Workshop on Financial Risk from Climate Change

On January 20, 2016, Harvard Project Director Robert Stavins presented at a workshop in Oslo, Norway—"Potential Climate Risks in Financial Markets." The workshop was organized by the Department of Economics at the University of Oslo (UiO) and supported by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). The workshop consisted of 30 participants from NBIM and Norwegian academic institutes, including: UiO, Norwegian School of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, BI Norwegian Business School, Cicero, and the following speakers, in addition to Professor Stavins:

• Rick van der Ploeg of Oxford University;
• Patrick Bolton of Columbia University;
• Luc Renneboog of Tilburg University;
• Karin Thorburn of the Norwegian School of Economics;
• and John Hassler of Stockholm University.

The six speakers offered different points of view on the effects of climate change on financial markets. The goal of the workshop was to advance new research connecting financial economics and environmental economics.

Professor Stavins focused on what he determined to be a more important determinant of risk for financial markets than climate change itself—namely, climate-change policy. A memo was prepared following the workshop, including material from Robert Stavins' presentation, "Responding to Responses: The Risks of Climate Change Policies in the Post-Paris World." Professor Stavins elaborated on the Paris Agreement and how markets respond to governmental action on climate change.