CICERO Shades of Green, a global provider of green ratings for bonds, based on renowned climate research, will expand its global network by partnering with the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. SEAS brings expertise in climate and energy, food systems, water, conservation, and urban infrastructure and provides unique strengths in both basic scientific research and applied work. This collaboration also provides a local hub in the United States to support a growing green bond market.

CICERO Shades of Green already collaborates with the Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3), the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy at Tsinghua University, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in the Expert Network on Second Opinions (ENSO) to broaden technical, language and regional expertise for green finance assessments. The ENSO network consists of independent research institutions specializing in climate change, environment, and society. 

"It is great to have the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) as a new member of the ENSO network. This enables us to strengthen and further develop our Shades of Green methodology in a North American context. It also means that we scale up capacity needed in order to meet the increased demand for the network’s science-based services," said Harald Francke Lund, CEO in CICERO Shades of Green.

"Using applied research allows financial decisions to be data driven. It is so important to understand the uncertainties we face and minimize them where possible. The Shades of Green Methodology and our partnership allows data and expertise we have gathered around unique systems to be used in the growth of the Green Bond Market but also in the protection of its integrity," said Jose Alfaro, Assistant Professor of Environmental Practice at SEAS.

ENSO members work together with CICERO Green to apply the Shades of Green methodology to green finance frameworks. CICERO Shades of Green is a subsidiary of the international climate change research institute CICERO Center for International Climate Research.

CICERO Shades of Green website

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