Asia outperforms US in climate economy, says HSBC

17 December 2009

Asia’s climate change economy may be outstripping the US, according to HSBC’s Climate Change Index. The global banking giant says that Asia – excluding Japan – is leading the way in providing goods, products and services focused on tackling climate change, outperforming global equities by 63 per cent since 1994, compared to underperformance of 33 per cent by the US.

‘Many western countries have relied on corporates acting to tackle climate change, but in Asia we’ve seen governments actually taking the lead: 46 per cent of global climate change stimuli spending is concentrated in Asia excluding Japan according to our index framework,’ said Vijay Sumon, an index specialist at HSBC.

Building on the HSBC Climate Change Benchmark Index, launched in 2007, HSBC has announced the launch of region and country-specific climate change indices, allowing clients to evaluate and invest in specific elements of climate change on a selective and focused basis.

The climate change indices, which HSBC says will be based on the same quantitative framework as the main benchmark index, which could allow investors to develop a climate change investment portfolio with a targeted exposure to a particular country or region.

Joaquim de Lima, global head of quantitative research for equities, HSBC, said, ‘With long-term interest rates low, investors are on the lookout for new growth areas and many governments are keen to play their part by creating a regulatory framework that encourages climate change measures.

‘It’s increasingly clear that governments and investors alike are convinced that Climate Change is both real and a viable business opportunity,’ he added.

The HSBC benchmark index was constructed to capture and track the stock market performance of companies that are best-placed to profit from the global transition to a low carbon economy. It currently measures 380 companies, and excludes companies whose engagement in the sector has yet to become meaningful to their revenues.

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: energy efficiency

This story was published on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Asia, Features, North America, energy efficiency, policy. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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