The financial risks and potential systemic impacts induced by climate change and the transition to a lowcarbon economy have become a central issue for both financial investors and their regulators. In this article, we develop a critical review of the empirical and theoretical literature concerning the impact of climaterelated risks on the price of financial assets. We first present the theoretical links between asset pricing and climate-related risks and develop a theory of how climate risk drivers transmit costs to firms and lead to asset price changes. We then discuss studies looking at past climate-related events, which show that both climate physical impacts and transition dynamics can trigger a revaluation of financial assets through multiple direct and indirect channels. Finally, we review the emerging literature that uses forward-looking methodologies to estimate future climate-related asset price changes, which suggests that climate financial risks can indeed have significant implications on financial stability.

Transitioning to a low‐carbon economy will entail sweeping transformations of energy and economic systems. A growing research body has raised concerns about the effect of such strain on financial stability. This literature on “financial transition risk” has highlighted that the conjunction of climate policy, technological change and shifts in consumption patterns may propagate to financial markets. In extreme cases, these dynamics may result in a “Climate‐Minsky” moment with systemic implications. The field has developed quickly, covering many methods and research questions. While this expansion in literature is advantageous when studying a complex issue like the low‐carbon transition, it also comes with downsides. The large number of methods hampers result comparison, and the integration of research designs. It also makes it difficult to provide a synthetic view of results in the literature as well as identify remaining uncertainties. To bridge these gaps, I propose a critical review of the literature. I examine three sub‐fields: the asset stranding literature, the direct assessment of transition risks through prospective models and the financial empirics of the low‐carbon transition. I expound their main results, critically assess underlying methodologies and propose a framework to compare results. The review ends by suggesting some avenues for future research.

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