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Political Science > Environmental Policy

You are looking at 1 - 4 of 4 items for :

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Switzerland: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper on Switzerland focuses on assessing Swiss National Bank (SNB) balance sheet changes in 2022. This paper clarifies the main underlying drivers, discusses potential implications, or lack thereof, on monetary and fiscal policies, and assesses the SNB’s financial performance. Central banks’ financial results are not directly comparable with each other, given their non-profit nature, the differences in their mandates and, importantly, their different accounting policies. In particular, many other central banks would have recorded much larger financial losses in 2022 if mark-to-market accounting were applied. The SNB’s financial loss in 2022 is not expected to have an impact on monetary policy operations. The SNB has appropriately warned about risks to its balance sheet, including during periods of high profitability. In addition, the SNB put in place sound safeguards against such risks, and provided transparent communications on its investment strategy. Nevertheless, large balance sheets are subject to risks, highlighting communication challenges during periods of both large profits and losses. In this context, the SNB should continue to regularly review its investment strategy and maintain adequate safeguards.
Keywords:
ECB monetary policy; monetary policy shock; SNB balance sheet; Switzerland NBFIs; mitigation target; Greenhouse gas emissions; Stock markets; Nonbank financial institutions; Climate policy; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Sweden: Financial Sector Assessment Program–Technical Note on Supervision and Disclosure of Climate-Related Risks
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
This paper discusses the technical note on Supervision and Disclosure of Climate-Related Risks for the Sweden Financial Sector Assessment Program. Swedish banks are in general mainly exposed to the effects of climate change through loans that are collateralized by real estate properties and lending to high-emission industries. Despite the challenges, Finansinspektionen (FI) has undertaken a number of positive initiatives aimed at integrating climate-related risks and the wider sustainability issues into its supervisory processes. There are however, still some gaps that need to be gradually addressed by FI to ensure full integration of climate-related risks into supervisory processes. The specific action to further integrate climate into the supervisory process should be prioritized based on the vulnerability of the Swedish banks and progress at international level in addressing the challenges that are not unique to Sweden. FI should also in a proportional manner formalize and expand its collaboration and information sharing arrangements with other Swedish Agencies involved in climate-related work.
Keywords:
transition risk; Sweden FSAP; government initiative; sustainability issue; aggregate risk; EU taxonomy regulation; CLIMATE-RELATED risk; Climate change; Climate policy; Greenhouse gas emissions; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Are Climate Change Policies Politically Costly?
Davide Furceri, Michael Ganslmeier, and Mr. Jonathan David Ostry
Are policies designed to avert climate change (Climate Change Policies, or CCPs) politically costly? Using data on governmental popular support and the OECD’s Environmental Stringency Index, we find that CCPs are not necessarily politically costly: policy design matters. First, only market-based CCPs (such as emission taxes) generate negative effects on popular support. Second, the effects are muted in countries where non-green (dirty) energy is a relatively small input into production. Third, political costs are not significant when CCPs are implemented during periods of low oil prices, generous social insurance and low inequality.
Keywords:
EPS change; policy design; Policy implication; popular support; baseline model; Climate change; Climate policy; Fuel prices; Environmental policy; Natural disasters; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Taxes and Tradable Permits As Instruments for Controlling Pollution: Theory and Practice
Mr. John Norregaard and Ms. Valerie Reppelin
This paper examines the relative merits of two dominant economic instruments for reducing pollution—”green” taxes and tradable permits. Theoretically, the two instruments share many similarities, and on balance, neither seems preferable to the other. In practice, however, most countries have relied more on taxes than on permits to control pollution. The analysis suggests a number of lessons to be learned from country experiences regarding the design and implementation of both instruments. While many, particularly European countries, currently have long-term programs involving environmental taxes, a willingness to experiment with tradable permits seems to be growing, especially given the Kyoto protocol emission targets.
Keywords:
WP; emission tax; permits system; carbon tax; permits market; innovating firm; Environmental taxes; tradable permits; green tax reform; market structure; Emissions trading; Environmental policy; Greenhouse gas emissions; Global