Sustainable, Impact and ESG News and Investment Digest (week ending 8 March 2020)

A weekly round-up of developments in sustainable, impact and ESG news and investing.

In this week's digest:

• An unashamed spruik for David Attenborough's new docco "A Life on our Planet"
• New toolkit to assist climate-smart urbanisation
• Sustainable strategies more successful when managers believe in them
• African tree nurseries
• Reemergence of European train travel
• Britain leading the way in power sector decarbonisation

An unashamed spruik for David Attenborough's new docco "A Life on our Planet"

93 year old David Attenborough calls this his witness statement and cry from the heart. In the documentary (A Life on Our Planet) to be released on Netflix in April 2020, David reviews the negative changes in the natural world that have happened over his almost century on Earth.

The documentary looks to how we can reverse some of the negative impacts that have occurred during his lifetime.

Watch the trailer below.

You Tube

New toolkit to assist climate-smart urbanisation

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched a new database to help establish the legal frameworks necessary for effective domestic implementation of the Paris Accord in city development.

The new database will assist urban planners in developing basic services, planning, and decision-making; and help local authorities effectively react to emerging challenges.

The capability includes a micro-simulation modelling tool to support data gathering on air quality and to make informed decisions.

UNEP uses global best practice to help develop national legislation in collaboration with other peer groups.

UN Environment

Sustainable strategies more successful when managers believe in them

New research from CASS suggests belief in sustainable investing creates a self-fulfilling prophecy and a virtuous circle.

The study focussed on the implementation of a new sustainability strategy in parallel to a traditional strategy at TechPro, a global manufacturer with 20,000 full-time employees.  Although Techpro did not have a history of implementing sustainability strategies, it did have a record of appreciating corporate values such as trustworthiness and truthfulness which informed the firm’s business operations.

The newly implemented sustainability strategy was popular with staff, who were active in demonstrating aligned values.

The study also highlighted how tensions between sustainable and traditional methodologies could be alleviated by

1. "Mutually adjusting by compromising and reinterpreting or splitting between the strategies, when they could not physically incorporate both into a product or product development process."
2. "Prioritising the sustainability strategy over the mainstream strategy on values-driven tasks, so enabling differentiation between the tasks, while not inhibiting wider integration of the strategies within the organisation."
3. "Combining them within a common purpose and by including the new sustainability strategy within their existing procedures."

CASS

African trees nurseries

Edward Lutawo Phiri is leading the way in developing and maintaining African tree nurseries; an area that will become increasingly important as water becomes scarcer.

Often African tree nurseries are water poor with inefficient management strategies. However, Edward has established a rigorous management system to manage the forest; no bushfires allowed and cutting is only done when absolutely necessary.

He has this been able to maintain water levels and has created sustainable shallow wells as well.

For fertiliser, he uses composted leaves mixed with manure to improve ground organic quality and nutrient density.

UN-REDD

Reemergence of European train travel

The golden age of the train could be returning to Europe.

With climate issues rising to the fore, European train operators are expecting to benefit from the current EU budget negotiations.

During 2017, EU transport emissions were 28% above 1990 levels. The current "under discussion" European Green Deal is looking to reduce these levels.

Per DW, for the European transportation sector CO2 emissions, road transport is the biggest baddy at 73%, followed by aviation at 13% and maritime at 11%. Rail has a good profile with its high proportion of electrification, and comes way down fourth at 1.6%.

DW

Britain leading the way in power sector decarbonisation

 The carbon footprint in the UK's power sector has fallen by around two thirds over the last decade, down from 161 million tonnes in 2010 to 54 million metric tonnes in 2019. This is currently the fastest rate of decarbonisation in the world.

This follows a move away from coal and natural gas to renewable energy sources. If this transition rate can be continued, renewable energy sources could drive in excess of half of the UK's electricity requirements by the end of the current decade.

INEWS