Time to cull the myriad of voluntary & ineffective initiatives? Sustainable finance discussions heat up
International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC)
Apolitical, expertise-led think tank with an advisory practice focused on #sustainablefinance in finance and business
As companies focus on sustainability-related disclosures as part of the efforts to comply with CSRD, one discussion is heating up - the one about the need for clarity about transition plans and real world decarbonisation.
The world has seen a huge rise in different initiatives and alliances, but instead of acting as "catalysers" or ensuring drive real world change, they seem to have divided stakeholders' efforts and resources, yet they have resulted in very limited change in business or financing models. Every time an initiative tries to introduce stricter requirements, a number of members of the said initiative tend to leave... The question is: does the world need yet more "Taskforces", "Alliances", etc.? Or do we already have too many, with new ones popping up at every COP, publishing yet more reports that nobody reads.
The real change in implementation has been regulation and mandatory disclosure standards, helping the sustainability discussions move from sustainability officers' offices into board rooms and strategy conversations.
The US has seen a backlash to ESG, with a decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to pause the March 6 regulations after business interests and right-leaning challengers asked the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to freeze the rules as their litigation there continues. However, these developments are not slowing down asset owner demand for more climate-related disclosures and climate risk management. As research improves, new centres for sustainable finance data research are created or expanded, combined with increased internal capacity in corporate sector, it will all create better understanding of sustainability data points and it will lead to pressures for improved reporting and transparency going forward.
News stories
纽约时报 - Banks Made Big Climate Promises. A New Study Doubts They Work. Further evidence that voluntary commitments don't work - Using European Central Bank lending data, researchers show that there is little evidence that voluntary commitments have been effective in reducing emissions.
CNN - International court rules Switzerland violated human rights in landmark climate case brought by 2,000 women. An international court in France on Tuesday ruled Switzerland’s failure to adequately tackle the climate crisis was in violation of human rights, in a landmark climate judgment that could have a ripple effect across the globe.
ESMA will be the direct supervisor of external reviewers of European Green Bonds within the EU.
彭博资讯 - A $290 Billion ESG Bond Market Faces EU Snub in New Proposal. The EU Platform on Sustainable Finance is proposing that flows generated through sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) be excluded from an EU exercise designed to monitor how well the bloc’s green rules are working.
Trellis Group - 3 big ways the new SEC rule will change ESG reporting. Emissions reporting is about to get faster, stricter and more detailed.
World Economic Forum - Impact valuation: How to challenge and elevate traditional decision-making. WEF has published an article showing how impact can be measured. Impact valuation can help businesses prosper in a world with an increase in the occurrence, frequency and severity of social and environmental issues. A vital metric in the era of stakeholder capitalism, it involves quantifying and valuing a company's positive and negative externalities related to society and the environment.
Eco-Business - Greenwashing fear is driving investment in sustainability in Asia – but also stunting climate ambition, study finds
ShareAction - Loophole in Barclays’ energy policy allows significant financing of fracking – new ShareAction analysis
Recommended reading & reports
Carbon Tracker shared Climate alignment assessments that reveal oil and gas company transition risk exposure.
International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC) published a short analytical report revealing that companies listed in the Visegrad Four country exchanges (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary) are failing to report their sustainability/esg performance, and that the vast majority are not even disclosing the basic GHG emissions.
Just Transition Finance Lab informed that Youth employment is a key intergenerational dimension of the just transition.
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UNDP shared in its comprehensive interactive overview of Debt in Developing Economies that the current outlook looks highly precarious as the countries battle high levels of indebtedness, massive SDG (including climate) spending needs and high interest rates.
OECD publish a report on Sustainability-Linked Bonds: How To Make Them Work In Developing Countries, and How Donors Can Help with a spotlight on public sector issuances in the wake of the first two sovereigns entering this space in 2022.
Paolo D'Orazio, Dr. Tobias Hertel and Fynn Kasbrink published in Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment a study No need to worry? Estimating the exposure of the German banking sector to climate-related transition risks. It identifies the energy, transportation, and manufacturing sectors as the most sensitive to transition risks. Moreover, it indicates that an amplified exposure to transition risks characterises large private banks.
Climate and Sustainable Finance Commission at Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) shared a user guide for Reporting on climate transition plan in ESRS format.
EU Platform on Sustainable Finance published an intermediary report on "Monitoring Capital Flows to Sustainable Investments". DG FISMA and the Platform held a webinar, during which the two co-rapporteurs explained the methodology and the purpose of the work. More work will be carried out on the subject matter.
Re the graph above: Data Source - 69% of universe have reported FY 2022 under the EU Taxonomy, and NFRD scope determined by employee count > 500, Country of Incorporation = EU27. Note: Financials includes voluntary reporting, as mandatory alignment starts from Jan 2024.
The new report Bull in the Climate Shop, co-authored by Friends of the Earth and Profundo, examines U.S. bank financing of meat, dairy, and feed corporations and the sizeable climate impact of that financing.
Planet Tracker shared names of 20 investors and 20 banks currently financing the methane-generating activities of fifteen leading meat and dairy companies worldwide, identified in terms of equity ownership, bond ownership and bank lending.
UNEP Finance Initiative published a Climate Risk Landscape Report 2024 - aimed at the financial industry. The edition provides best practices for tool utilisation, case studies, and recommendations to navigate the dynamic climate risk tools market. It also offers insights into the rapidly evolving regulatory developments around climate-related disclosure frameworks and recent market developments.? ??
A new report, EU ECA fossil fuel phase-out tracker, by ?Both ENDS, Counter Balance and Oil Change reveals EU Member States’ lagging commitment to Paris Agreement goals in export credit policies.
A LSEG study Tracing carbon-intensive debt is identifying and calibrating climate risks in corporate fixed income. The study offers key findings that help investors understand and track carbon-intensive fixed income holdings. It was written by Alan Meng, Naman Sharma, Nitish Ramkumar and Jaakko Kooroshy.
Why assessing externalities quantifies the sustainability of your investments in a way ESG ratings can’t? Answered by Ben Corris.
Podcasts & event recordings
The EY Sustainability Matters podcast - What strategies can help decarbonize the construction industry
EU Platform on Sustainable Finance held a webinar to accompany the launch of the Monitoring Capital Flows intermediary report. The recording is available online, and the report is on the European Commission's website.
Online community insights
LinkedIn Post: WindEurope has published an article about how the EU is starting an investigation into Chinese wind turbines under new Foreign Subsidies Regulation. Under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation the Commission has the power to investigate the existence and the effects of foreign subsidies and impose redressive measures once a distortion of competition has been established. During the investigation the Commission will assess all sorts?of evidence of alleged unfair practices. Based on the evidence gathered the European Commission may go into an in-depth investigation. It would then have an 18-month deadline.
LinkedIn Post: Bill Baue explained and compared sustainability performance assessment frameworks, using context-based normative thresholds
LinkedIn Post: Ulf G. Erlandsson made parallel between banks calling net-zero 2050 and the energy transition “unrealistic” and the fixed telecom monopolies.
LinkedIn Post: Robert H?glund talked about Science Based Targets initiative building upon its recommendation to implement Carbon Removal milestone targets.
LinkedIn Post: Akshat Sharma shared TCFD recommendations cheatsheet.
LinkedIn Post: Antoni BALLABRIGA shared nine recommendations for climate neutrality for climate towards a just transition in global supply chains.
Events
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