Communications & Reporting

ESG Watch: Including gas in Europe’s green investment rules muddies waters for investors

Mike Scott, (Mar 1, 2022)

Amid mixed policy signals, investors are developing their own protocols and initiatives to translate net-zero commitments into action, reports Mike Scott

ESG Watch: Disclosure pressures to grow as investors push for a just transition

Mike Scott, (Jan 27, 2022)

Mike Scott scopes out the year ahead for sustainable investment in his monthly columns

Reset the rules: how our pensions can become a game changer

Catherine Howarth, (Dec 16, 2021)

Comment: ShareAction’s Catherine Howarth says it is not in the best interest of pensioners for their savings to be financing polluting industries, which is why it is proposing changes to UK pensions legislation

Amazon, Twitter and Netflix make first climate disclosures as CDP raises bar for A list

Mike Scott, (Dec 10, 2021)

Companies with approved Science Based Targets get greater weighting in this year’s ranking as the climate disclosure NGO seeks to crack down on ‘false net zero’ commitments, reports Mike Scott

'With 60% of global funds aligned with 2.75C, the net-zero rhetoric needs to quickly become reality'

Paul Simpson, (Dec 2, 2021)

Comment: Paul Simpson of CDP says financial institutions and investors need to engage with companies to drive a widespread transition to a net-zero, nature-positive and resilient economy

ESG Watch: Pockets of progress, but still far from where we need to be on climate

Mike Scott, (Nov 25, 2021)

Mike Scott says agreements to phase down coal, replace internal combustion engines, cut methane emissions and reduce deforestation were far from sufficient but show investors the direction of travel

Analysis: Why delivering on net-zero promises is ‘now absolutely the order of the day’

Terry Slavin, (Nov 18, 2021)

COP26 saw an unprecedented surge in corporate climate pledges, particularly on nature and emissions in hard to abate sectors, but with rising concern about the credibility and effectiveness of private sector commitments, the focus going forward will be holding their feet to the fire. Terry Slavin reports

DSM’s Geraldine Matchett: ‘We need to go faster on cutting methane emissions from agriculture’

Mike Scott, (Nov 4, 2021)

Mike Scott speaks to the chief financial officer of Dutch nutrition company DSM in the third part of our series on the role of CFOs in the race to net zero

ESG Watch: New net-zero standard aims to help investors mind the climate action gap

Mike Scott, (Oct 28, 2021)

With new reports out ahead of COP26 highlighting the need to pick up speed and ambition on driving down emissions, Mike Scott rounds up the latest developments by investors to rise to the challenge

Investors want to back net-zero, but COP26 needs to come up with a plan, says Günther Thallinger

Oliver Balch, (Oct 27, 2021)

In an interview with the chair of the Net-Zero Assets Owner Alliance, Oliver Balch asks what institutional investors are hoping to hear from governments at COP26

Alexsandro Broedel: ‘Sustainability is part of the business model, not something that stands alone’

Mark Hillsdon, (Oct 26, 2021)

Mark Hillsdon speaks to the chief financial officer of Brazilian bank Itaú-Unibanco in the second part of our series on the role of CFOs in the race to net zero

Melanie Kreis: ‘If we are serious about net zero, we need to know how much it will cost’

Mike Scott, (Oct 18, 2021)

Mike Scott talks to Melanie Kreis of Deutsche Post DHL in the first of a series of interviews with chief financial officers about their role in the transition to net zero

ESG Watch: Airlines and chemicals sector feel weight of collective investor pressure

Mike Scott, (Oct 5, 2021)

In his monthly analysis of the latest sustainable investment news, Mike Scott reports on Climate TRACE, which aims to radically improve monitoring of emissions, and growing calls for more surveillance of ESG industry

‘Sustainable solutions exist for the two billion people who lack access to cooling’

Giles Bristow, (Sep 14, 2021)

Comment: Giles Bristow of Ashden urges impact investors to back innovators in the Global South who have developed affordable and effective alternatives to air conditioning

Europe grapples with its retrofit challenge

Mike Scott, (Sep 12, 2021)

The European Commission is calling for a 20-fold increase in renovation rates of existing buildings to help fuel a green economic recovery. Mike Scott looks at the critical role of banks and insurers in delivering its plan

ESG Watch: IPCC’s ‘code red for humanity’ lays out challenge for investors

Mike Scott, (Sep 7, 2021)

In this month’s round-up, Mike Scott reports on a new coalition to speed up Asia’s exit from coal, Ceres’s Ambition 2030 initiative, and increasing scrutiny of ESG, including probes into DWS in the US and Germany

Human rights impact of China’s ‘Going Out’ policy highlights challenges of a just transition

Golda Benjamin, (Aug 19, 2021)

COMMENT: The Belt and Road initiative has been hit by allegations of social and environmental abuses, despite Chinese commitments to the contrary. Golda Benjamin of BHRRC calls for more transparency, particularly from the country's financial sector

ESG Watch: 11 funds join UK greener pensions campaign

Mike Scott, (Jul 27, 2021)

In his monthly column Mike Scott analyses the latest developments in sustainable finance, from increasing pressure on pensions to align with 1.5C, to the growth in green bonds, and As You Sow's right-to-repair campaign at Microsoft

'G20 take note: the world needs a policy breakthrough on climate change’

Gunther Thallinger, (Jul 6, 2021)

Comment: Günther Thallinger of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is hoping that this week’s G20 meeting in Venice will make progress on carbon pricing, which he argues is the strongest tool to get us on track for net zero

How people and the environment are finally part of the balance sheet

Luka Mucic, (Jun 9, 2021)

Comment: Luka Mucic of SAP explains how the Value Balancing Alliance, whose members include BMW, Bosch, Michelin, SAP and Porsche, and the Big Four accounting firms, has cracked the code of putting a price on nonfinancial impacts

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