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:
CLIMATE TIME BOMB TICKING?
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres warned that the "climate time bomb is ticking" as he urged rich nations on Monday to slash emissions sooner after a new assessment from scientists said there was little time to lose in tackling climate change.
"The rate of temperature rise in the last half century is the highest in 2,000 years," he said. "Concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest in at least 2 million years. The climate time-bomb is ticking." Reuters News Agency
LAW AND REGULATION
A preliminary?review?of ESG benchmarks and the quality of their disclosures has been conducted by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with the regulator warning that these benchmarks have “potential for widespread failings”. Regulation Asia
The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) , today announced $250 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help Federal agencies implement net-zero building projects and set an example in sustainability as the nation works to transition to clean energy and combat climate change. More energy efficient buildings will also save taxpayers money. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
The European Commission has launched a proposal to stamp out greenwashing in a bid to support consumers seeking sustainable alternatives.
In the Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims published on Tuesday, the paper demands more stringent measures for companies to prove environmental claims and transparent labelling.
Evidence from a public consultation in 2020 and proposals supporting the green transition indicated “misleading practices, such as greenwashing and lack of transparency and credibility of environmental labels” happened at various stages of consumption.
More than half of the samples studied in 2020 made environmental claims that were vague, misleading or unfounded, with 40% of the claims unsubstantiated.
This new proposal would be implemented alongside the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive to “tackle false environmental claims by ensuring that buyers receive reliable, comparable and verifiable information,” the paper said. ICIS Morgan Condon
One type of waste is unaccounted-for or non-revenue water (NRW)—water that has been produced but is “lost” before it reaches the user. The World Bank estimates that some?45 million cubic meters?of water are lost daily due to issues like leaks and pipe bursts—adding up to a value of over US$3 billion per year. Merely cutting the amount of NRW in developing countries by half would translate to enough fresh water to serve around?90 million people.
The first step in cutting NRW is knowing where it is occurring, and that’s where IBM’s sustainability solutions can help. For example, the?IBM Maximo Application Suite?incorporates various sources of information from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, and visual inspection data, and applies AI to detect anomalies in pipes or pumps. If the system pressure drops and flow levels surge, operators will receive a real-time alert that a pipe burst has occurred. Maximo is also effective at detecting smaller changes that are indicative of minor leaks or malfunctions in pumping equipment. IBM , Christina Shim
Kevin Shibilski, who led Wisconsin-based 5R Processors, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for a tax crime. The action was part of a plea deal that resulted in prosecutors dropping CRT-related charges.
Shibilski?pleaded guilty?in May of 2022 to one felony count of failing to pay taxes to the IRS. On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Shibilski was sentenced by a federal judge to prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $197,000 in restitution to the IRS.?
When 5R closed, it left millions of pounds of CRT materials in storage at sites in Wisconsin and Tennessee. The state of Wisconsin is still working to arrange the cleanup of several sites. Resource Recycling, Inc. ,? Jared Paben
China will make efforts to stabilize automobile, consumer electronics consumption, and expand home appliances and green building materials consumption, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Thursday.
The country will also consolidate its leading position in industries such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaic equipment, mobile communications and power equipment, the ministry said in a statement on its website. Reuters News Agency
Arizona-based eGreen IT Solutions was stripped of its e-Stewards certification after GPS trackers showed overseas printer shipments. The company says it did not “knowingly” break rules.?
The e-scrap processor was found to have two critical non-conformities and other violations of the e-Stewards standards, leading to the withdrawal of its certification.
The decision came after the Basel Action Network (BAN), which administers the e-Stewards Certification Program, investigated the company using GPS trackers. A follow-up investigation revealed other violations of the standards, according to an?evidentiary report.?
Karin Harris, president of eGreen IT Solutions, told E-Scrap News that the company has been certified with e-Stewards for 12 years and “we did not knowingly or intentionally violate the e-Stewards Standard.” She added that she feels the company is being “unfairly scapegoated” and that she has always promoted the use of trackers to ensure proper e-scrap disposal.? Marissa Heffernan
PRIORITIZING ESG: BUSINESS & CONSUMERS
Brands that don't devote time or attention to sustainability will pay a higher cost than ever before, as one in two consumers report they have changed food and grocery brands based on environmental, social or governance (ESG) considerations. This figure is even higher among millennials, seven in 10 of whom have switched brands due to sustainability concerns, according to the?2023 US Brand Sustainability Benchmark Report.
Produced by research technology company GLOW in partnership with NielsenIQ , the report provides sustainability benchmarks for the U.S. food and grocery industry based on NielsenIQ data and Glow's proprietary measure Social Responsibility Score (SRS.)
SRS assesses consumer perceptions of brand ESG performance based on 33,000 respondents' views on more than 150 brands, collected from April to December 2022. Convenience Store News
领英推荐
Gartner has?previously flagged?ESG as a rapidly growing area of regulatory risk for corporate boards.
According to its latest study, many organizations are now shifting away from a purely “risk management” approach to ESG and are viewing it as a way to attract customers, investors and talent.
“Many CFOs have already experienced positive returns from placing an emphasis on sustainability and through small-scale, green capital investments,” Melanie O’Brien, a vice president in Gartner’s?finance practice, said in a press release.
