Cambridge 1.5°C-aligned corporate bond index

July 2021 - June 2023

Experts says that if we want to have more than half a chance of tackling the climate crisis and building a safe and just planet, no new fossil fuel infrastructure – for example coal plants and oil rigs – can be built going forward. 

We’re a team of researchers and practitioners based at the Intellectual Forum, in Jesus College at the University of Cambridge, testing whether it’s possible to build a tool to direct money away from the expansion of fossil fuels. The tool will also direct money away from problem companies in the power, banking and insurance sectors, because they’re the main buyers and funders of coal, oil and gas.

As approximately 90% of new financing for fossil fuel expansion comes from banks and the bond market, we’re focussed on creating an anti-greenwash corporate bond index – essentially a very sophisticated list of companies that are issuing debt aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. No company is beyond redemption, and can join the 1.5 bond index if they change their actions. The index will be overseen by a group of leading academics from across the world, and we hope that it will improve awareness of the role of debt financing in driving decarbonisation.

Grant Awarded: $284,109

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