Daily ESG Briefing, Feb. 5: Aviation, Equator Principles, Nasdaq acquisition and more

Nasdaq, the technology company known for its stock exchange, has acquired OneReport for an undisclosed sum to “accelerate the delivery of [its] ESG reporting and workflow solution” which will be named Nasdaq OneReport. Nelson Griggs, President of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, said Nasdaq OneReport will help issuers who seek clarity on ESG reporting. OneReport, a privately-held company launched in 2003, runs corporate reporting software platforms focused on sustainability.

The members of the UK Sustainable Aviation coalition pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. Among them are airlines, airports, manufacturers, air navigation service providers and business partners such as British Airways, Heathrow, Boeing, BAE Systems or BP.

The Equator Principles, the sustainability risk framework for banks, is joining forces with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help strengthen the “capacity of financial institutions to manage environmental and social risk in line with IFC’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards”. An update to the Equator Principles, which are based on the IFC’s standard, received a lukewarm reception when they were published late last year.

US SRI firm Green Century has withdrawn a deforestation based shareholder proposal filed at Tyson Foods after the US meat giant publicly committed to develop and implement a no-deforestation policy that addresses “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE)”. 

MSCI has launched a tool to help investors assess their exposure to climate risk and identify low carbon investment opportunities. The MSCI Climate Value-At-Risk assesses equities and bonds for more than 10,000 companies and includes a number of climate scenarios. Investors can assess the global warming potential of their portfolios and address the risk of physical climate events.

Companies within the FTSE Small Cap 100 (SMC) and Alternative Investment Market (AIM) have fallen behind their peers on diversity according to a new report by Company Matters, part of the Link Group. Just 5% of executive directors of FTSE SMC 100 companies and 6% of AIM companies are women, compared to FTSE 350 companies where 19% of executive directors are female.