bringing sustainability to life
On April 22nd we celebrated Earth Day by hosting our first ESG Webinar, the event focused on the Environmental aspects of ESG and how to bring sustainability to life in an organization or through responsible investing. During the session we had panelists from Bank of New York Mellon, Schiff Hardin & NiSource join us to discuss these topics and more! In case you missed the event, the full webinar is available to watch on our website. We plan on hosting our next ESG webinar with a focus on the "S": social issues. Stay tuned for more information on that session. This week we are focused on Energy. We will share some background on renewable vs. non- renewable energy sources, the impacts of non-renewable energy on our planet, clean energy pledges, and sustainable solutions.
The Energy Dilemma Energy is essential to how we live, but there is no denying that since industrialization and the burning of fossil fuels for energy, our planet has been warming. Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydro & geo-thermal are now on the increase, but how do countries and economies make the monumental shift to renewables? Listen to Maggie Rice from NiSource discuss how they made the shift to wind and solar, and how they are working towards a goal of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to completely retire coal-fired energy generation by 2028!
Satellite Images of Climate Change The process of extracting and producing energy from non-renewable sources such as oil & coal pollutes our environment in many ways, the most significant being the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide & methane. The burning of coal also releases mercury and other pollutants into the air and water. So in addition to depleting non-renewable sources we are warming & polluting our planet and causing more extreme weather events. To see the very real impacts of climate change on our planet visit NASA's Global Climate Change site, which compares satellite images of different areas around the global to show how impacts of global warming.
SASB's 2021 Climate Change Bulletin On April 11th, The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) published their 2021 Climate Risk Technical Bulletin. It is designed to help investors better understand, measure, and manage their exposure to climate- related risks and opportunities. The research finds that climate change is likely to materially affect nearly every industry, but manifests differently in each one.
5 Sustainable Innovations to watch in 2021 Bladeless wind turbines and solar panels made from food waste, these a just a sampling of the exciting new innovations that are helping to reduce pollutants and make clean energy more cost-efficient and viable.
ESG IN THE NEWS: On Earth Day, President Biden announced a new, more aggressive target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Biden pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 nationwide.
On April 9th, the SEC Division of Examinations announced an ESG Risk Alert warning to investment providers and ESG funds. The ESG Risk Alert encourages firms to evaluate whether certain disclosures and marketing materials related to ESG investing are accurate and consistent with firm practices. Emphasizes that organizations should ensure consistency and accurate in their portfolio management practices and their ESG statements and disclosures.
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