Sign in to SRI-Connect

What's hot? Who's hip? What's hit?

Here we list the buzzes and profiles that have been most viewed in the last 90 days.

For full details and rankings of which firms and individuals are most effectively developing their online profile in sustainable investment and corporate governance engagement on SRI-CONNECT, see Our reach; your opportunity.

Or you can request a personalised Industry Profile Report that analyses and benchmarks (vs peers) the activity and visibility of individual firms.

Most read buzzes

  1. (103)

    @
    SE

    (https://www.ey.com/en_uk/climate-change-sustainability-services/risk-barometer-survey-2022)

    The fourth EY Global Climate Risk Barometer reveals that companies are still not translating disclosures into concrete actions.

    In brief

    • Although more companies are reporting on climate risk, they are not providing meaningful commentary about the challenges they face.
    • The majority of companies surveyed (51%) are still either not conducting scenario analysis, or not disclosing the results.
    • Just 29% of companies surveyed are referencing climate-related matters in their financial statements, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

    Read full article and access report

  2. (99)

    @
    SE

    (https://www.research.hsbc.com/ibcom/out/ibcom/internal/login)

    HSBC: COP15 on Biodiversity - The role of nature-based solutions

    • NbS try to maximize nature's ability to address societal challenges and provide biodiversity benefits
    • They are an increasingly recognized and supported climate change strategy by many regulatory bodies
    • HSBC think NbS can be useful in building and executing the CBD's Post-2020 Global Diversity Framework and action plan

    Clients of HSBC Global Research can access the full report via the HSBC Global Research website or by contacting Wai-Shin Chan

    This is the 12th report in HSBC’s biodiversity mini-series in the run-up to COP15.

    The importance of nature-based solutions (NbS): With the increasing awareness of the critical role that ecosystems play in our economy, NbS encompass a proactive approach to protect, manage, and restore nature and biodiversity, in order to solve a range of societal concerns like food insecurity and climate change. As discussed in The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 5 September), the biodiversity crisis and other concerns, like climate change, are closely connected. NbS can help address these interlinked crises to maximize their benefits and minimize their risks to society, and ensure HSBC live in better harmony with the planet.

    NbS in the CBD: While NbS have received attention in the context of national climate strategies and global objectives like the UN SDGs (sustainable development goals), they have yet to be fully endorsed by the CBD owing in part to confusion over the term. Nonetheless, HSBC think NbS can play a critical role in the biodiversity agenda and in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF, 20 September), aligning the CBD with a more forward-thinking approach that recognizes the connection between climate and biodiversity. HSBC think establishing universally defined principles of NbS, such as the IUCN NbS standard, would be a key catalyst to NbS implementation around the world.

    Room for private actors: Per the UN Environment Program, investments in NbS need to triple by 2030 to meet targets; today, 86% of NbS financing is through the public sector. Indeed, despite surging interest on the topic of NbS, and the fact that NbS, which contributes to climate, biodiversity, and social well-being, is well positioned to appeal to investors, there has been little private sector participation. HSBC think stronger government involvement and incentive programs are needed to encourage and scale-up private investments in the space.

  3. (99)

    @
    Dominic Lyle

    (https://planet-tracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/NDE-report.pdf)

    With natural capital and biodiversity rising up the global agenda, Planet Tracker identifies countries dependent on nature for their exports, analyses what they have in common and examines the implications for financial markets

    For some countries, more than 80% of exports are dependent on natural resources. This raises questions about how well this natural capital is looked after, since sovereigns’ economies depend on it.

    Financial markets need to understand international trade’s dependence on nature: around 40% of total annual world trade is nature dependent, financial think tank Planet Tracker’s latest report highlights.

    By presenting a new metric of countries’ nature dependence based on trade, Planet Tracker reveals not only the scale of certain economies’ dependency on nature, but also the results of this dependency. Understanding this is crucial to reducing export risks as climate change accelerates as well as building sustainable economies for nature-dependent exporters.

    The report:

    Classifies world exports into those dependent on nature - both renewable (like agricultural, forestry and seafood products) and non-renewable (such as oil, minerals, metals, ores etc) and those which are not.

    Divides countries into high, medium and low nature dependent exporters.

    Examines countries with high dependency, by looking at common characteristics based on a few broad measures, including credit ratings, GDP per capita, economic inequality, food security, soil erosion and climate resilience. It then explores threats to those resources and the exposure certain countries face when their traded resources are threatened. It also adds to growing evidence challenging the so-called ‘resource curse’ or ‘paradox of plenty’.

    Some of the report’s key findings include:

    • Countries with a high dependency on renewable resources generally have poorer credit ratings than countries with medium to low dependency.
    • Countries with a high dependency on non-renewable resources, notably those with well-established oil wealth and good governance, are much more likely to have strong credit ratings.
    • Economic, political, financial and technological improvements lead countries to become less dependent on natural resources and more dependent on production- or service-based economies.
    • Political instability is a likely result of non-renewable resource extraction.
    • Less inequality and greater GDP per capita levels can lead to decreases in renewable exports.

    John Willis, Director of Research at Planet Tracker, adds: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed the international trade of natural resources – such as oil, gas and wheat – to the top of the international agenda. But there are other systemic risks associated with the trade of natural resources that long pre-date the invasion. No country is immune to the challenges that nature is now facing, and the pressures they place on our world’s ecosystems are often out of sight, out of mind and, as a result, underregulated. Our latest paper shines a light on major issues relating to the international trade of natural resources in key areas and the avoidable risks to society they present.”

    The underlying data of the report can be examined in further detail at the Planet Tracker NDE Interactive Dashboard.

