Climate risks, corporate bonds, and economic uncertainty

We test for the existence of climate change risks in corporate bond returns. Using risk factors based on textual analysis of news articles, we estimate the sensitivity of bonds to climate change news. Bonds that covary highly with global warming news earn lower returns. We also test whether economic policy uncertainty moderates the relationship between bond returns and climate news risk. The lower returns to high climate-risk bonds are driven by periods of high economic policy uncertainty. Therefore, investors increase their demand for bonds that perform better in periods of high global warming risks, especially when economic uncertainty is high. •Are climate risks reflected in corporate bonds?•We find that Bonds that covary highly with global warming news earn lower returns.•The lower returns to high climate-risk bonds are driven by periods of high economic policy uncertainty.