global warming here sooner than expected, studies find on.ft.com/4hUmspL
Jeff Bezos’s $10bn Earth Fund cuts ties with climate group... Potentially just the start of a major shake up in climate philanthropy as public and private donors backfill USAID and other cuts, and some US tech philanthropists pivot www.ft.com/content/c3bf...
This is terrible news. Mikkel was a real sustainability leader and innovator, who played a key role in developing high integrity carbon markets, among many other things. He will be greatly missed, including by colleagues at CIX and DBS Bank. www.businesstimes.com.sg/esg/climate-...
GFANZ is clearly at a crossroads, as are some of the finance sub-sector alliances that it originally consisted of. They can all remain effective, but what are their strategies for doing so?
There is always going to be a shifting constellation of private sector and issue focused alliances for climate action. Some have sunset clauses after doing good work, others like zombies persist even though they’re not very useful. There are others that continue being successful.
Will lowest common denominator entry requirements stave off further withdrawals, or exacerbate the problem? Will the changes allow GFANZ to be more impactful and if so, how? Will the changes kill off the original sub-sector alliances with these members now simply opting to be GFANZ members?
The original requirements for GFANZ membership have been dismantled step by step, as have the mechanisms to ensure accountability for net zero commitments by financial institutions. Being part of Race to Zero and a verified alliance were there to help deliver accountability.
on.ft.com/40EpatK
Federal Reserve Board announces withdrawal from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS): www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/p...
