By Luke Heilbuth, Sustainable Brands Climate resilience is the ‘resilience of a company’s strategy and business model to climate-related changes, developments and uncertainties.’ This language is worth reflecting on, as it brings the concept of resilience science into mainstream business thinking. Background In June, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued its inaugural standards — IFRS …
At Long Last, There’s a Metric for Quantifying the Monetary Value of Sustainability Investments
By Tom Idle, Sustainable Brands Astanor Ventures’ Impact Multiple on Investment methodology translates the expected and realized benefits of invested-in products or services into monetary terms — helping investors make more informed, strategic decisions. Anybody working in sustainability is only too aware how crucial impact measurement is to maintaining performance. …
Landmark Report Sets Out 7 Steps for Embedding Nature, Equity Goals into Global Financial Activity
By Aldo Nestares, Sustainable Brands The Taskforce on Nature Markets asserts an unprecedented shift towards accurately pricing nature in global markets must occur to deliver on nature, climate and equity goals. On Thursday, at the Amazon Summit in Belém, Brazil, the Taskforce on Nature Markets launched its Making Nature Markets Work recommendations report — detailing how an unprecedented …
Absolute Poverty Rises Amid Debt Distress and Corruption
By Frank Vogl, Other News New humanitarian approaches are vital instead of IMF austerity Nine Kenyans were killed and more than 300 were arrested by the police in recent protests over what many Kenyans view as draconian government economic policies. In Lebanon, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – …
Brazil’s Lula Seeks Global Rainforest Nation Pact at Amazon Summit
By Jake Spring, Reuters BELEM, Brazil, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday hopes to forge a united front among rainforest nations when they engage in international climate negotiations, building on an accord a day earlier at a summit of Amazon nations. Representatives from the eight …
The Profiteers of Armageddon
By William D. Hartung, Other News Oppenheimer and the Birth of the Nuclear-Industrial Complex Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few months, you’re undoubtedly aware that award-winning director Christopher Nolan has released a new film about Robert Oppenheimer, known as the “father of the atomic bomb” …
EU Confirms Watering Down of Corporate Sustainability Disclosures
By Huw Jones, Reuters LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive body on Monday published final rules for corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures, confirming earlier moves to water down the requirements. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had pledged to cut red tape across the …
What CFOs Need to Know About Fast-Emerging Biodiversity-Credit Markets
By Laura Waterford, Sustainable Brands When companies invest in biodiversity credits, the ‘unitization’ of biodiversity outcomes in the form of credits takes the guesswork out of designing the investment. But they are not intended to offset an equivalent, negative impact on biodiversity elsewhere. We are at a crucial point in …
Which Countries are Paying Their ‘Fair Share’ to Fight Climate Change?
By Kate Abnett, Reuters BRUSSELS, July 21 (Reuters) – As temperature records topple and extreme weather rages around the world, countries are preparing for talks at this year’s COP28 UN summit on climate finance – money that large economies provide to help poorer states cope with climate change. So far, countries have …
World Hunger and the War in Ukraine
By Vijay Prashad, Other News On Monday, June 17, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, announced, “The Black Sea agreements are no longer in effect.” This was a blunt statement to suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative that emerged out of intense negotiations in the hours after Russian …