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The report by Ceres urges U.S. financial regulators to treat climate change as a systemic risk and provides over 50 recommendations for various federal and state agencies to ensure economic stability.

The report details how COVID-19 caused operational disruptions, reduced premium income, and accelerated digitalization within the insurance sector in Eastern and Southern Africa. While life and health products provided some coverage, business interruption insurance largely failed to support business resilience. Insurers face prudential stability concerns and liquidity challenges, though 50% expect premium income to recover within a year.

The analysis argues that the European Union has experienced a period of 'regulatory fatigue' and 'backsliding' in financial oversight since 2014. It highlights five specific failures: the abandonment of structural banking reforms to separate high-risk activities, the adoption of dysfunctional prudential rules (such as an inoperative 3% leverage ratio), the failure to effectively limit food speculation through high technical thresholds, the lack of supervision for the growing shadow banking system, and the 'resurrection' of risky securitisation practices. The author concludes that these failures, combined with the shift of risk to under-regulated entities and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, leave the EU ill-equipped to handle a new financial crisis.

The author argues that the EU has experienced a 'regulatory retreat' in the financial sector, characterized by the abandonment of structural reforms, the implementation of dysfunctional prudential ratios, and the failure to regulate shadow banking. The text highlights how lobbying and the 'better regulation' agenda have weakened rules on food speculation and securitization, leaving the EU vulnerable to future financial crises, potentially triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

ClientEarth argues that the PSI Guide must explicitly distinguish between reputational ESG risks and financially material risks, such as climate change, to ensure insurers do not adopt approaches less stringent than those required by law. The response highlights that regulators like the UK Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and EIOPA already integrate sustainability risks into risk management frameworks, making board-level oversight and specific responsibility allocation a legal necessity rather than an optional best practice. ClientEarth further suggests that certain high-polluting sectors, such as coal and tar sands, should be managed through straightforward exclusion policies rather than ESG frameworks. Additionally, the document critiques the PSI's risk heat maps for underestimating the climate risks associated with agriculture, livestock, and real estate.

Uganda is a major net recipient of remittances, with inflows contributing approximately 4% to its GDP in 2016. While mobile money has expanded access, the sector faces significant hurdles, including high costs for transfers from developed countries, an oligopolistic mobile money market, and restrictive KYC requirements that exclude approximately 16% of adults without national IDs. Infrastructure gaps in rural areas—specifically poor roads and low electrification—further hinder the expansion of formal services. The report highlights the disruptive potential of the 2018 mobile money tax and recommends mandating interoperability, adopting a risk-based approach to AML/CFT, and transitioning from interim guidelines to a formal e-money law.

The research paper advocates for a systems approach to climate finance to move beyond linear data tracking and address the complexities of developing country financial markets. It introduces a framework that categorizes actors into public finance, private finance, systemic enablers, and service providers, mapping their interrelationships through financial flows, mandates, and information. The paper identifies systemic trends in developing countries—such as bank dominance, short-termism, and capital volatility—and demonstrates how specific systemic actions (like ESG disclosure mandates) can catalyze private finance. Finally, it uses social network analysis of 2013-2014 data to identify key influencers and connectors within the international public finance sub-system to improve coordination.

The report finds a significant gap in how UK contract-based pension providers manage climate risk compared to trust-based schemes, urging the FCA to implement mandatory reporting and guidance.

The FRC is criticized for an 'oversight and enforcement gap' regarding climate-related financial risk, evidenced by its handling of complaints against oil and gas companies and its resistance to TCFD recommendations. These failures are compounded by structural weaknesses in the FRC's governance, transparency, and accountability, including a lack of a clear legislative basis and limited accountability to Parliament and the public.

ClientEarth urges the UK government to extend mandatory Adaptation Reporting Power (ARP3) reporting to all major financial regulators, including the FCA, FRC, tPR, and PPF, alongside the PRA. The document highlights that while the PRA previously reported on the insurance sector in 2015, systemic climate risks—including physical, transition, and liability risks—remain poorly understood across other financial sectors such as banking and pensions. It emphasizes the urgency of the 2017-2018 reporting cycle to prevent a five-year delay in addressing these vulnerabilities.

ClientEarth broadly supports the TCFD's industry-led guidance but identifies three critical deficiencies: the potential to confuse voluntary recommendations with existing mandatory legal duties in G20 jurisdictions, the misstatement of the Paris Agreement's objectives by suggesting a 2°C scenario is sufficient for alignment, and a lack of prescriptive requirements for organisations to publish the assumptions underpinning their scenario analyses.

