Impact in Banking, Proxy Season Round-Up, Green UK, and US Carbon Credits
Here are 5 ESG insights you might have missed this week:
Scaling Up Impact Measurement And Management For Banks-
New Banking for Impact working group include UBS, ABN AMRO, Denmark’s Danske Bank, Singapore’s DBS Bank, Harvard University, and the Impact Institute.
As long as impact measurement and reporting remains unstandardized and there is no guidance on the attribution and aggregation of impact across the value chain, we will not be able to move forward. So more progress is needed – and quickly.
To help get there the Banking for Impact (BFI)working group aims to create a common impact measurement and valuation (IMV) approach. BFI will define a robust, scalable and cost-effective method for the quantification, valuation, attribution and aggregation of impacts for the sector. And with industry involvement the goal is to scale up and standardise these efforts overtime.
How much of a coal company’s greenhouse gas emissions is the responsibility of the bank that loaned it money? The nuts and bolts of devising new accounting systems are complex.
Source: https://bankingforimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BFI-Vision-paper-June-2021.pdf
New Investment Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool-
From the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), a tool designed to help finance institutions holistically identify and assess the impacts associated with their investments across a range of asset classes.
The tool requires users to input data about the nature, content and context of their portfolios. A set of in-built impact mappings is then combined with this data to help users identify the most significant impact areas of the portfolio and to reflect on their current impact performance, thus setting the basis for strategy development and target-setting.
The Tool was developed to enable signatories to the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) to meet their requirements under Principle 2 on impact analysis. It complements the Bank Portfolio Impact Analysis Tool, which focuses on Consumer, Business, Corporate and Investment Banking, but does not cover investment portfolios.
Proxy Season Round-Up: Unprecedented Shareholder Support For ESG Resolutions-
Nearly three dozen majority votes highlight historic increase in shareholder support.
The Proxy Preview team today released highlights of the unprecedented 2021 proxy season, which saw nearly three dozen majority votes for disclosure and action on environmental, social, and sustainable governance (ESG) shareholder resolutions.
To date, there have been 34 majority votes for ESG proposals, shattering last year’s record of 21. More are likely by year’s end. Last year, only two votes broke 70%, while this year 17 did. Eight were in the 80s and six saw more than 90% support. Four of the six that received more than 90% were supported by management — a first for U.S. environmental and social resolutions. More importantly, other high-scoring proposals were opposed by management but still earned huge support.
The report includes a list of top votes political spending, climate and environment, diversity, COVID-19, sexual harassment, and racial justice.
UK Government Green Financing Framework-
An independent framework from the EU to try to establish the UK as a global climate and environmental leader.
This Framework describes how the UK Government plans to finance expenditures through the issuance of green gilts and the retail Green Savings Bonds that will be critical in tackling climate change and other environmental challenges, funding much-needed infrastructure investment, and creating green jobs across the UK.
It sets out the basis for identification, selection, verification and reporting of the green projects that are eligible for financing from the proceeds of the UK Government’s green gilt programme and the retail Green Savings Bonds. The Framework aligns with the 2021 International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles.
In Rare Bipartisan Move, Senate Approves Bill To Help Farmers Profit On Climate Action-
Farmers and foresters can generate the credits by changing their operations to cut emissions or pull more carbon dioxide from the air into soil or trees.
The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill on Thursday to help shore up private agriculture and forestry carbon markets. The vote was 92-8.
The bill — a rare example of bipartisan action on climate — asks the Agriculture Department to create a certification program to help farmers, ranchers and foresters navigate a growing array of private-sector programs and make money by selling carbon credits. Such landowners can generate the credits by changing their operations to cut emissions or pull more carbon dioxide from the air into soil or trees.
Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/24/senate-farmers-carbon-agriculture-496029
One more thing: 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 Just wishing a happy Canada Day and a happy US Independence Day to our subscribers in North America! 🇺🇸 🇨🇦
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