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Data, Tech Rising to Water Challenge as Historic UN Meeting Highlights Alarm
History will be made in New York next week when heads of state from around the world gather for the first United Nations Water Conference in half a century. The fact that it is being held at all underlines the growing importance of water to the global sustainability project. Water-based issues, from pollution, stewardship, overuse…
Harvard Report Underlines Broadening Importance of ESG
ESG is now of such importance to financial institutions that getting the data and technology aspect of the topic right has become crucial to the smooth running of their broader operations. A report published by the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance is the latest high-profile examination of the growth of sustainable markets to…
Free Digital Toolkit Helps Private Equity Integrate ESG
A free digital tool that helps private equity firms integrate ESG into their investment processes is hoped to boost the sustainability performance of a market to which financial institutions have huge exposure. The Investor ESG Toolkit was created by UK-based sustainability consultancy Sancroft to help PE firms identify how their investment and risk strategies stack…
TNFD To Unveil COP15 Influenced Iteration of Reporting Framework
The Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is to release the latest version of its guide on how financial institutions should report on their biodiversity risks. The fourth iteration, due next month, is informed by the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) agreed at the COP15 in Montreal late last year. Target 15, of the GBF’s 23…
ESG Data Spotlight Shines on Sovereign Debt and its Challenges
The ESG lens is being focused on sovereign bonds, considered by many observers as the next frontier for sustainability data. The Assessing Sovereign Climate-Related Opportunities and Risks (Ascor) project has launched a framework for assessing government debt that it hopes will develop into a standalone tool. The organisation, which comprises asset owners and managers that…
Mizuho Bolsters ESG Data Capabilities as Japan Toughens Regulations
Japanese financial giant Mizuho Bank has upgraded its ESG data capabilities as the government in Tokyo tightens rules on sustainability reporting and after the bank was implicated in a greenwashing scandal. The financial services major has put in place a disclosures and data verification framework to help it assess the progress and credibility of net-zero…
Delivering on ESG Through the Cloud
By Shaun Hurst, Principal Regulatory Advisor for EMEA, Smarsh. ESG, the acronym that refers to the alignment of environmental, social, and governance performance and objectives with company practices and investor strategies, has evolved from being a ‘nice to have’ for companies and financial institutions to a concrete expectation. But with rising regulation, litigation and growing scrutiny…
How to Build an Efficient Enterprise ESG Data Strategy in Banking with Cloud and Machine Learning
ESG investing is now integral to financial institutions’ activities, motivated by client demands for sustainable investment options, regulatory obligations and a growing cultural shift towards ensuring that capital is allocated in order to do better for the planet and the people on it. Data is the magic dust that is enabling the translation of that…
Data Challenges Limit Muni Growth in ESG Portfolios, Says PRI
US municipal bonds have the potential for greater inclusion in ESG-themed portfolios but an absence of data on the impact investors have on the debt’s sustainability outcomes may be hindering their increased use. A report by the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) stated that many so-called munis are ideally suited to investors’ ESG-themed…
NatureAlpha Harnesses NGO Biodiversity Data to Help Investors
ESG analytics startup NatureAlpha has teamed with a global non-profit biodiversity project to help financial institutions harness biodiversity data so they can make more sustainable investment decisions. The UK-based company has incorporated the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) into its own analytics to provide a set of metrics that asset owners and managers can use…