Greening China’s Financial Markets: The Risks and Opportunities of Stranded Assets - Briefing Paper

This briefing paper examines the risks and opportunities that environment-related stranded assets present to China's financial markets during its strategic transition toward a less polluted and resource-intensive economy. Produced through a collaboration between the University of Oxford's Stranded Assets Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme Inquiry, it draws on international case studies spanning the coal, gas, oil, and agricultural sectors to illustrate how a broad spectrum of environmental, regulatory, technological, and social factors can cause assets to suffer unanticipated write-downs or devaluations. The paper reviews policy and financial sector responses observed internationally, including regulatory stress testing, risk disclosure frameworks, and the securitisation of environment-related risks. It concludes by identifying implications for China's financial institutions, regulators, and companies as the country navigates the economic and structural consequences of its environmental transition.