Ten years after the Lehman Brothers’ crash, climate risks need integrating in global finance – WWF

The bankruptcy of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008 demonstrated the fragility of the global financial system, and ten years later it is time to recognise that neglecting climate risks could trigger another financial crisis, the environmental organisation WWF Germany says in a press release. “The answer to the climate crisis affects the whole economy,” says WWF sustainable finance expert Matthias Kopp. “If the current transformation is not integrated into the financial system, this could have devastating effects for capital investments and assets,” he says. The “carbon bubble” is just one example of the dangers that lurk in a financial world shaped by climate change and the transition to low-carbon energy generation, Kopp says. However, the financial system could also be “a central lever” for climate action by systematically including sustainability aspects in the regulation of financial markets, he adds.

Read the press release in German here.