Articles by Natasha White

Hedge Funds Hunt Deals in Risk Scenarios Too Costly for Insurers

As Los Angeles residents digested the apocalyptic scene left by wildfires earlier this year, the stage was simultaneously being set for hedge funds to pursue market-beating returns fanned by climate change. The investment model in question is built around so-called …

New UK-Based Climate Group Emerges as Banks Retreat

It was a dank, drizzly February evening when about 120 people gathered in the brightly lit art gallery of London’s Guildhall, surrounded by gold-framed paintings ranging from Pre-Raphaelites to realists. At the event, Alok Sharma, a former member of the …

Coal Expansion Helps Lure Insurers Back to Australia Producer Whitehaven

Whitehaven Coal Ltd., one of Australia’s largest coal producers, shelved a planned special purpose vehicle originally intended to provide in-house insurance after finding external insurers willing to take on the risk. The development follows Sydney-based Whitehaven’s $3.2 billion purchase of …

Germany Cracks Down on China Green Fraud in Deepening Scandal

German authorities have rejected €18 million ($20 million) worth of carbon credits after finding “irregularities” in China-based projects that were meant to lower emissions. The initiatives, which were run by big international corporations and audited by European firms, allowed German …

Risks Too Big for Insurers Just Fed a $200 Billion Market Boom in Captives

As the market for in-house insurance surpasses a record $200 billion, the underlying reasons for that boom show how a hotter, less stable planet is redrawing the risk map for corporations. Captive insurance, where companies create their own coverage vehicles, …

Yellen Embraces Carbon Market Potential With Integrity Push

The Biden administration unveiled a framework for using carbon offsets to drive climate progress, with principles it says are meant to help ensure the trading regimes deliver real emissions reductions — not a green mirage. The documents released Tuesday by …

US Regulator to Issue Carbon-Credits Rulebook Within Months

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission expects to finalize its guidance for carbon credits within the next six months, as it pursues a broader crackdown of fraud and manipulation in the embattled market. CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero said she …

Investment Deficit Puts Planet on Path to Miss 1.5C, Study Finds

A lack of investment in green energy has left the world on track to overshoot the 1.5C temperature increase that scientists have defined as a critical threshold in global efforts to contain climate change. The finding was published on Thursday …

Banks, Insurers Targeted as Climate Group Seeks EU Review of Deforestation Rule

Climate activists are putting pressure on the European Union to reconsider its decision to exclude banks from a landmark deforestation rule, in a move designed to preempt an official review of the regulation next year. UK-based nonprofit Global Canopy says …

More ESG Lawsuits on the Horizon as Investors Jump on UK Law

Investors are becoming more emboldened to file legal challenges against companies for their net zero claims, approaches to governance and other hot-button ESG issues, using a pair of underutilized provisions of a UK law. Standard Chartered Plc, BT Group Plc …