  4. (78)

    @
    SE

    (https://www.alliancebernstein.com/americas/en/institutions/insights/investment-insights/chinas-growth-push-adds-optimism-to-equities.html)

    Chinese stocks have been staging a comeback that contrasts with market declines in most of the world. While a zero-COVID policy has weighed on the economy, a renewed focus on growth could provide fuel for equities, particularly in industries set to benefit from fiscal spending and green reforms.

    Investor sentiment toward Chinese equities has improved with the gradual reopening of the economy. While the MSCI China A Index of onshore stocks fell by 13.4% in USD terms in the first half, it rose by 1.6% in the second quarter, with solid gains in May and June. In contrast, the MSCI World Index of developed markets fell by 20.5% in USD terms, as US stocks slipped into bear market territory amid growing fears of a recession.

    Investors who have had little or no allocation to China may want to take another look. With the market being driven by a very different macroeconomic narrative than the developed world, we believe a carefully curated portfolio of Chinese equities can provide equity return potential that will be hard to source elsewhere in the months ahead.

    Read the full article here

  5. (74)

    @
    SE

    (https://birdeo.com/offres_emploi/rse-impact-manager-16654796845140021507dvf/)

    JobPost: JCDecaux - CSR Impact Manager (France | CloseDate: Unknown)

    Read full description and apply via Birdeo here

  6. (66)

    @
    SE

    (https://www.reprisk.com/careers/esg-team-lead-berlin)

    JobPost: RepRisk - ESG Team Lead (Berlin | CloseDate: Unknown)

    See full description and apply

  7. (63)

    @
    SE

    (https://racetozero.unfccc.int/system/criteria/)

    The need for urgent action on deforestation is creeping up the agenda for the finance sector, with more than 500 financial institutions now facing targets for action on deforestation following the launch of updated criteria from Race to Zero. Deforestation contributes up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and must urgently be eliminated if we are to achieve the 1.5 degree global warming target. To do this, financial institutions must recognise and address human rights abuses, but too many are failing to take the action needed.

    • Human rights abuses often go hand-in-hand with deforestation, especially when communities’ customary rights to land, resources, and territory are ignored or disregarded.
    • Land defenders and Indigenous leaders can face threats of violence and even death, while workers’ rights are also at risk with bonded and child labour common across forest-risk commodity supply chains.
    • Too often the companies in these supply chains are not doing enough to prevent human rights abuses, as the latest briefing revealed.

    But what are the financial institutions that finance these companies doing to help drive change?

    Read further

  8. (62)

    @
    SE

    (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/cap-and-trade-program)

    The California legislature recently passed a series of bills, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on 16 September, that should have meaningful effects on environmental policies and the green energy transition. The highlight of the bills is a goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.

    While this legislative package is meaningful for many industries, we focus this note on the impact to the state’s carbon cap-and-trade program. Although the bills have positives and negatives for the value of California carbon allowances (CCAs), PIMCO view the likely alignment of the cap-and-trade program with the 2045 goal to be positive for carbon prices.

    Read further

  9. (60)

    @
    SE

    (https://newforests.com/insight/australia-and-new-zealand-carbon-market-insights/)

    All modelling that limits global warming to under 2°C requires both eliminating deforestation as well as reforestation of hundreds of millions of hectares by 2050, to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

    • “Removals” are critical to achieving net zero, which is a state in which greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere are balanced by emissions removals out of the atmosphere.
    • Further modelling of potential activities that can limit global warming to under 2°C by 2030 indicates that approximately one third of cost-effective mitigation by 2050 can be provided by Natural Climate Solutions.
    • This transformation in land use will require the mobilisation of hundreds of billions of dollars of investment. This investment must be channelled into Natural Climate Solutions—the protection of threatened forests, improved management of forestry and agricultural production systems, and reforestation of landscapes.

    Read on for more information about New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme and Australia’s Emission Reduction Fund, and the Investment Implications.

    Read further and download paper

  10. (60)

    @
    SE

    (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm9267)

    A new study published in the leading journal, Science, has revealed that agriculture is by far the dominant driver of tropical deforestation.

    The latest work into the drivers of deforestation is a collaboration between leading deforestation experts including Trase, a partner initiative with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

    It finds that between 90 and 99 percent of all deforestation in the tropics is driven directly or indirectly by agriculture. That is significantly higher than previous figures which only found agriculture was behind around 80% of tropical deforestation.

    • Crucially, it also found that much of the forest is cleared for nothing as a third to half of deforestation driven by agriculture doesn’t ultimately produce commodities.
    • Land is cleared for speculation, projects go unfinanced or abandoned, or forests fall prey to nearby fire.
    • The study makes clear that a handful of commodities are responsible for the majority of deforestation linked to actively producing agricultural land — well over half of which is linked to pasture, soy and palm oil alone.
    • But it also warns of the limitations of sector-specific initiatives when it comes to indirect impacts.

    Read further

Most viewed organisations

  1. (4166) Amadeis
  2. (4052) General Council for Islamic Banks And Financial Institutions (CIBAFI)
  3. (2275) Vigeo Eiris (part of Moody's Corp)
  4. (535) MIROVA - Natixis Asset Management
  5. (512) Middletown Works Hourly and Salaried Union Retirees Health Care Fund

Most viewed users

  1. (2959) Mirza Baig @ Aviva Investors
  2. (1408) Juan Salazar @ Pictet Asset Management
  3. (657) Nathalie van Toren @ NN Investment Partners
  4. (643) Martin Grosskopf @ AGF
  5. (605) Rosario Jimenez Nunez @ Financiere de l'Echiquier