Colder Weather Begins to Trickle in Impacting Supply, and New Local Law 97 Guide

Energy Market Update

The Nov ‘23 natural gas contract is trading at $3.34/MMbtu. The EIA reported an injection of 84 Bcf into underground storage for the week ending October 6, 2023. Stocks were 316 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 163 Bcf above the five-year average of 3,366 Bcf. The prompt-month contract has risen recently and reached its highest price since mid-January as colder weather begins to trickle in. On the supply and demand side, domestic demand is consistent with last week with the reduction in power usage being made up by the gain in res/com demand because of cooler temperatures. Production stays around the 102 Bcf/d mark and averages 1 Bcf more so far this October compared to last year in 2022.

Read Full Report and View Graphs Here >>

Sustainability

?? Blog Recap ??

Notable News

Articles on Climate & the Environment

• Extreme weather displaced 43m children in past six years, Unicef reports
• UN report urges global end to fossil fuel exploration by 2030
• September Was the Most Anomalously Hot Month Ever, Scientific American.
• Global water cycle 'spinning out of balance': UN meteorological agency, Reuters.
• Flood Threats Are Rising. Here’s Where People Are Moving Into Harm’s Way., New York TImes.

Articles on Corporate Sustainability, Regulation, & Global Events

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law requiring big businesses to disclose emissions, Ap News.
• California Governor Signs Climate Disclosure Bills, but Pushes Back on Timeline and Cost, ESG Today.
• TPT Launches “Gold Standard” Framework for Climate Transition Plan Disclosure, ESG Today. "The UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) announced the release of the final version of the TPT Disclosure Framework, aimed at providing a “gold standard” for companies to develop and report on their climate transition plans.The launch of the new disclosure framework comes as companies globally are increasingly announcing net zero commitments, but many have yet to articulate and disclose their strategies to achieve these goals, and have been lacking a consistent, standardized way to report on these to stakeholders."
• EU Lawmakers Move to Water Down Sustainability Reporting Rules, ESG Today.
• The litigation risks that companies face in an age of ESG, Reuters.
• A.I.’s thirst for electricity is about to skyrocket, New York Times.
• Fossil Fuels Aren’t Going Anywhere, New York Times.
• Use of weather derivatives surges as extreme climate events rock the globe, Reuters.
• Climate change the ‘most common’ reason for portfolio exclusion, Financial TImes.
• ESG’s?.?.?.?OK, Financial Times.
• How Deep Tech Can Drive Sustainability and Profitability in Manufacturing, Harvard Business Review.

Updates to Sustainability Reporting?Regulations?and Moves for?Consolidation?of Standards:

SEC Climate Related Disclosures

• Testimony Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, SEC. Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC testifies in the House, clarifying the purpose and defending the importance of the upcoming Climate Disclosure Bill amidst growing criticism and a clear risk of litigation once the rule passes.
• SEC chief says new California law could 'change baseline' for coming SEC climate rule, Reuters. "If it were signed into law, as I understand it, that would require companies a certain size to report their climate risk," Gensler said in testimony before the House of Representatives."That may change the baseline. If those companies were reporting to California, then it would be in essence less costly because they'd already be producing that information."
• The week of June 19-23, the Securities & Exchange Commission indicated--through an update to a?GSA website?--that the proposed climate change disclosure rule would likely be finalized and released in October 2023
• SEC climate disclosure rule?delayed until fall 2023, former commissioner says,?S&P Global.?The SEC initially suggested the rule would be published in December 2022 and then again pushed that date back to April 2023.
• Given the new time frame, financial statements and disclosures under the rule would not be due until 2024

European Commission: ESRS under the CSRD

• The European Commission officially adopted the?first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)?requiring companies to provide comprehensive and robust information about social and environmental impacts, risks and opportunities to a broad group of stakeholders on July 31, 2023.

ISSB?The?International Sustainability Standards Board

• International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)?will take over the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD)?role in monitoring companies’ progress on climate-related disclosures. ISSB Chair?Emmanuel Faber?said, “The ISSB welcomes the FSB's request to transfer the TCFD’s monitoring responsibilities to the ISSB… This announcement provides yet further clarification of the so-called ‘alphabet soup’ of ESG initiatives for companies and investors.”
• ISSB Standards?launched week?26-30 June?2023

General?Corporate Reporting

GRESB

• As a reminder, the deadline to complete the GRESB Assessments is?July 1
• Subscribe to the GRESB Linkedin Newsletter?here >>

CDP

• CDP's deadline for companies to submit their questionnaires for scoring is?in July.
• There is an extensive resource repository -?https://lnkd.in/ek5NsqpD?that helps you with details on its scoring methodology, sector-specific best practices, and more
• Subscribe to the CDP Bulletin Newsletter here >>

Insightful Reports

IEA publishes 2023 updates to its landmark report Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep the 1.5 °C Goal in Reach.

The UN’s global report card as part of the “The Global Stocktake” assessed progress since the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Investing in American Energy report by the US Department of Energy (DOE). Significant Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on the U.S. Energy Economy and Emissions Reductions

Struggling with the details of?ISSB?/?IFRS,?ESRS?/?CSRD?or just overall?ESG?or?sustainability?frameworks? Check out the detailed analysis, tips and guidelines from?WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

This year’s edition of the?World Energy Investment?provides a full update on the investment picture in 2022 and an initial reading of the emerging picture for 2023.

IBM's recent ESG global survey?covered more than 20,000 consumers and +2,500 executives with a focus on their sustainability preferences when making employment and purchase decisions.

Ember's Global Electricity Review 2023. The report analyzed electricity data from countries representing 93% of global power demand and found that electricity produced in 2022 was the cleanest ever. Solar and wind represented 12% of global electricity production, up from 10% in 2021, and all clean energy, including hydro and nuclear, made up a record 39%.

After years of work, involving hundreds of researchers from around the world, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has published a synthesis report on the latest?Climate Change?science this week.?Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC)?Sixth Assessment Report (AR6)

The 2023 Climate Risk Landscape Report, by the UN Environment Program. It highlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving climate tool marketplace, featuring over 3 dozen tools for physical and transition risk as well as climate alignment

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