The news and company websites are full of: Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), NET Zero (NZ), Carbon Neutrality (CN), Task-force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) and more. What next you wonder? Greenwashing or helpful initiatives? Is the government finally driving change? The EU has their Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The US Securities Exchange Commission is expected to release its rules for GHG and climate change disclosure, in April 2024 after a one-year delay. California has recently published Senate Bills 253 and 261. This legislation is waking a sleeping giant – the financial sector – Banks, Insurance and Investors. Investors from the largest like Pensions and Blackrock to you and I. The roots of this started years ago spearheaded by Michael Bloomberg and Mark Carney. It’s all starting to come together now.
The Financial sector is not just talking about climate change, but they are starting to flex their muscles. But don’t just believe me. Go to your favourite companies. Search their websites for ESG, NZ, and TCFD. More often than not, you will find these reports. Companies are disclosing their greenhouse gas and climate change risks and opportunities. These are major undertakings directed by top management and Boards, often including third-party assurance. Here are a few examples that I’ve recently stumbled upon.
- As a condition of a loan to a major U.S. company, the lending bank included the requirement to report and verify greenhouse gas emissions and other ESG-related performance metrics annually.
- Taiwan manufacturers – the source of many of our products or key components – are scrambling to complete ESG and TCFD Reports, verified by third parties. This is driven by the EU CBAM legislation.
- Most of Green Sky’s customers have ESG or TCFD reports on their websites – some for the first time, others dating back a handful of years.
Are you keeping up? Or are you falling behind? What to do? My book: Smart Climate Moves, Green Sky’s blueprint: Climate Action Resilience Management System (CARMS™), and this blog series I hope will be helpful resources. For more information, please visit Greensky.ca. All the best!
