ESG Insider: As COP16 gets underway, corporate nature commitments remain rare
S&P Global Sustainable1
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COP16, the UN Biodiversity Conference, got underway this week in Cali, Colombia, bringing together governments, business and the scientific community to discuss implementation of a 2022 landmark agreement to address nature and biodiversity loss.
As these stakeholders gather, new research from S&P Global Sustainable1 shows that while more companies are recognizing the business risks of nature degradation and biodiversity loss, public commitments to protect biodiversity and ecosystems, halt deforestation and assess biodiversity impacts remain rare across the corporate world.
Our analysis demonstrates that the number of companies with biodiversity commitments has doubled in 2023 from 2022 but remains low — 233 out of a sample of 8,629 assessed firms. There are bright spots in this data, however: Latin America is the region with the highest share of companies making these commitments, and Colombia, the host of COP16, is the global leader in corporate commitments on biodiversity and deforestation.
This week’s newsletter features a report by S&P Global Ratings on the climate and financial challenges facing US public finance issuers in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. We also look at how uranium stocks are soaring as US technology giants turn to nuclear as a low-carbon power source for their datacenters amid the boom in AI. In addition, we explore how oil giant BP’s potential sale of a stake in its offshore wind business could act as a test for investor sentiment in the sector.
In this week's ESG Insider podcast, we hear how scaling climate and clean energy financing will be a major focus at COP29, the UN climate change conference taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan in two weeks.
Chart of the Week?
Hurricanes Helene And Milton Add To U.S. Public Finance Issuers’ Climate And Financial Challenges
Substantial inland damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, rising insurance premiums, reduced insurance coverage and political battles over federal funding could create hurdles for public finance issuers amid a recovery that could take years, S&P Global Ratings writes.?
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Uranium stocks soar as US tech flocks to nuclear
Uranium mining stocks are benefiting amid nuclear power commitments from US technology giants eager to tap low-carbon power for datacenters and AI, S&P Global Commodity Insights reports.
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BP's rumored offshore wind sale a test for investor sentiment as market recovers
BP should attract strong investor interest if it goes ahead with the rumored sale of a minority stake in its offshore wind business, but potential buyers may find it hard to accurately value the oil major's multi-gigawatt development portfolio given the complex set of challenges in the sector, observers told S&P Global Commodity Insights reports.
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FEATURE: Brazil hopes to step up efforts to launch compliance carbon market by COP30?
Industry and political sources expect the Brazilian government to approve a legal framework for a domestic compliance carbon market before COP30, which is scheduled to take place in Brazil in November 2025, S&P Global Commodity Insights reports.
Podcast
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ESG Insider Podcast
Talking climate finance ahead of COP29 In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we discuss climate finance ahead of COP29, which has been dubbed the “finance COP.” We speak to executives from the financial sector about the role of the public and private sectors in closing the climate financing gap for developing countries.? >>Listen on Spotify,?Apple Podcasts?or YouTube Music
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This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1 and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.
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This material is also available on our public website, https://www.spglobal.com/esg/.