Green Finance + G20 = ?

Up to today, we do not have a precise and commonly accepted definition of green finance for two reasons. First, many publications do not try to define the term – for instance neither IFC (2013) nor Spratt and Griffith-Jones (2013) include a definition of green finance and second, the definitions that are proposed vary significantly.

Green finance comprises:

the financing of public and private green investments (including preparatory and capital costs) in the areas of environmental goods and services, the financing of public policies (including operational costs) that encourage the implementation of environmental and environmental-damage mitigation or adaptation projects and initiatives (for example feed-in-tariffs for renewable energies) 

The G20 in Seoul: It's a Whole New World

Two years after it succeeded the G7 as the world’s primary venue for economic cooperation the G20 is running into a reality that limited its predecessor and is only more constraining since China, India, Brazil and 10 more interests took seats at the big table: Different national conditions demand different policies.

Here’s another stark fact: When you’re biggest economy on the planet you can do pretty much as you please, and describe it in whatever terms you choose. Thus the US Federal Reserve embarks on a second round of quantitative easing, despite the damage it may do to the US dollar and the implications for other countries that already do or would like to export their way to economic health.

Turning to another front with important implications for investors, in the wake of a resounding defeat in Nov. 2 midterm elections Congressional Democrats and President Obama are more likely to pass and sign a bill that merely extends preferential tax rates on dividends and capital gains rather than enact a permanent policy. Events of the last 24 months have also re-shaped the debate on this issue.