Gustavo Bernal Torres
Resource Guides, Big Oil, Net-Zero Transition, and Brussels

Here are 5 ESG insights you might have missed this week:
1. Climate risk: An Investor Resource Guide-
Investors can use these resources, tools, and investor examples to address the four pillars of risk management identified by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.
This reference guide has been created to help investors navigate the many resources at their disposal and answer common questions about climate risk management. It is designed to provide assistance to investors at any stage of the climate risk management process, but is especially suited to organisations in the process of expanding their climate risk management capacities.
It includes short overviews of each of the major areas of climate risk management, along with links to key resources and examples of investor disclosures. The four TCFD pillars of Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, and Metrics and Targets are used as an organising principle.
Link to Source: https://www.unpri.org/climate-change/climate-risk-an-investor-resource-guide/9329.article
2. McKinsey: The Net-zero Transition-
Governments and companies worldwide are pledging to achieve net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases. What would it take to fulfill that ambition?
Reaching net zero climate emissions by 2050 will require a “fundamental transformation of the global economy”, according to a report by McKinsey, one of the world’s most influential consulting firms.
It estimates that $9.2tn will need to be invested every year for decades to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C and end the climate emergency. The sum is a 60% increase on current investment levels and equivalent to half of global corporate profits.
Link to Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/the-net-zero-transition-what-it-would-cost-what-it-could-bring
3. Brussels Faces Threat Of Legal Challenge Over Sustainable Finance Rules-
Austria and Luxembourg say they will pursue lawsuit over so-called green ‘taxonomy’ rules.
Brussels is facing the threat of legal action and the potential sidelining of its landmark sustainable finance rules by EU governments that do not want nuclear power or natural gas to be labelled as green investments.
Energy ministers from Austria and Luxembourg told the Financial Times that they would pursue a lawsuit against the European Commission over its so-called green “taxonomy” rules, while a Spanish deputy prime minister said Madrid could opt to use its own green framework, excluding nuclear power and natural gas.
Link to Source: https://www.ft.com/content/48d44c9a-298e-4203-a160-772a032d1c36?shareType=nongift
4. What is ExxonMobil’s New Climate Strategy Worth?-
Big oil’s most reluctant decarboniser lays out its green plan.
On January 18th Mr Woods unveiled the firm’s long-awaited update to its climate strategy. “Is society sincere in its desire for a lower-emissions future?” asked the veteran oilman when pressed on the thinking behind the plan. It is, he says. “And so are we.”
Exxon Mobil’s new long-term goal is accompanied by concrete plans for this decade. In a big U-turn, the firm will commit to absolute cuts in its carbon emissions—a step it has long resisted in favour of squishier reductions in “emissions intensity”.
Link to Source: https://www.economist.com/business/what-is-exxonmobils-new-climate-strategy-worth/21807259
5. Shell’s Massive Carbon Capture Facility In Canada Emits Far More Than It Captures, Study Says-
The “Quest” plant in Alberta, Canada, owned by oil giant Shell, has previously been touted as a “thriving example” of how CCS is working to significantly reduce carbon emissions.
However, an investigation by watchdog group Global Witness, showed that while 5 million tons of carbon dioxide had been prevented from escaping into the atmosphere at the plant since 2015, it released a further 7.5 million tons of greenhouse gases over the same period.
In response, a spokesperson for Shell told CNBC via email that the analysis was “simply wrong.”
Link to Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/24/shell-ccs-facility-in-canada-emits-more-than-it-captures-study-says.html
One more thing: A podcast from ImpactAlpha and an old friend Dave Chen with their 2022 predictions for sustainable finance & impact investing.
Find the podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5gCrfz8TRO9eOIr11wkJkd
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