2020, the fifth anniversary year of the Paris climate agreement, was one of the three warmest years on record. 2020 was also an important year for the environment for a number of other reasons. Europe raised its climate targets, in the United States the election of Joe Biden as president revived the climate debate, and even China committed for the first time to a date for becoming carbon neutral, while other countries also raised their climate ambitions. In addition, 2021 is also expected to be an important year for the planet.
Stimulus packages in the wake of the health crisis have provided the financial means to make these ambitions a reality. These plans will largely serve to achieve the energy transition and will lead to a real acceleration of green investments over the next decade. But these investment plans also pursue other objectives than the simple development of a climate-neutral economy.
In this note, Banque Degroof Petercam looks at what has already been achieved on the climate front and detail the climate plans of the three major economic blocs. In addition, they look at some recent green trends within the financial sector that may influence your investments and analyse what climate ambitions may mean for your portfolio in the long term.
