Sustainability Now

After nearly a decade, the SEC has begun to update the reporting requirements for companies on climate change. But before they can do that, they need to hear what the public has to say. In March 2021 the SEC sent out a 15‐question consultation that asked investors, data providers, companies, academia, and others what the most appropriate climate change disclosures would be. Comments were due this week, and we discuss what we wrote to the SEC and what we think is the best way forward. We also discuss the trouble that is brewing at Toshiba after a report was made public that said the company worked with the Japanese government to suppress shareholder votes. As its board chair refuses to step down and the Japanese government remains intransigent, we ask what is next for Toshiba and corporate Japan?

Biodiversity has finally become mainstreamed, and the world is better understanding what its destruction means for our ongoing concern as a species. Many industries play a significant role in global biodiversity loss, and the mining industry is one of the big ones. We look at how mining is impacting biodiversity and where mining is impacting biodiversity. Then we provide you with another proxy season update with the bombshell resolution at HSBC that commits the bank to phasing out coal-fired power and thermal coal mining financing by 2040 that passed at 99%. And that makes it legally binding.

After the murder of George Floyd, protest and unrest rocked the world as people gathered to express outrage at systemic inequality. In the corporate world, many companies made big promises in the name of advancing racial equality in the workplace. A year later, we revisit those promises and see if there have been any advances in the disclosure of workplace racial and ethnic diversity. And discuss why better transparency about inequality in the workplace is so important.

There has been a paradigm shift in the oil industry. An activist investor campaigns against Exxon's preparedness for climate change and wins two board seats because of it; A Dutch court orders Royal Dutch Shell to cut its emissions; and shareholders for Chevron and ConocoPhillips vote to have to the companies report on their scope 3 emissions. We discuss what this all means for the future of the energy industry.

A military coup in Myanmar has left Telenor with a complex stakeholder balancing act. Meanwhile Eskom looks for its deus ex machina in the form of five floating powerstations.

More regulations have been enacted to try and stop the use of modern slavery and coerced labor in the global supply chains. We discuss what companies are affected by these regulations and what they say about companies' responsibility to prevent its use in their supply chains. And then we discuss how mining needed for renewable energy is encroaching on Native American Nations.

This week’s episode is a special five-person roundtable on this year’s proxy season! It’s a long one but full of good knowledge about the current proxy season highlights and emerging trends. We go through how companies are reacting to the current environmental and social issues, and how investors are trying to keep them accountable.

As a vicious second wave hits India, we talk to Ravi Sankar about the conditions on the ground in Mumbai and Pune and the resilience of our colleagues based there. Then we rifle through the contents of the US' recent climate pledge and confront the devil lurking in the details of carbon budgets

Joined by the CECP's Brian Tomlinson and our own Sam Sue Ping, we look at how companies are taking a firmer step onto the ESG stage. Executives and directors are starting to talk a serious game. But can they do it where it matters ‐ in the haloed earnings call? For more, check out Brian’s paper here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3607921

Earth Day was this Thursday and in its spirit, companies and countries have announced net‐zero plans as a climate summit began in the US. We explore a new tool we are using to track the progress the global economy is making toward a low‐carbon future. An important player in lowering our collective carbon emissions is China. And we explore what China is trying to do to limit its carbon footprint.