Ninety One & WWF-UK

Sustainability & satellites

New frontiers in sovereign debt investing: could advances in geo-spatial research transform sovereign debt investors’ ability to address environmental risks?

15 Jun 2019

30 Minutes

Could new research techniques transform sovereign debt investors’ ability to address environmental risks?

WWF and Ninety One joined forces to assess the potential uses of geo-spatial research — both to measure environmental risk in sovereign debt portfolios, and to facilitate engagement with governments to encourage fiscal agendas that serve people and the planet. To find out more read the thought paper.

The fast view

  • The degradation of nature threatens national economies and the systems that underpin human society globally.
  • Understanding environmental risks is therefore key to profiling a country’s economic prospects and its ability to repay debt.
  • Analysis of geo-spatial data and satellite imagery will increasingly allow sovereign debt investors to obtain more accurate and timely assessments of environmental change.
  • This will enhance investors’ ability to evaluate and monitor environmental risks. It will also facilitate their engagements with sovereign issuers and encourage the adoption of long-term fiscal agendas that serve people and the planet.

Download the paper

All investments carry the risk of capital loss.
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