Sunday, September 17, 2017

Winton Capital Sets Up Climate Change Prediction Market

Bwahaha, they've almost fallen into my trap!

You don't think we've invested 25 years into studying 125,000 pages of science, law, policy, modeling, politics, blather and hooey for nothing do you?
Now to push them just a bit further.

From the Financial Times, September 11, 2017 

Winton Capital sets up climate change prediction market

Fund’s not-for-profit project aims to find market consensus on carbon dioxide levels
One of Europe’s largest hedge funds is looking to move into the gambling industry in the UK, as it sets up a new venue where players can bet on the effects of climate change.

The new “climate prediction market” is the brainchild of Winton Capital, founded by David Harding, and is aimed at finding a market consensus on the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and global temperature rises in the future.

The not-for-profit project, which is being funded out of Winton’s philanthropic budget, is hoping to tempt climate scientists to put their money where their models are, and to provide a clear benchmark of the academic consensus at a time of intense interest in man-made climate change.

News of the project comes as the UN General Assembly meeting in New York focuses on the theme of a sustainable planet. Climate change also continues to dominate the political agenda around the world, after President Donald Trump declared he will withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord and roll back regulations on the production of coal.

“With a prediction market, getting the information is the primary objective,” said Mark Roulston, a scientist at Winton who is overseeing the project. “There’s not necessarily a consensus on all the implications of climate change. The idea is to have a benchmark which could track any emerging consensus.”

Under the plan, scientists and experts from around the world will be able to trade contracts based on the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and how far temperatures increase, going decades into the future. Winton will act as a market maker and subsidise trading, rather than taking a cut or skewing the odds in its favour....MUCH MORE (this is very smart but the devil of course is in the details)
Seriously, Winton are just the folks to do this, they're very, very sharp.