Gartner predicted that more than $3 trillion of ESG-linked bonds will be issued by 2026, accounting for 30% of total market issuance. Industry Dive , Alexei Alexis
Disney Experiences Disney World’s turn to renewable energy is part of a growing trend among large companies as investors seek out companies that are stewards of the?environment?— or that are at least willing to tout their eco-credentials.
It’s a big business, with billions of dollars from investors pouring in annually (to the tune of $157.3 billion in 2022, according to Morningstar). And every major public company in entertainment wants a piece of that pot.
And so, Disney, and competitors like Comcast , are building solar arrays to help power their theme parks and offices, while other companies pursue their own eco-friendly efforts.
At Fox Corporation , the company touts in its latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report that Fox News field crews “utilize solar-powered generators for daily and breaking news coverage,” and that it is expanding its waste management initiatives on the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angeles.
The company partnered with One Tree Planted to plant new trees across the country, while employees at Fox Sports created what they call the “Fox Sports Carbon Council.” “This group meets monthly and consists of dedicated employees with an interest in?sustainability,” the company says in its report. “The purpose of the Council is to share ideas and introduce environmental solutions.” The Hollywood Reporter , Alex Weprin
U.S. companies are facing fewer shareholder proposals on social issues this year but more calls for climate action. Anti-ESG ones are increasing, too.
For annual general meetings taking place in the first six months of the year, shareholders across all U.S. publicly traded companies filed a total of 538 proposals related to environmental, social and sustainability?governance issues, according to the Sustainable Investments Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit that tracks such votes. Last year, there were 577 filings over the same period.??
Proposals focused on social issues were again the most popular this year, mentioned in 338?of the filings, down more than 9% from 373 last year. Environmental issues were at the heart of 162 proposals, up slightly from 2022’s comparable tally of 155. Included in the grand total were 48 so-called anti-ESG proposals focused on the risk of ESG-promoting policies, up from 27 in the same period last year.? The Wall Street Journal , Dieter Holger
Faced with?pressure from customers, regulators, investors and employees, many companies have ramped up spending on environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects. But as they work to integrate sustainability into broader business strategies,?finance chiefs?must still show that the initiatives offer good value for?money.
This process might well be daunting for those at the beginning of their ESG journeys, especially if the exercise sets alarm bells ringing about the C-suite’s commitment to sustainability. But according to James Stacey, a partner at sustainability consultancy ERM, there’s no need to fret. Companies simply need to assess the return on investment (ROI) of their ESG initiatives in the same way they would?judge other investments?that could impact their future financial performance and?success.
“Understanding ROI is really all about understanding how the sustainability agenda or a subset of it – let’s say carbon emissions and the transition to net zero – interacts with a business’s revenue, costs and the assets and liabilities it’s got on its balance sheet,” he says. “At that level, where these issues are strategic drivers of future financial performance, the ROI exercise is really the same as it is in other business circumstances.”? Raconteur | B Corp? , Ben E.
“Creating a net zero carbon shoe that is commercially viable and scalable is the culmination of our entire back-catalog of work. M0.0NSHOT isn’t a silver bullet for the climate crisis—it’s a proof-point that, when we take sustainability seriously and are laser-focused on carbon reduction, we can make incredible breakthroughs,” says Tim Brown, co-founder and co-CEO of Allbirds.
Since its founding in 2018, Allbirds has consistently worked toward reducing carbon in its business and products. Its first carbon-negative material was called SweetFoam, which was instructive in creating the new foam used in M0.0NSHOT. In 2019, Allbirds became the first fashion brand to label products with carbon footprints. In 2020, Allbirds joined up with Adidas to partner on what was the lowest-carbon shoe in the world at the time, the Adizero x Allbirds. Melissa Breyer
Ahead of its annual meeting of shareholders March 23, 星巴克 , Seattle, has announced more than $50 million in planned investments to advance its target to cut its water and waste footprints in half by 2030.
Starbucks?says it intends to invest $10 million in New York-based Closed Loop Partners’ operating company, Circular Services, which was formed in concert with U.K.-based Brookfield Renewable in November 2022. Along with Starbucks, PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestle, SK Group and Microsoft will be investing in Circular Services, bringing the recycling operation’s total investments to nearly $1 billion. Christopher Voloschuk
Chipotle’s venture fund is backing startups focused on local food and sustainability, courting young consumers.
Cultivate Next, the arm of the fast-casual giant that invests in emerging companies, announced Wednesday (March 22) in a press release emailed to PYMNTS that it has invested in two food companies with an eye toward environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns. These moves come as Chipotle Mexican Grill increasingly seeks to meet the demands and address the concerns of its Generation Z and millennial target demographic. PYMNTS
Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol (SBP), has teamed up with?BitGo?— the crypto service provider known for its digital asset custodial solutions — to launch what both companies dubbed “the first sustainable custody solution” in a statement provided to Blockworks exclusively.?
It’s called the “Sustainable Bitcoin Certificate (SBC),” representatives told Blockworks, and it involves an on-chain solution to address problems environmental proponents say have long plagued bitcoin mining: dirty energy.
Non-renewable energy sources still power mining hardware on the original?proof-of-work?blockchain, in many parts of the world, meaning securing the?Bitcoin?network adds carbon pollution to the atmosphere. Blockworks , Michael Bodley