The Robertsbridge Download - January 2023

Welcome to The Robertsbridge Download, a monthly digest where we will provide you with a breakdown of the stories catching our attention in the world of sustainability.?

A recap of the World Economic Forum:?

• This year more than 1,500 business leaders attended the Davos World Economic Forum conference, where they were joined by world leaders, investors, academics, and, for the first time, a strong activist presence.?
• As usual, the highlight was the publication of WEF’s annual Global Risks Report, mapping out the most likely and severe risks for the immediate future and the next decade. Unsurprising that the cost-of-living crisis ranked highest, but an increased frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide came a close second.??
• A notable announcement was the launch of the Giving to Amplify Earth Action Initiative, which has been set up to fund and grow public, private and philanthropic partnerships around sustainability. A welcome addition when we consider that in 2021 only 2% of philanthropic giving – totalling $810bn - went to reducing emissions.??
• Other major takeaways included a new partnership between Indonesia and WEF which aims to scale projects in the blue economy, the unveiling of Chancellor Scholz’s energy transition acceleration plan for Germany and the UK’s opposition leader, Keir Starmer’s statement that no investment into new UK oil and gas fields would be made under a Labour government.??

Looking ahead to COP28:?

• Sultan Al-Jaber, Chief Executive of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, was appointed to the role of president by the host nation United Arab Emirates last month.?
• There was a divide in opinion in the wake of the announcement. UN spokespeople noted that the host country chooses the COP president with no involvement from the UN Secretary-General or the Secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. But, US climate envoy John Kerry backed the UAE’s appointment, as did the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. While Greta Thunberg deemed the appointment “completely ridiculous” and 27 Senators have called on the Biden administration to urge the UAE to withdraw his appointment.???
• Sultan Al-Jaber's appointment reflects the complex path the UAE is trying to navigate as the oil exporter prepares for a renewables-focused future.?While Al-Jaber does have a leading role in ADNOC, he is also CEO of Abu Dhabi's renewable energy firm Masdar and has already called for a tripling of renewable energy generation by 2030.??

This month’s success stories:?

• Global carbon dioxide removals have reached 2BN tonnes per year, according to a report from the University of Oxford. Nevertheless, despite a raft of new technology being developed in recent years, most removals still come from forests. Technology will need to remove 1,300 times as much carbon as it does now if we are to limit temperatures to below a 2°C rise.?
• The UK announced it would be banning several single-use plastic items from businesses in the hospitality industry from October 2023. Currently, only 10% of single-use cutlery and plates are recycled in the UK, but this move will help the UK Government come closer to its 2042 goal of eliminating all avoidable plastic waste.??
• Patagonia has played a key role in saving Europe’s last wild river – the Vojsa – with the Albanian government set to formally declare the area around the Vjosa a national park later this year. The partnership between the clothing brand and the Albanian Government, which has been running for over half a decade, could be a great template for future corporate conservation efforts.??
• The Colombian Government has announced an end to new oil and gas exploration projects this month. The minister of mines, Irene Vélez, told world leaders the country would shift away from fossil fuels to begin a sustainable chapter.?
• In 99% of cases, it is more expensive to keep coal-fired power plants in the US running than to build an entirely new solar or wind energy operation nearby, according to new research from Energy Innovation.??

Useful resources to take note of:

• Fair Game's Sustainability Index for English Football Clubs: As one of the first of its kind, Fair Game has released an index that lets you see where your club ranks against other Premier League and Championship clubs in sustainability. The methodology mirrors a typical ESG scorecard, with topics including responsible sourcing, board diversity, and environmental management made prominent.?
• Carbon Brief’s State of the Climate 2022: Carbon Brief has looked at the latest data published about our oceans, atmosphere, cryosphere and surface temperature from the last year to examine just what happened to our planet in 2022.?
• SDG Tracker: Using this tool, you can discover how countries compare to one another in progress towards SDG indicators, offering an opportunity to understand which nations are leading and which are lagging on the sustainability front.?

Delving deeper?

UK news:?

• This month saw the publication of Chris Skidmore’s Net Zero review. Many believed that the message from the review, with its 129 recommendations, was that the UK Government’s approach was not aligned with climate science nor maximising the opportunities presented by the green transition. Its recommendations look to address that and provide certainty for the private sector looking to invest and innovate and focus governmental minds with its call for a new Office for Net Zero Delivery to manage cross-departmental priorities.??
• The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will look to incorporate sustainability into existing competition law and allow more companies to collaborate on global warming initiatives and avoid concerns of collusion. Under the new proposal, the CMA would consider climate change mitigation a benefit to society that would fit within that “fair share” exemption. Detailed consultations on these strategy changes will commence in February.??
• The Government has unveiled a roadmap to improving nature across the UK, with new commitments to be introduced to upgrade wastewater treatment works, restore wildlife and promote “nature-friendly” farming practices.?

Finance:?

• Shareholder support for ESG-related proposals has grown by 14% year-on-year, according to Square Well Partners. HSBC and LGIM called for transparency over how Glencore’s thermal coal plans aligned with the Paris Agreement. The Norwegian Oil Fund – the world’s largest sovereign fund – announced plans to vote against the inclusion of companies that do not set a net-zero target or have sufficiently diverse boards. And 34 companies were removed from FTSE Russell’s FTSE4Good Index for failing to meet more stringent environmental standards.?
• The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)’s chair has announced that the ISSB will finish the redeliberation of its first two draft standards - IFRS S1 and S2 - next month. The ISSB originally claimed it would issue the two standards by the end of last year.?
• For the first time, women passed the 40% mark on European financial services boards, up from 37% in June last year. Whilst financial services companies have set their own diversity targets, regulators are also increasing pressure with the 40% benchmark to become mandatory across the EU in 2026 for large PLCs. Nevertheless, it is widely accepted that quotas will not solve all the issues faced by professional women.??

Forestry:?

• After Brazil experienced its highest year ever of deforestation, the recent election of the leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has stimulated a rise of anti-deforestation movements. This month, anti-deforestation raids have been carried out by environmental agencies aiming to stop loggers and farmers clearing land for commodities like soy or coffee, something that Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had advocated to remove fines against.?
• In a similar vein, a study published in Nature found that only 5% of net forest loss during 2000-2021 occurred in Indigenous territories and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, even though this is more than half of the region’s forest.?
• The recently signed EU Deforestation Bill, which bans purchasing commodities that contribute to deforestation, has come under fire from ASEAN and Latin American nations. Indonesia and Malaysia have led a group of countries who are rebuking the new regulations on the grounds that it blocks their access to the EU market, hurts small farmers, and protects domestic European markets that are not efficient enough to compete on cost.?