Following the recent announcement of how Standard Chartered Bank will meet its commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions in its financial activity by 2050, the Bank Tuesday outlined the growth of its Energy Transition desk.Standard Chartered’s Energy Transition business will initially encompass carbon trading on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and Financial Natural Gas trading, bringing them together onto a single desk.
Launched in August, the desk has assisted numerous clients in their needs across the global gas markets and European ETS. Helping them manage the current extreme volatility seen in European and Asian gas markets, as well as strong moves in the Henry Hub and European ETS. Over the course of the remainder 2021 and into 2022, its scope of activities will be increased to cover physical gas, other mandatory emissions schemes,and the voluntary carbon markets.
Chris Leeds,Head, Carbon Markets Development at Standard Chartered Bank,and Board member of the new TSVCM Governance Board, The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM) said: “This is an exciting step for the business and our carbon trading capability within Financial Markets. With COP26 under way and with it, the hope of establishing a global carbon market, our Energy Transition desk aligns with the Bank’s strategic commitment to help accelerate the world to “net-zero” by helping our clients achieve our collective goals on transitioning.”
Faraaz Mir, Head of Energy Transition Trading, said: “Standard Chartered is in a unique position, between the developed and developing markets, East and West and is able to bring its capital and clients together to help solve this global issue. Using our collective experience in the Energy markets the Energy Transition team will help and assist our clients in their plans to achieve net zero.”
According to the Paris Agreement, the world needs to rapidly transition to a low carbon economy, halving carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching net-zero by 2050 to limit the rise in global temperaturesby to 1.5℃.As part of its aspiration to be the most sustainable and responsible bank in the world, the Bank set up a Sustainable Finance team in late 2018 and has been actively growing the team and the business across all its major markets. The new Energy Transition desk is a further step forward to meeting that aspiration.
The Bank, will be ready to trade eligible contracts in line with the Core Carbon Principles, expected to be in Q2 2022.
