Analysis by FTSE Russell suggests that the transition to a sustainable green economy is a large investment opportunity, backed by global efforts to combat climate change and broader environmental challenges, that can deliver outperformance of the global equity market,

The Inevitable Policy Response (IPR) is a project to prepare investors for the investment risks associated with the most likely responses to climate change. The likely impacts of climate change and mechanisms in the Paris Agreement are likely to force substantial policy introduction in the near future with investment implications.

The research explores the moral, financial and economic justification for responsible investment, and the academic evidence underpinning future action. It concentrates on how ESG factors materially impact investment risk and returns, clarifying the agency of investors over non-financial value creation.

This report is intended to help investors understand how climate change can influence their investment performance in both the short and long term. The research uses scenarios from the Cambridge Econometrics transition-risk climate model, to consider three scenarios; 2⁰C, 3⁰C and 4⁰C temperature increases, with evolved pathways and magnitude.