Sunday Brunch
Our thoughts on the key issues faced by practitioners trying to advance sustainable investing.
Sunday Brunch: sizing up good corporate governance
Improving overall corporate governance can improve valuation, but what should we be looking for?
Sunday Brunch: What does a CSO actually do? Part 2
Many companies seem to want the upside that comes from better sustainability optics, without doing the hard work involved in integrating sustainability into their operational processes and strategy formulation - Alison Taylor
Sunday Brunch: how much can we rely on regulation?
Is more regulation always the best answer? Given that so much of it seems to be either failing to produce the outcomes we want, or not even making into the statute books, do we need a rethink?
Sunday Brunch: good faith is no defence for lack of foresight
Are directors properly discharging their fiduciary duty by taking into account the changing landscape in which they operate?
Sunday Brunch: Who pays matters
Funding sustainability cannot just be a debate about which funding source - we also need to understand how willing the end consumer is to foot the bill. Or putting it in simple terms, who pays. Because someone has to. And who gains? Is it always the same 'person' that pays?
Sunday Brunch: Innovation alone will NOT save the world
Innovation is great. It's the life blood of long term value creation in many industries. But on it's own it's not enough. When it comes to putting your money to work, look beyond this to those companies that are good at taking good ideas, and turning them into profitable businesses.
Sunday Brunch: is there a doctor in the house? (or why sustainability's a tough gig)
The CSO as the curator of sustainability expertise and driver of change
Sunday Brunch: it's companies that will really deliver change (Part 1)
We should not forget that it's companies who will, by and large, deliver the changes. It's companies that will make investments, change products and services, and adopt new operational practices.
Sunday Brunch: is failure on climate change really financially harmless ?
We talk a lot about climate models and how GHG emissions impact temperature, but not so much about climate damage function models. And yet this second set of models have a massive impact on financial decision making.
Sunday Brunch: diabetes, fertiliser and Jurassic Park
When resources are scarce we may need to prioritise their use. So even if we can, maybe we shouldn't.
Sunday Brunch: can the real sustainable investor please stand up?
The big sustainability questions we all face suggest we need to move to a different relationship between the providers of capital (the asset owners), and the organisation's that invest it on their behalf. One based on a better alignment of interest.
Sunday Brunch: is disclosure the 'exam technique' of sustainability?
Disclosure is important but is there a danger that it becomes the tail wagging the dog?