Group items tagged

Financial executives should become more involved in their company's sustainability reporting efforts, according to a new report. The report, from Grant Thornton and the Financial Executives Research Foundation, found that financial executives are not as involved in corporate social responsibility matters and reporting as they should be, even though the finance function's involvement in sustainability reporting adds credibility and confidence in the measurement, data collection and analysis processes.

Canada's two largest west coast ports are offering financial incentives to the most efficient vessels that enter the ports. Port Metro Vancouver's Eco-Action program and Prince Rupert Port Authority's (PRPA's) Green Wave program will reward ship owners based on the Carbon War Room's A to G Greenhouse Gas Emissions rating, which benchmarks the energy efficiency of shipping fleets.

LEED-certified hotels are seeing plenty of payback on their green investments, a new study suggests. LEED hotels saw "superior financial performance," gaining an average of $20 in revenues per room over their non-LEED rivals.

A fund-matching program spearheaded by the EPA will help bridge the financial gap to implementation of the new climate policy. 

This month BNP Paribas, the world's seventh-largest financial institution, announced a new palm oil policy that sets responsible palm oil production as a pre-condition for financing. The policy requires that companies receiving financing protect forests and indigenous people. It also requires companies to adhere to strict human rights and labor standards, end the use of hazardous pesticides, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, among other significant measures. The move charts a new path for responsible financing that all major financial institutions should follow - or else face the growing consumer backlash against environmentally destructive institutions.

Due to skyrocketing consumer demand, particularly from Asia, today's wildlife traffickers have the resources to outfit their henchmen with weaponry and equipment that often outmatches that of the local park rangers. The poachers doing the most damage in Africa today are employed by professional trafficking syndicates, and they enjoy a level of support and financial backing unimaginable during earlier poaching crises. The poachers' arsenal includes the expanding use of military-grade equipment like helicopters, machine guns, infrared scopes, and heavy armored vehicles.

Net zero energy (NZE) buildings-responsible for the production of as much (or more) clean energy as they use annually-have been gaining global momentum. In our newly released Insight Brief, RMI presents an innovative business model for developing net zero energy or ultra-low energy districts in a way that creates significant business value. Net zero energy business models are financially attractive to investors because the large capital investments in solar PV, district heating and cooling, and energy efficiency are repaid over time on utility bills, generating a steady return that benefits from enhanced credit because of the utility-customer relationship.

The number of investment professionals in the US offering fossil fuel-free portfolios to investors jumped by more than 50 percent over the past year - from 22 percent to 36 percent, according to a new survey by First Affirmative Financial Network.

According to new research by Accenture, CDP and Hermes Investment Management, over 40% of global companies may still not be seeing the forest for the trees: Four in 10 telecomm and consumer goods companies reporting to CDP are failing to capture or report any financial value from strong environmental performance. The largest emitters in the global economy account for a cumulative $447bn opportunity from climate change, yet 42% of these companies have not yet quantified the potential value.

New software breaks down the performance of financial investments in environmental conservation.

The 2016 results from the Global Canopy Programme's 'Forest 500' have been released, and they don't bring good news. The deforestation policy analysis of the world's most influential powerbrokers, including companies, financial institutions, and countries, reveals that targets for 2020 and 2030 are unlikely to be met at the current rate of progress. 57 percent of companies in the Forest 500 have either weak policies or no policies at all.

But the fact is that the blockchain is building some serious credibility within the world's biggest banks and financial services firms - they helped fuel more than $1 billion in investments between 2014 and 2016. That visibility has given both established and emerging companies the confidence to experiment. In mid-October, for example, Walmart announced a collaboration with IBM and Tsinghua University in Beijing focused on using the blockchain as a mechanism for authenticating food sources and keeping tabs on all sorts of related data - including the originating farm, batch numbers, processing plant information, expiration dates and storage temperatures.

Shareholder proposals are an effective tool for driving companies to tackle environmental and ethical issues, according to new research. "Investors can be a driver for social responsibility and -- at least when focused on material issues -- can improve both societal and financial outcomes at the same time," writes George Serafeim.

Independent charity Sustainable Shipping Initiative launched its Roadmap to 2040, which outlines 6 criteria that chart a path toward the development of a sustainable shipping industry by 2040. The criteria call on the industry to collectively create financial solutions that accelerate sustainability performance, diversify energy and fuel supply, increase transparency and accountability, and more. 

The citizens of four major European countries think the impacts of climate change such as severe floods and storms are already affecting them, according to a major new polling study. The research dispels the idea that global warming is widely seen as a future problem, and also shows strong support for action to tackle global warming, including subsidies for clean energy and big financial penalties for nations that refuse to be part of the international climate deal signed in Paris in 2015 - as US president Donald Trump has threatened.

ntifying Disney's achievements and milestones throughout the year, Yahoo Finance named The Walt Disney Company as its Company of the Year just last month. The award is based on Yahoo's evaluation of quantitative and subjective standards that cover companies' financial performance, shareholder friendliness, strategic focus and customer loyalty.

New research documents that green products and meaningful brands deliver increased sales plus financial performance that outperforms the stock market.

Conducting due diligence on the environmental and social practices of small and growing agricultural businesses yields financial benefits to lenders that partially or fully offset the costs involved, according to nonprofit agriculture lender Root Capital.

Novo Nordisk became the world's first pharmaceutical company to publish an environmental profit and loss account, which places a financial value on the company's environmental impacts. The analysis revealed that Novo Nordisk caused over $305 million in environmental damage during 2011, with the company's supply chain accounting for 75% its impact.

Climate change could force Chipotle to temporarily stop serving guacamole, the fast-food chain warned in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The notification, which Chipotle described as a "routine financial disclosure," notes that climate-induced freezes and droughts can take a severe toll on food-based supply chains, leading to price spikes and product shortages