Global professional services firm KPMG announced today the launch of the KPMG ESG Academy, aimed at delivering learning to businesses on a wide range of ESG topics and disciplines and support their sustainability initiatives. Courses featured in the digital academy include content and lectures developed by ESG specialists from leading universities in collaboration with KPMG sustainability subject matter professionals, across…
The Hard Work Begins
After intensive development, implementation of the recommendations of the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures will still be a massive task, says Lindsey Stewart, Director, Investment Stewardship Research at Morningstar. Most of my research covers engagement and voting on sustainability and governance topics. Which is to say, I spend most of my time writing about things people argue about. So, for…
Poised for Leadership
Brian Waswani Odhiambo, Partner at Novastar Ventures, proposes solutions to close the climate funding gap between Africa and the Global North. With New York Climate Week in full swing this week, I reflect again on Africa’s first climate summit, which concluded earlier this month in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. It was here where more than a dozen African heads of state…
Fire on the Horizon for Soy Traders?
Stéphanie Mielnik, Research Director at Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute, examines the impact of the EU Deforestation Law on soy producers and their bondholders. In what has proved to be a world first, the EU has adopted regulation aimed at dramatically reducing the economic bloc’s exposure to the deforestation that lies behind many of its supply chains for popular products such…
A Measured Approach
Sir Ronald Cohen, veteran venture capitalist and impact investing guru, explains why he believes we’re on the verge of an impact revolution. According to Oscar Wilde, a cynic is a man who “knows the price of everything but the value of nothing”. Sir Ronald Cohen is a man who wants to know the price of everything a company does to impact…
UK rolls back “net zero” ambitions, carbon offsets face renewed attack and the spotlight falls (again) on policing carbon markets
UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has announced a major U-turn on the UK’s “net zero” policies. This amounts to 3 key policy changes: Electric vehicles – 3 years after announcing a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030, the ban has been delayed to 2035; New exceptions to ban on sale of new domestic gas…
New lawsuit filed by Brazil’s Federal Government further strengthens climate litigation trends against private entities in Brazil
On 12 September 2023, Brazil´s Attorney General Office, representing the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency, filed a climate litigation lawsuit against a livestock farmer, seeking compensation for the deforestation of the Amazon Forest between 2003 and 2016. This blog post provides a brief overview on this new lawsuit, which further strengthens a new trend for climate litigation in Brazil. The main…
Microsoft Signs Deal to Buy Biochar Carbon Removal Credits
Carbon credit streaming company Carbon Streaming announced an agreement with Microsoft, providing the tech giant with up to 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal credits per year from the Waverly Biochar project in Waverly, Virginia. Biochar, or biological charcoal, is produced by heating biomass, such as forest residue, wood or crop waste, in the absence of oxygen, creating a stable…
Emissions Tracking and Reporting Software Startup Plan A Raises $27 Million
European carbon measurement, reporting and reduction software provider Plan A announced that it has raised $27 million, with proceeds from the financing aimed at growing its team and expanding its platform’s capabilities. Founded in 2017, Plan A provides corporate carbon accounting, decarbonization, and ESG reporting software. The company’s Sustainability Platform automatically maps data across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions,…
IBM Adds Scope 3 Emissions Analysis Capabilities to ESG Data Platform
IBM announced the integration of natural language processing (NLP) in its ESG data collection, analysis and reporting platform IBM Envizi ESG Suite, significantly enhancing the solution’s ability to capture, calculate and analyze organizations’ Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The new features come as companies globally face increasing regulatory pressure to report on their Scope 3 emissions, or those originating…