The report finds that East Africa is the largest regional crowdfunding market in Africa, though it is dominated by non-financial return models (donation and reward) and lacks bespoke regulation. While loan and equity-based models dominate globally, they are in embryonic stages in East Africa. The authors recommend against immediate bespoke regulation to avoid stifling growth, instead proposing a phased approach involving sector mapping, the creation of a regulatory sandbox ('RegLab'), and government-backed co-investment and currency hedge funds.

The document analyzes the implementation and impact of FinScope, a nationally representative survey in South Africa designed to make financial markets work for the poor. It details how the survey moved from a 2002 pilot to a sustainable, syndicate-funded model that provided essential data for the South Africa Financial Sector Charter. The study highlights a significant increase in financial inclusion from 61% to 86% between 2004 and 2014, though it notes the difficulty of attributing this change solely to the survey. It also discusses the replication of the FinScope model in 23 other countries and the emergence of similar tools like the World Bank's Global FinDex.

The document evaluates FSD Kenya's role in expanding financial inclusion from 27.4% in 2006 to 66.7% in 2013. It highlights successes in capacity building for banks (notably Equity Bank), facilitating the regulatory environment for M-Pesa, and developing public infrastructure like credit information sharing and an interbank payments switch. However, it notes failures in the SACCO sector and limited impact on the 'real economy' (agriculture and SMEs) due to misaligned incentives. The study concludes that while the financial system is more inclusive, the primary beneficiaries have been those above the poverty line and the supply-side providers.

The document assesses the alignment of China's domestic green bond guidelines with international standards. It finds that while management of proceeds and reporting are fully aligned, further efforts are needed to harmonize green definitions, specifically regarding sector-specific criteria.

The document analyzes the scarcity of agricultural financing in developing countries, where risks like natural hazards and high transaction costs deter lenders. It categorizes financial needs into four groups: farmers/entrepreneurs, value chain actors, rural infrastructure, and R&D. The brief details a range of instruments from informal savings and micro-finance to complex value-chain and infrastructure financing. It emphasizes the government's role in risk management through credit guarantees and insurance subsidies, and the importance of flexible regulatory frameworks to attract investment while protecting savings.

The 2014 G-20 Summit, hosted by Australia, focuses on 'growth and resilience' to address a 'fragile, sluggish global economy'. A key objective is the 'Brisbane Action Plan', aiming to boost G-20 GDP by at least 2 per cent above projections over five years, potentially adding over $2 trillion to global GDP. The G-20's broader agenda includes financial regulation, international tax reform, and energy market resilience. For South Africa, the summit is critical as it seeks to align global growth outcomes with its National Development Plan's goal of over 5 per cent GDP growth, while advocating for inclusive and sustainable growth across Africa.

The report examines how the transition to a low-carbon economy creates 'stranded assets'—assets that suffer premature write-downs or devaluation due to climate change, regulation, or technological shifts. It highlights that traditional market valuations often ignore long-term carbon budgets, leading to overinvestment in fossil fuels. The author provides specific risk assessments from HSBC, noting that 40-60% of the market value of major European oil and gas companies is at risk. To mitigate these risks, the document proposes reforms in capital regulation for high-carbon industries, fiscal incentives for sustainable investment, financial regulation that accounts for climate stability, and the adoption of climate targets by institutional investors.

The document examines how the global shift toward a low-carbon economy creates the risk of 'stranded assets'—productive assets that suffer premature write-offs or downward revaluations. It highlights that current market valuations often ignore long-term carbon targets, leading to overinvestment in fossil fuels. Using HSBC analysis, the report quantifies potential value losses in the coal and oil and gas sectors, while also noting the impact of water stress on China's energy sector. It concludes by recommending four themes for capital market alignment: capital stewardship in high-carbon sectors, linking financial incentives to ESG factors, climate-proofing financial regulation, and setting portfolio climate targets for institutional investors.

The report argues that the current investment industry is decoupled from the needs of a sustainable, low-carbon economy due to systemic 'short-termism', a lack of ESG integration in mainstream strategies, and an inability to price sustainability risks. It proposes a multi-pronged policy approach: creating open markets with clear carbon pricing, reforming executive compensation to reward long-term performance, increasing corporate transparency through mandatory ESG reporting, and providing transitional support via green investment banks and innovative financing tools. The document highlights international examples, such as the UK's Green Investment Bank and Norway's Government Pension Fund, to demonstrate how policy can mobilize private capital for sustainable development.