The E in ESG: Sustainability News Roundup
The E in ESG ?curates the week’s latest?#sustainability ?news; focusing on regulatory developments, innovation, and the intersection of?#environmental ?and organizational best practices.
This week's Newsletter includes:
INITIATIVES
IBM Launches RFP to Help Accelerate Global Water Management Solutions for Vulnerable Populations
IBM (NYSE:?IBM ) announced today that it is accepting proposals for the next cohort of the?IBM Sustainability Accelerator , which will focus on water management solutions. This program applies IBM technologies, such as hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence, and an ecosystem of experts to enhance and scale?projects focused on populations vulnerable to environmental threats.
IBM will support projects that can help improve access to safe drinking water for all, improve water quality by reducing pollution, increase water-use efficiency, protect, and restore water-related ecosystems, increase sanitation management, and reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
This year's RFP will have representatives from www.Water.org and United Nations Development Programme as part of the selection process.
英特尔 and Partners Showcase 'Green PC' That's 90% Recyclable???????
Today, Intel held an event in Beijing with the theme "joining hands with ecological partners to share new concepts of high-energy and low-carbon, and jointly create green commercial computers." The chipmaker and its partners Tsinghua Tongfang and Acer took the opportunity to display the first eco-friendly mainstream PCs, where 90% of the components are recyclable.
EXPAND YOUR 'GREEN' JARGON
1. GREENWASH:
#ESG -linked bonuses for many bosses are greenwash, says study
Some?86% of companies ?have now adopted #ESG (environmental, social and governance) measures in their executive remuneration policies and climate is the area with the strongest investor consensus.?
However, a study by 普华永道 UK and the London Business School shows carbon targets are being easily achieved despite inadequate progress on global warming.?
2. GREEN-HUSHING:
Will companies say less as #ESG scrutiny increases?
A common question for companies as they seek to tell their sustainability story is how much they should disclose.
For those at the beginning of tackling issues like climate risk or board diversity, it might seem risky to begin talking about those topics. Data that right now doesn’t look great could become a stick to beat the company with.
Generally, the advice for companies has been that it’s better to?get going and start disclosing . An absence of information is usually taken as a bad sign and stakeholders will understand that it takes time to improve; they just want to know you have a plan and are making progress.
But amid the growing focus on greenwashing and the anti-ESG backlash, particularly in the US, companies may be tempted to scale back their #ESG reporting. This is referred to as ‘green-hushing’, where firms deliberately disclose less to avoid scrutiny.
3. COMPETENCE GREENWASHING:
Why #greenwashing and competence greenwashing are risks to #ESG integration and corporate sustainability
"You coined the term 'competence greenwashing,' could you please explain what it means?"
"In case I am inflating or misrepresenting what my skills can do regarding a certain sustainability or #ESG issue, then I am competence greenwashing, which is the greenwashing of skills or expertise. Unfortunately, awareness and passion do not equal subject matter expertise. It's not because someone is passionate about climate change that they can be considered a climate expert.
It's not that my passion for nature automatically translates into becoming a biodiversity expert. It doesn't work that way. If we go with the "10,000 hours concept" of Malcolm Gladwell to acquire world-class expertise in any area, even though that number can be disputed, completing a 100-hour online course does not equal subject matter expertise."
BUSINESS & FINANCE
#ESG Investors Largely in Dark on Value Chain Risks, Study Finds
“Most companies don’t disclose the climate and environmental impact of their value chains, according to a fresh study.?Roughly 60% of firms don’t report their supply-chain emissions… almost 70% have yet to assess the impact on biodiversity of their value chains.” a review by CDP showed.
Tweak Your Company’s Mission Statement to Inspire #Sustainability with Just One Word
Take 思科 . If they had written something like "to build voice-over-IP systems that utilize the most advanced internet connection technologies, are the best in the industry, and return a great value to our shareholders," people probably wouldn't have given the words more than a quick skim before moving on to something more interesting.?Their actual vision , "changing the way we work, live, play and learn," is more to the point and free of jargon. It gets across that Cisco wants to be a change agent and that it understands the significance of connection and communication in our world.
At Merchants Fleet , we adhered to this rule of simplicity first by consolidating the multiple vision statements we had for different areas of the business into just one: "Enabling the movement of people, goods and services freely." To update this for ESG later on, we added a single word: "responsibly."
