By: Mark Vaessen, Partner, KPMG in the Netherlands Demand is building for a global multi-stakeholder reporting system that uses a so-called ‘double materiality’ lens to enable companies to explain both how ESG-related matters impact their business and how their business impacts the planet and society. Europe was the first and China is the most recent major economy to propose a…

More than four out of five C-Suite executives agree that they need to be more accountable on human sustainability issues in their companies, and an even higher proportion want their compensation tied to human sustainability metrics, as they face increasing pressure from stakeholders and anticipate benefits from improvements in workforce well-being, yet significant gaps exist between worker and executive perceptions…

Swiss International Air Lines cargo division Swiss WorldCargo announced the launch of a new carbon removal offer, aimed at helping customers to reduce Scope 3 emissions by removing unavoidable emissions from the atmosphere, and to support scaling up net zero technology, through a collaboration with Direct Air Capture (DAC) carbon removal provider Climeworks. DAC technology, listed by the IEA as…

The European Commission announced today investments of nearly €3 billion (USD$3.2 billion) in clean energy projects in lower-income member states, with the new disbursements funded by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The new disbursements were made through the EU’s Modernisation Fund. Launched in 2018, with disbursements beginning in 2021, the fund was designed to support the…

Sweden-based electricity and heat provider Vattenfall and low carbon cement startup Cemvision announced today a new agreement for the supply and development of cement with a reduced carbon footprint of as much as 95%. Building materials are a key source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Cement production, an ingredient in concrete, accounts for approximately 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions,…

The IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) announced today a series of moves aimed at harmonizing sustainability reporting requirements for companies, with a focus on areas including disclosure of corporate climate transition plans and the measurement of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the value chain. Under the new initiative, forming part of the ISSB’s new two-year work plan, the…

The number of companies reporting through research provider and environmental disclosure system CDP disclosing that they have a 1.5°C-aligned climate transition plan in place jumped by more than 40% over the past year, and more than 60% of reporting companies indicated that they have or plan to have such a plan in place within the next two years, according to…