Market Update and 2024 Sustainability Trends

Energy Market Update

Let's dive into the latest updates from the energy and sustainability space! The Feb '24 natural gas contract is trading at $3.17/MMbtu. The Feb '24 crude oil contract is at $72.87. Working gas in storage was 3,336 Bcf according to ElA estimates. This represents a withdrawal of 140 Bcf from the previous week.

Stocks were 15% higher than last year at this time and 11.6% higher than the five year average of 2,988 Bcf. Most of the western part of country is currently experiencing colder than average temperatures while the northeast is expected to have a colder forecast next. Once the northeast becomes colder, we can expect heating demand to rise significantly, which could potentially bring pricing up.

View Graphs and Analysis Here >>

?? Sustainability??

In this article, we're sharing our predictions for the corporate sustainability trends that will shape sustainability in 2024.Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q02gjb0H0

Notable News

Articles on Climate & the Environment

• 2023 confirmed as world's hottest year on record, BBC. "The year 2023 has been confirmed as the warmest on record, driven by human-caused climate change and boosted by the natural El Ni?o weather event. Last year was about 1.48C warmer than the long-term average before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels, the EU's climate service says."
• Cookies and candy are latest victims of climate crisis as sugar prices surge, The Guardian. "Cost of sugar surges to highest level since 2011 after dry spell in India and drought in Thailand, and price hike has already filtered down to desserts"
• See How 2023 Shattered Records to Become the Hottest Year, NY Times.

Articles on Corporate Sustainability, Regulation, & Global Events

• Explore Climate Innovation Funding with the Innovation Funding Tracker from the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund. Learn about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023.
• Biden Administration to Fine Oil and Gas Companies for Excess Methane, NY Times. "A plan to impose a fee of $900 to $1,500 on every excess ton of methane emissions would be the first federal price on greenhouse gas pollution."
• SDR: Three major impacts to look out for in 2024, ESG Clarity.
• One third of platforms and advisory groups ‘would fail’ SDR entity-level disclosure requirements, ESG Clarity.
• The World Economic Forum released its 2024 Global Risks Report.

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

SEC Climate Related Disclosures

• After significant delays to it’s March 2022 proposed rule, the SEC is considering finalizing the rule in April of this year, requiring companies to report their GHG emissions.
• SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Most Likely Not Final Until 2024, Effective 2026: At a forum hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler was careful to not reveal the official release date for the pending climate disclosure rule. However, indicators point to further delays that could go into 2024.

California Climate Disclosure Rules:

• California has taken the lead in pushing for corporate climate responsibility by passing groundbreaking legislation which requires large companies that do business in California to report on scope 1,2, and 3 emissions and to disclose climate-related financial risk. Governor Newsom signed both the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261) into law on October 7, 2023.
• By the end of 2024, companies subject to?California’s new Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB253)?will need to establish processes for auditing their 2025 emissions ahead of 2026 reporting.’

European Commission: ESRS under the CSRD

• EFRAG published the first three draft ESRS guidance documents with opportunity for public feedback until Feb. 2: 1) Materiality assessment implementation guidance: https://lnkd.in/dU_NjFS9 2) Value chain implementation guidance: https://lnkd.in/d8tHPT5h 3) Detailed ESRS datapoints implementation guidance: https://lnkd.in/dugvA8dC
• EFRAG and GRI enhance collaboration with deeper ties
• 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 IFRS S1 & S2

• 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.
• The ISSB released their first two sustainability reporting standards in mid-2023, S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information Sustainability Reporting and S2 for Climate-related Disclosure. Companies can begin using the ISSB Standards to report on their sustainability starting this year, with some countries going so far as to make the ISSB the baseline for their reporting regulations in 2024.
• The ISSB’s climate-related standard (S2) will also be integrated into the CDP questionnaire, which companies can begin using from April this year when the CDP reporting portal opens up.

CDP

• Discover the latest insights and updates in the CDP Bulletin Linkedin Newsletter

Insightful Reports

• The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report explores some of the most severe risks we may face over the next decade, against a backdrop of rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, a warming planet and conflict. (published Jan 10, 2024)
• 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.

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