The Stakeholder Model Of Purpose: How Cause Marketing, CSR, Sustainability, DEI And #ESG Can Operate Harmoniously In This New Age Of Purpose
领英推荐
One of the biggest questions in the global movement of business as a force for good is how the different disciplines of CSR, #ESG , #sustainability , cause marketing, and diversity and inclusion all fit with the idea of Purpose. Afdhel Aziz
GOVERNMENT & REGULATIONS
Net-Zero Industry Act: Making the EU the home of clean technologies manufacturing and green jobs
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said:?
“We need a regulatory environment that allows us to scale up the clean energy transition quickly.??The Net-Zero Industry Act will do just that. It will create the best conditions for those sectors that are crucial for us to reach net-zero by 2050: technologies like wind turbines, heat pumps, solar panels, renewable hydrogen as well as CO2?storage. Demand is growing in Europe and globally,?and we are acting now to make sure we can meet more of this demand with European supply."?
Spring Budget reaction: UK lacking ‘serious response’ to global clean energy arms race
The?Spring Budget ?was missing “serious consideration” of how Britain plans to make its mark in the global clean energy ‘arms race’, the chief executive of the UK SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT AND FINANCE ASSOCIATION (UKSIF) has said.
James Alexander, CEO at UKSIF , welcomed Budget measures including support for carbon capture and storage technologies, and clarity on the UK’s ‘green taxonomy’, which will include nuclear as environmentally sustainable.
However, he added the Budget “should have begun serious consideration of a positive UK response to the global clean energy ‘arms race’”, alongside measure from US and EU.
WA Senate passes bill to create battery recycling program
The bill would require battery producers to fund and participate in a statewide stewardship program to boost recycling rates. The stewardship program would be similar to other statewide programs launched in recent years to collect and recycle paint, electronic products, photovoltaic solar panels and light bulbs containing mercury.
Through the program, cities and counties would get relief from some of the costs of battery collection and reduce the danger of fires caused by rechargeable batteries in garbage trucks and waste transfer stations.
Rania A. Al-Mashat Participates in 1st High level Steering Committee Meeting on Energy and Hydrogen Cooperation between Egypt and Germany
The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat participated in the 1st High level Steering Committee Meeting on Energy and Hydrogen Cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Federal Republic of Germany.
This aims to build on the existing cooperation in renewable energy generation and the declaration of intent signed last November between the two countries. Shaban Hadia
Iconic Nile River Delta faces existential threats, according to new study
Essam Heggy: how a few decades of environmental mismanagement turned the Nile delta from one of the most diverse and pristine ecosystems to one of the largest polluted?areas of our planet.
Large-scale heavy metal pollution , coastal erosion and seawater intrusion pose an existential threat to the Nile River Delta and endanger 60 million people (about twice the population of Texas) in Egypt who depend on its resources for every facet of life, according to new research from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Furthermore, the Nile River Delta is a critical stopover for migrating birds across their journey along the East African flyway.
The study, led by?Essam Heggy ?from the USC Viterbi Innovation Fund Arid Climates and Water Research Center, published on Tuesday, March 7, in the journal?Earth’s Future . Shaban Hadia
SET Launches “ESG Impact Assessment Report: THSI 2022” For Positive Impacts Of All Sectors
The The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has released the “ESG Impact Assessment Report: THSI 2022” summarized the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performances of listed companies in the Thailand Sustainability Investment (THSI) list that have built positive impacts on both internal and external stakeholders. The report launch is aimed to be case studies and to inspire all sectors to realize the significance of sustainable business development and investment.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Envizi Webinar Series: Sustainability Trends for 2023 (March 29th)
Spring into action with Business Automation (April 11th)
Michael Nishiki , Michael Hinds , Jeff Goodhue , George Thomas
Interview with Corporate Sustainability Manager - The IBM ESG Journey (April 27th)
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Vice President, TSS Services at IBM
1 年Moe A., JD Always forward, your vision is spot on!
Founder + Chief Purpose Officer, Conspiracy of Love #Bcorp. Inspiring AAPI Keynote Speaker. Bestselling Author. Forbes Contributor.
1 年Thanks for the share Moe!