Regulators are considering the extent to which they should be intervening to ensure voluntary carbon markets are functioning effectively. Is the industry best placed to police itself or is formal action needed by supervisors? 

With the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to publish its final climate disclosure rules in April this year, commissioner Hester Peirce shares her views about its proposed approach in an exclusive interview with Global Risk Regulator.

Anti-ESG sentiment dramatically came to the surface in the US last year with a series of high-profile Republican-led manoeuvres. But how disruptive to the growing ESG tide will this pushback really be? 

Dozens of countries have embarked on developing their own sustainable taxonomies. Many use the ground-breaking, if flawed, EU taxonomy as a template. What degree of interoperability will emerge from these varying standards and how does the US, an outlier, fit in?

Financial regulators converge on COP15 in Montreal on December 7-19 determined to push nature loss high up the supervisory agenda. How far will they go to establish rules for biodiversity that replicate the scenario-based stress tests and disclosure regimes coming into place for climate change?

Central banks report good progress on developing climate stress testing but critics point to weaknesses, including difficulties in modelling for catastrophic shocks to financial stability.

Momentum is building behind European Parliament plans to impose tough capital adequacy requirements on banks backing new fossil fuels projects, say supporters, but resistance is becoming fiercer too. 

The Basel Committee’s paper on climate change might lack ambition by the standards of European initiatives, but it may nudge the rest of the world in the direction of sustainability, and thereby ensure a more level playing field globally.

Amid fears that a wave of greenwashing scandals could break, global regulators have launched a multi-layered strategy to combat mis-selling, spearheaded by dramatic enforcement actions that may yet target individuals.

The background to the Financial Stability Board’s latest climate change initiative is full of potentially profound implications for the global financial system.