15395
Seminar
SoSe 21: Sustainable Finance? Climate change, green funds and new private authority in financial markets
Fichtner, Jan
Comments
There is a growing global grasp that climate change – and therefore also climate politics – will become increasingly existential in this century. This seminar will explore the connections, interlinkages and tensions between the contemporary global financial system and measures of climate change mitigation. At the outset we will look at the basics of climate change and the main building blocks of the global financial system. Then we will discuss how the financial system has been radically changing since the global financial crisis: a huge money mass migration from actively managed funds to “passive” funds is causing a centralization of finance in the hands of the “Big Three” American asset managers BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, which arguably are becoming "permanent universal owners". At the same time, a little-known group of index providers (MSCI, S&P Dow Jones, and FTSE Russell) is gaining influence and new private authority in global finance. The three major index providers are increasingly setting the standards for rapidly growing “ESG” (Environmental, Social, Governance) funds and are thus shaping how publicly listed corporations tackle climate change. From a perspective of International Political Economy this course will address key questions such as: What role can central banks play to mitigate climate change? What is the Green New Deal? What are “green bonds” and “stranded assets”? At the end, we will grapple with the question whether and to what degree global finance will be able to become part of the solution to substantially mitigate climate change. close
13 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Mon, 2021-04-12 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-04-19 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-04-26 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-05-03 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-05-10 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-05-17 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-05-31 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-06-07 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-06-14 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-06-21 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-06-28 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-07-05 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2021-07-12 10:00 - 12:00