Merging Standards, Impact in Equities, Data Council, and ESG Jobs
Here are 5 ESG insights you might have missed this week:
Sustainable Investing Reporting Groups Merge to Tackle Consistency Challenge-
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) officially announce their merger to form the Value Reporting Foundation.
“We have listened to the strong demand from businesses and investors for a simplified corporate reporting landscape. By combining the tools, resources and relationships of SASB and IIRC, the Value Reporting Foundation will continue to advance progress towards a more coherent landscape and continue to support the important efforts of the IFRS Foundation. The end result will be comparable, consistent and reliable information that enables more holistic decision making by businesses and investors.” Janine Guillot, CEO of the Value Reporting Foundation and former CEO of SASB.
The IIRC’ principles-based framework offers guidance for reporting business strategy, governance, performance and prospects. SASB focuses on industry-specific disclosure topics and metrics. Together, they can help people understand the relationship between sustainability and financial performance.
Impact Investing in Listed Equities-
A report from the Global Impact Investing Network details a menu of impact strategies in listed equities that can deliver tangible impact in the real economy.
There is no single, easily identified indicator that immediately qualifies a listed equities strategy as impact rather than as a sustainable strategy. This paper presents a number of innovations that were identified within funds, but based on the decade of impact investing experience, none of these individual innovations on their own will unlock positive change in the real economy. The transition from a sustainable investing strategy to one that intentionally generates positive impacts through its investment strategy depends on a number of coordinated changes across the investment process.
To create a portfolio that goes beyond standard-issue ESG, inventors must refocus the entire investment process, from strategy definition and portfolio selection to performance measurement and engagement.
Half of China-Backed Overseas Coal Projects Shelved-
Of the 52 projects with Chinese financing announced between mid-2014 and the end of last year, 25 have been shelved and eight have been canceled.
Only one project - a power station located in Kalapara, Bangladesh - has gone into operation, a sign that financing costs and risks related to coal projects have surged, while clean energy like solar power have become cheaper to produce.
Factors driving the investment withdrawal include the rising loan spread for coal power plants as financial institutions gained more understanding of climate-related financial risks for high-emitting assets, according to the paper. Emerging carbon pricing initiatives around the world posed greater financial risks to those projects, while a volatile coal price in recent years and the fast declining cost of producing solar power also played a role.
Arabesque S-Ray, CDP, Impak and FTSE Russell Join ESG Data-Focused Council-
Arabesque S-Ray, CDP, Impak and FTSE Russell join existing Data Council members Refinitiv, S&P Global, Moody’s ESG Solutions Group and Bloomberg.
Launched at the World Economic Forum in January 2020, FoSDA aims to identify and accelerate the reliable, actionable ESG data and related technology that is needed for improved investor decision making on the global journey to sustainable development.
FoSDA’s key goals include articulating the future data requirements investors and governments need to accurately integrate ESG data into their decision making, highlighting new technology and data sets that can support a just transition to sustainable development, and determining and satisfying the data needs for investors wanting to take greater account of SDG-related risks and impacts.
Source: https://www.esgtoday.com/arabesque-s-ray-cdp-impak-and-ftse-russell-join-esg-data-focused-council/
PwC Planning to Hire 100,000 Over Five Years in Major ESG Push-
Accounting firm PwC said it would invest $12 billion over five years to create 100,000 new jobs aimed at helping its clients grapple with climate and diversity reporting and also in artificial intelligence, as part of its new global strategy.
The new hires will come from mergers and acquisitions PwC completes and direct hires from competitors, Global Chairman Bob Moritz said in an interview. Of the 100,000 people PwC will hire, about 25,000 to 30,000 will be in the United States, and 10,000 of those will be from Black and LatinX communities, Moritz said.
PwC’s ESG investments will include expanding Centres of Excellence for specialists on key ESG topics, including climate risk and supply chain. The company also plans to launch a global ESG Academy which will enable all PwC partners and staff to integrate the fundamentals of ESG into their work.
One more thing: From CNBC- How Soil Could Be An Untapped Source Of Electricity
Find the video here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niwcJ1uTcx0
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