A wall of money, regulation, and rapidly shifting global priorities has already drastically changed how companies around the world manage their carbon emissions. As well, it has affected how governments incentivize good behavior and drive innovation and, in the process, created a tradeable market in carbon emissions credits. In this interview with Real Vision CEO and co-founder Raoul Pal, Eric Lee and Francesco Martoccia, both energy strategists at Citigroup, help break down the opportunities and knock-on effects of this new and exciting market. Together, they focus on the unique market structure of the most well-developed and liquid market for EU carbon credits, which although nuanced seems to point toward rising prices. They explore those nuances and caveats, and they highlight the way this market is being used to fund government deficits, drive innovation, and upgrade outdated energy infrastructure across Europe. They also touch on other global carbon credit markets, the effects of other regulations like carbon taxes on businesses and industries, and examine the pace of growth of private and public ESG investments like green bonds. Filmed on March 5, 2021.

Key Learnings: The greening of the economy is in full stride, and it is creating new and exciting investment opportunities beyond well-known favorites like EVs, batteries, and renewables such as wind and solar. One interesting example is EU carbon credits, which are both highly liquid and potentially directionally biased because of specific structural design.