Thematic Thoughts
Real world sustainability linked changes and what they might mean for companies and investors
Risk of taking ESG data as gospel
ESG data is useful as part of the decision-making process. However, it is not THE process.
The energy world is changing, and yet staying the same
The latest IEA World Energy Outlook has been published, and as always it's a useful source of both data and commentary. The headlines were encouraging. Full report here 👇🏾 World Energy Outlook 2023 – Analysis - IEAWorld Energy Outlook 2023 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International
Enel to fail its green bond emissions targets?
The Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute, one of our favourite sources on green bonds, recently (20th Oct) highlighted that Enel, the Italian Utility, looks likely to miss its Sustainability Performance Targets (SPT's) on 10 of its green bonds. The bonds have a total notional of €10.bn, so a
The growing gap between Brown and Green building value
Lucienne Mosquera, Managing Partner, at SustainCRE has published some interesting analysis on the growing evidence of a Brown discount in the global real estate market. According to their research "in their current form, around 97% of today’s commercial buildings will not support the transition to net zero. This
Hydrogen for UK home heating ruled out; still important for industry
The 2nd National Infrastructure Assessment report came out during the third week of October. This is particularly interesting: "The Commission’s analysis demonstrates that there is no public policy case for hydrogen to be used to heat individual buildings. It should be ruled out as an option to enable
The beauty of simplification
Sustainable investing evangelist Nawar Alsaadi had a really interesting post on LinkedIn comparing the internet portals of the 1990s to the ESG and sustainability data companies of today. I certainly remember the days of Lycos, Yahoo!, Altavista etc and as Nawar points out they built themselves on being one stop
Corporate lobbying needs closer attention.
... and the ecgi has done just that! Tom Gosling, Executive Director at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ecgi) recently interviewed Professor Michelle Lowry on her research paper ‘Firms’ Transition to Green: Innovation versus Lobbying’ We strongly encourage all Sustainability Professionals to watch the interview (the above video) and then read
Environmental litigation funding - increasing pressure to prevent?
US hedge fund Gramercy (along with some of its clients) has provided $552.5 million in litigation funding (a secured loan) to Pogus Goodhead, a UK law firm involved in a number of class action lawsuits with environmental links.
CBAM: will carbon border taxes help or harm industries?
The trial period for the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism has begun. This could be a game changer, but there is a lot of detail to sort out.
Cooperatives and appellations: addressing the gap between the cost of coffee and farmer income.
The gap between coffee price and farmer income needs bridging. Can Co-operatives and appellations help.
Kenya farm hosts first on-site green hydrogen-to-fertiliser plant.
US-based Talus Renewables, a manufacturer of modular green ammonia systems is starting up a plant in Naivasha, Kenya that will enable local production of both low-cost and carbon-free fertilisers. Talus will supply Kenya Nut Co with fertilisers under a 15-year take-off agreement with the plant expected to produce one tonne
Home energy electrification - more complicated than you think.
We tend to think about home electrification as one of the easiest transitions. Good alternatives already exist. We 'just' need people to switch to electricity for home heating/cooling and cooking. Then we factor in home EV charging, and job done. But, the reality is a lot more