The idea of investing in private pension insurance should be suppressed, because new contracts are hardly worthwhile. Classic private annuity policies offer new customers only a maximum guaranteed interest of 0.9 percent. Negative interest is to blame. Pension insurers are now increasingly investing in equities, real estate and renewable energies.

The European Central Bank should consider issuing a public digital currency, an EU draft document said. In its most ambitious version, the project could allow consumers to use electronic cash, which would be directly deposited at the ECB, without the need for bank accounts, financial intermediaries or clearing counterparties.

The Swiss National Bank's new system means less of banks’ reserves get hit. But it gives the central bank more room to push rates even further below zero, if the economic situation deteriorates or the franc starts to appreciate. Banks are finally realizing that negative rates are going to be around for a long time.

At Sydbank A/S, EO Karen Frosig says she’s going to need to pass on negative rates to a record number of retail depositors. She also said she may need to cut the rate on their accounts below the central bank’s benchmark of minus 0.75%. In Denmark, the central bank uses negative rates for the sole purpose of defending the krone’s peg to the euro.

Germany gets 23.5% of its energy from wind. But in the first half of 2019, only 35 wind turbines were added — an 82% drop compared with 2018. Last year was bad, too: Just 743 turbines were added, compared with 1,792 in 2017. Local opponents of the wind farms often go to court to stall new developments or even have existing towers dismantled.

Report released by the Rocky Mountain Institute. Public policy, manufacturing, research and development, and economies of scale will drive battery performance higher while pushing costs as low as $87/kWh by 2025 (currently $187/kWh). These changes are already contributing to cancellations of planned natural-gas power generation.

The market for green bonds has exploded, with global sales increasing by more than 300% in the past five years to reach $162 billion this year. The Bloomberg Barclays Euro Green Bond Index shows a total return of 18% since 2014. Investors appear entirely unwilling to forgo wealth to invest in environmentally sustainable projects.

The European Central Bank has been buying the debt as part of its asset repurchase program. Hungary and France’s central banks have each created funds dedicated to ecological investments. The Bank for International Settlements started an open-ended fund for central bank investments in green bonds last month.

“The nuclear sector has to get back on track. It’s a question of energy sovereignty...” Le Maire told a news conference, after unveiling a government-backed audit of setbacks at EDF’s Flamanville 3 nuclear project in France. It has also had to hike its cost estimates for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant it is building in Britai

Germany’s wind power industry could shed about 40% of its jobs because of sliding interest among investors to build turbines on land. Net new onshore capacity dropped from 5.3 GW in 2017 to 2.4 GW last year and to a mere 0.3 GW in the first six months of 2019. Far short of the 4.7 GW needed for Germany to create a 65% share for renewables.

Gold has always been used to measure the value of currencies and commodities. In euros, gold reached an all-time high in early September. More and more investors fear an economic downturn, but bonds have become a costly haven due to negative interest rates. On 4th January 1999 one euro bought 128mg of gold. Now it buys only 23mg.

An influx of new offshore wind farms around the world is set to draw $840 billion of investments over the next two decades. Additions of 20 GW of new offshore capacity a year still won’t be enough to hit global climate targets. Capacity additions would need to be near to 40 GW a year in the next decade, adding over $1.2 trillion of investment.