The carbon footprint of the assets in the Riksbank's foreign exchange reserves

The carbon footprint of the bonds issued by countries and regions in the Riksbank’s foreign exchange reserves – calculated as the Weighted Average Carbon Intensity – is 298,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per billion GDP in US dollars on 31 March 2022. Seen over the last five years, the carbon footprint of the assets in the reserves has decreased. Our analysis of the calculation method shows that the variables used need to be adjusted for inflation and exchange rates. As long as there is no global standard or practice that can be applied, transparency about data and calculation method will be very important. There are also other ways of calculating Weighted Average Carbon Intensity for portfolios of bonds issued by countries and regions. These capture a different type of carbon intensity. The results are therefore different.

Published: 12 April 2022