Jamie Hicks
‘Ireland’s Fiduciary Duty Roadmap’ report provides clear recommendations on policy and market changes required to achieve full ESG integration into core areas of investment practices. Ireland is the 10th country in the world to produce this roadmap report, which is a significant milestone for a country of its size.
Irish legislation and common law interpretations of fiduciary duty currently make no reference to ESG issues or to responsible investment. However, Ireland is required to implement a new EU Directive by January 2019, which requires pension funds to publish their position on ESG issues in their statements of investment policy principles (SIPPs). Last month, the European Commission also published its first legislative package under its Action Plan for Financing Sustainable Growth.
In June 2018, the PRI, UNEP FI and The Generation Foundation in collaboration with SIF Ireland released the report, which makes recommendations in four areas – regulation, capacity building, stewardship and intermediation, and corporate reporting – and includes actions for various Irish stakeholders.
The global extractives industry is heavily involved in some of the worst labour, environmental and human rights violations. The rights of communities, farmers and indigenous people are being trampled in the push for ever more extraction. Indeed all businesses must respect and contribute to the society where they operate, and investors too have a critical role to play, particularly in the current mining upturn.
In Dirty Profits 6, Facing Finance shows how extractive companies have dealt with human rights and environmental violations shown in Dirty Profits reports since 2012, as well as how selected European banks have reacted to these violations in their provision of finance over time.
The Paris Agreement Art. 2.1© creates a political mandate to align financial flows with climate goals, sparking a flurry of activity by state and non-state actors to develop the needed methodologies. There has been significant progress in this regard with projects such as the Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment and “Developing Sustainable Energy Investment (SEI) metrics, benchmarks and assessment tools for the financial sectors”. This report situates itself in the broader context of above mentioned market initiatives and research around aligning financial markets with the Paris Agreement with a focus on 2°C scenario and climate assessments for consumer loans.
This report seeks to quantify the potential impact of breakthrough technologies on oil demand. It finds that breakthrough technologies like artificial intelligence, bio- plastics, 3D printing, holograms, nanotechnology, hyperloops, artificial intelligence, and autonomous driving, as well as trends like the ‘sharing economy’, can reduce oil demand by 34% relative to the baseline New Policy Scenario (NPS) of the International Energy Agency in the next 22 years.
The UNEP Finance Initiative and collaborators (RICS, PRI, Global Investor Coalition) is developing an impact-based investment framework for real estate to address the SDG financing gap. UNEP FI’s Property Working Group has issued a discussion paper which introduces a positive impact investment framework and requests feedback on the opportunities and challenges in investing for impact. The associated webinar (July 6) will present a summary of the paper and is a forum to hear from property practitioners on ways they are taking or intend to incorporate an impact-based approach to their investment strategies and projects.
Details for the associated Webinar:
July 10th, 9AM CEST or 4PM CEST
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/7104951071753539075
In March 2018, UNEP FI, the PRI, The Generation Foundation, and the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) released Investor Duties and ESG Integration in China.
Building on the recent achievements of the national Green Finance initiative in China, the report discusses the development of an investment and regulatory environment that promotes consideration of financially material ESG issues, consistent with investor obligations and duties. The report considers how responsible investment regulations can contribute to achieving China’s long-term vision of balanced, inclusive and sustainable development.
The report makes recommendations in five areas – policy guidance, pension regulatory guidance, corporate disclosure, standardised labels, and investor education. The central recommendation of the report is that investors should integrate ESG issues in their investment decision-making processes as part of fulfilling their duties towards their beneficiaries and to support the development of China’s Ecological Civilisation. Investor duties should reflect and align with the Chinese government’s Guidelines for Establishing a Green Financial System (GEGFS).
In March 2018, UNEP FI, the PRI, The Generation Foundation, and the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) released Investor Duties and ESG Integration in China.
Building on the recent achievements of the national Green Finance initiative in China, the report discusses the development of an investment and regulatory environment that promotes consideration of financially material ESG issues, consistent with investor obligations and duties. The report considers how responsible investment regulations can contribute to achieving China’s long-term vision of balanced, inclusive and sustainable development.
The report makes recommendations in five areas – policy guidance, pension regulatory guidance, corporate disclosure, standardised labels, and investor education. The central recommendation of the report is that investors should integrate ESG issues in their investment decision-making processes as part of fulfilling their duties towards their beneficiaries and to support the development of China’s Ecological Civilisation. Investor duties should reflect and align with the Chinese government’s Guidelines for Establishing a Green Financial System (GEGFS).
Responsible Investor’s first stage of one of the biggest surveys and series of follow up interviews with pension funds globally to answer the question of why some pension funds see ESG integration as a clear part of their fiduciary duty and a necessary addition to investment strategy, while others believe the opposite.
Based on the assessment of more than 2,400 companies listed worldwide, this paper analyses how businesses commit to promote labour relations, especially through the establishment of collective agreements, and the analysis of topics addressed in these agreements. The paper also touches on employee representation at Board level. Examples of best practice of labour relations are also provided, as well as an analysis of some observed controversy cases, and how companies reacted to them.
Table of responses with a qualitative review of the Top 25 UK Pension Funds to a request from the UK government Environmental Audit Committee detailing the funds’ approaches to climate change risk and whether it is – or is not – incorporated into their investment decision-making