Data ReFined #31: Voluntary Carbon Offsets, UN's Climate Risk Report, $60M to Scale Parametric Insurance

The Newsletter about Climate Data, Regenerative Finance, and Climate Risk ⛅

The demand for carbon credits is quickly growing, and this biweekly newsletter covers the latest industry updates, including news regarding scope 3 emissions and market interest in offsets from Kenya. This issue also contains exciting developments on the climate risk management side, such as Arbol's $60M Series B funding round to scale parametric insurance and a report by the United Nations.

Let's get into it! 👇

Industry News

A Visual Journey into the Carbon Markets

This Visual Capitalist article offers a detailed look at the global carbon markets through various infographics. It showcases the geographical distribution of carbon credit buyers and sellers and provides projections of the voluntary carbon market's size by 2030.

How Carbon Credits Can Help Close the Climate Funding Gap

To keep a 1.5℃ world within reach, global emissions need to fall by as much as 45% by 2030, and carbon credits could help close the gap.

Visual CapitalistChris Dickert

Tackling Scope 3 Emissions with Voluntary Carbon Offsets

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is set to significantly boost the voluntary carbon market by allowing broader use of offsets to neutralize Scope 3 emissions. This change, expected to enhance market quality and substantially increase demand, could see annual offset demand potentially reaching 5.9 billion tons and prices peaking at $243 per ton by 2050.

Mega Boost for Carbon Offsets Market Seen from SBTi Easing | BloombergNEF

The role of carbon offsets, or tradeable verified emission reduction credits, has historically been limited with the UN-backed standards body — Science Based Targets Initiative or SBTi — restricting their use to cover a small volume of ‘residual emissions’. Its announcement to allow wider use of offsets means that a high-quality voluntary carbon market is one step closer.

BloombergNEF

A Deep Dive into Kenya's VCM Dynamics

Kenya's booming voluntary carbon market makes it Africa's second-largest issuer of carbon credits, after the Democratic Republic of Congo. A contributing factor to this success is Kenya's strategies to enhance transparency and regulation within this market, including proposals to funnel a portion of carbon credit sales revenue to governmental support.

Netflix, Apple, Shell, Delta Join Kenya’s Carbon Credit Boom

Dive into Kenya’s burgeoning voluntary carbon credit market, where global heavyweights like Netflix, Apple, and Shell are investing.

Carbon CreditsJennifer L

United Nation's 2024 Report on Climate Risk

The UN Environmental Programme published its latest insights for financial institutions to evaluate physical and transitional climate risks. The report includes best practices, case studies, and strategies for navigating the market of climate risk tools. It also provides updates on regulatory changes related to climate disclosures and recent developments in the market.

Climate Risk Landscape Report 2024

In 2023, temperatures shattered records with a 116-day streak of peak temperatures. As the urgency to address and adapt to the pressing threat of climate change rapidly grows, the financial sector…

UN Environment Programme

Scaling Climate-Related Parametric Insurance

Arbol has secured $60 million in a Series B funding round, accelerating the insurtech's growth trajectory and capacity to broaden its product and service offerings across existing and new markets.

Arbol Raises $60 Million in Series B Funding to Scale Parametric Insurance, Responding to Increasing Climate Risk

Today, I am proud to announce a significant milestone for Arbol: we have successfully closed a $60 million Series B funding round.

April 30, 2024•Sid Jha, Founder and CEO, Arbol

Physical Climate Risks in the Financial Industry

The financial industry is increasingly aware of the economic impacts of climate change, such as potential loan losses due to extreme weather events. Banks are focusing more on climate-related physical risks, improving risk assessments, and adjusting lending practices to manage environmental impacts better and ensure financial stability.

Climate Change’s ‘Physical Risks’ Are Catching Up With Banks

The financial industry is waking up to the potential losses from extreme events and long-term changes in weather patterns.

BloombergAlastair Marsh

European Union's Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR)

Several European Commission bodies are developing educational resources, including workshops, to help stakeholders utilize the extensive climate datasets from Copernicus for the new EUDR framework. These initiatives aim to equip key actors with the necessary tools to monitor forest health and assess policy effectiveness on both European and global scales.

Copernicus data supports the ambitious EU regulations for forest protection

The European Union is equipping itself with an ambitious set of forest protection regulations, and the Copernicus Earth observation programme is key to implementing them. With that in mind, DG DEFIS and EUSPA organised the workshop “Copernicus for Forestry”, gathering policymakers, scientists from the Copernicus services, and companies working with earth observation (EO) data, to reflect on how to enhance the use of EO applications for forestry.

image/svg+xml European Commission

Forecasting Satellite Movements with Climate Models

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have discovered that modern weather prediction models can accurately forecast the movements of low Earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites based on energy emitted and reflected by the Earth. These findings show how changes in weather, such as cloud cover and storms, can influence satellite trajectories, enhancing satellite operations and the accuracy of climate monitoring.

Weather prediction models can also forecast satellite displacements

New research finds that modern weather models can accurately predict satellite movements due to the energy emitted and reflected by the Earth. In addition to weather prediction, weather models can also help understand and predict how satellites respond to weather events, such as storms.

Phys.orgScience X

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