Recent research by CDSB and WBCSD has found 40 ESG issues key to corporate sustainability, including 10 emergent issues. Here we present the findings of the research and offer helpful tips to companies on how they can better report against them.
At a time when the world is battling unprecedented drought, bushfires, rising sea levels and water shortages, reducing energy use across industry is one powerful way to fight climate change in the immediate term.
However, historic slowdowns in energy efficiency progress persist. As we conclude another Conference of Parties (COP25) on climate change, and move into a new decade with unprecedented environmental challenges, governments have to put industrial energy efficiency back on the agenda before it is too late.
I have worked in the energy sector for nearly 25 years. During this time, I have witnessed some incredible advances.
Recent research has found that natural capital makes up approximately 47 percent of wealth in low-income countries, and that achieving the SDGs could unlock at least US$12 trillion in opportunities for business by 2030. To unlock these opportunities, public and private sector actors are increasingly finding that it is more effective and efficient to collaborate. In this blog, we feature some of our latest resources on how multi-stakeholder collaboration can help to enable the sustainable management of natural capital.
The projected quadrupling of global GDP by 2060 presents both tremendous risks and opportunities for the sustainable management of natural capital. Embracing a circular economy model presents great potential for economic growth, with an estimated US$4.5 trillion business opportunity. However, the degradation of natural capital threatens the ecosystem services on which more than 40 percent of total world employment, or 1.2 billion jobs, depend directly, along with billions more jobs with indirect linkages to natural capital. In this blog, we feature some of our latest resources that illustrate the role green industry can play in strengthening the sustainable management of natural capital.
The majority of the financing required to achieve the SDGs is anticipated to come from the private sector, with an estimated US$12 trillion in opportunities for business by 2030. To ensure that these investments yield both a financial return and a return for nature, collaboration is needed across the insurance, investment, and banking sectors. Already, thousands of financial institutions are starting to align their portfolios with the SDGs, including the more than 2,000 signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) that represent more than US$80 trillion in assets in more than 50 countries. In this blog, we feature some of our latest resources that illustrate how the insurance, investment, and banking industries are engaging in multi-stakeholder collaboration to sustainably manage natural capital.
For the past 40 years the Chinese city of Shenzhen has been working to find the balance between economic growth and environmental protection. Through a number of green initiatives, the city has leapfrogged from the bottom of the "Made in Shenzhen" manufacturing value chain to a more innovation-driven "Created in Shenzhen" model.
Research
Pernille Holtedahl, founder of green finance advisory firm 'Blue Maia', unpacks the growing appetite for green bonds and suggests this is a movement driven by the broader public – not just business.
Research
In the first of a series of articles exploring how investors and business can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, IIED’s Laura Kelly puts questions to Chris West from Sumerian Partners on the lessons and challenges from impact investing.
Peter Blom, CEO, Triodos Bank, outlines how financial institutions can play a postive in tacking the climate change crisis. The Global Alliance for Banking on Values is one example of the business community working together and using financing mechanisms, such as carbon accounting, to deliver sustainable economic, social and environmental development.
Research
Stanford University’s Gireesh Shrimali shows how community choice aggregation schemes are an attractive option for local communities that want more control over their electricity sources. These CCAs are gaining traction in the Golden State and beyond.