The ESG Insider newsletter compiles news and insights on environmental, social and governance developments driving change in business and investment decisions. Subscribe to our ESG Insider newsletter, listen to the "ESG Insider" podcast on SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts and find more research and insights at Sustainable1.
The world faces unavoidable current and future climate risks, and companies and governments have a very short window of time to reduce their exposure, according to the latest major climate report from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC.
The report offers the most comprehensive findings to date of how communities, countries and companies are vulnerable to climate change-related physical risks and how they must adapt to lessen the damage.
But adaptation plans cannot be created in a silo and must also consider potential longer-term unintended consequences to society and ecosystems, the IPCC wrote. The report's authors also pointed to evidence of "maladaptation" — actions taken in response to climate change that produce more damaging unintended consequences. The key to implementing truly effective adaptation is "flexible, multi-sectoral, inclusive and long-term planning" that spans many sectors and systems, the IPCC wrote.
In this week's newsletter, we delve into the implications of the IPCC report for the energy sector. We look at how Russia's invasion of Ukraine is raising new questions about the long-term energy transition for Germany, which is highly reliant on Russia for fossil fuel imports. We explore how the EU plans to require companies to identify workers' rights and environmental impacts, and we get a recap of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent hearing on a hugely consequential environmental topic for the nation.
Our weekly podcast explores the rapidly changing landscape for sustainability standard-setting bodies and disclosure regulations, and how investors can keep up.
Top Stories
UN report: Impacts are real, window for adapting to climate change closing fast
Climate change is already disrupting human societies and ecosystems across the world, and the window for adapting to food shortages, sea-level rise, wildfires and other impacts is quickly narrowing, the latest report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned.
What the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the EU taxonomy could mean for investors and asset managers
The European Commission's decision to include natural gas and nuclear power in the EU's taxonomy of green activities has ignited a fiery debate over whether they should be described as sustainable. Including the energy sources could lead to some confusion for ESG asset managers and investors.
Germany scrambles to reduce Russian gas reliance; nuclear extensions unlikely
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shifted Germany's political positions on several fronts, including long-held convictions on energy that have left the country relying heavily on Russian gas.
EU law would require companies to identify rights, environmental impacts
Companies in the European Union will soon have to meet stronger reporting requirements for sustainability and workers' rights in their global supply chains, the European Commission announced Feb. 23 while separately proposing a ban on imported products made using forced or child labor.
Podcast: How to keep pace with the fast-changing landscape for ESG regulation, standards
This episode of "ESG Insider" features on-the-ground interviews from sustainability experts who attended GreenBiz, one of the largest sustainability conferences in the U.S. A big theme we heard at the event is that sustainability is accelerating rapidly — and that change is especially pronounced in the evolving landscape for standard-setting bodies and disclosure regulations.
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