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EU’s New Carbon Removal Certification Regulation
Early last month, the European Parliament approved a regulation for a certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products. The regulation provides key definitions and a framework for how EU states are to develop a...
Guest Post: Driving Sustainability With “Emotional Bank Accounts”
[Ed. Note: This blog was written by Andrea Viera, Senior Sustainability Analyst at hospitality investment and management firm Highgate. Her perspective is that of someone new to the sustainability profession.] In my first week as a sustainability professional, I uncovered...
JPMorgan Moves From Transition Economy To “Fundamentals of Financial Logic”
File this one under “Yes, Virginia – business fundamentals matter.” Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan isn’t interested in pursuing transition finance: “Linda French, JPMorgan’s global head of sustainability policy and regulation, says it’s far from clear that calling something a transition...
States’ Climate-Based Antitrust Suit Threatens Other Sustainability Efforts
The day before Thanksgiving, eleven states’ Attorneys General filed suit against BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, claiming the firms violated antitrust laws through climate activism that reduced coal production and drove up energy prices. According to the press release from...
It’s Getting Real – AI Growth Puts Power Supply Chain Climate Goals at Risk
Still talking about coal-based power generation … Last Spring, we warned that the growth of AI imperiled Scope 2 climate goals for pretty much everyone. Bloomberg wrote about it just before Thanksgiving – with more urgency: “… the surprising growth...
The Murky Future of Coal Power in the G7
This isn’t particularly new news but I thought it was worth looking back to given my other blogs of the day. Even though Texas coal-based power generation has experienced a downturn, the same doesn’t hold true elsewhere. In April, the...
Here’s a Turkey of a Blog
It’s a bit of a tradition at CCRcorp to post lighthearted blogs immediately before a holiday (Thanksgiving in the US). John, Meredith, Julie and I had quite the conversation last week about John’s spatchcock turkey recipe. I’m not much in...
Two Things in One Study: Carbon Offsets Don’t Deliver & A Method for Offset Due Diligence
A new scientific study published in Nature Communications earlier this month covering “almost 1 billion tons of CO2e” largely discredits carbon crediting mechanisms. While the term “credit” is used throughout, the study is actually limited to “voluntary, project-based activities that...
Hidden Reasons For Diminished Executive Support of ESG/Sustainability
A few years ago, “ESG” was shiniest new object that captured the attention of business leaders. Today, AI sparkles above all else and ESG/sustainability seem to be tarnishing. The change should have been expected as a normal cycle of business...
Do Double Materiality Assessments Violate SEC Regulations?
Last month, an interesting question was posed on our Q&A Forum of importance to anyone conducting double materiality assessments (DMAs). DMAs involve communicating with stakeholders on their views of the importance of myriad ESG topics. Shareholders/investors are, of course, one...
McKinsey’s CEO Checklist Gives Context to ESG/Sustainability
Much of the success of corporate ESG/sustainability programs and achievements hinges on how those connect with the company strategy – and the CEO’s vision and goals. I write a good deal about this, and PracticalESG.com’s content emphasizes that as well....
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
This week’s notable additions and new resources for members: New Q&A: Shareholder proposal for a Board Committee on Decarbonization – is this a thing? Document of the week: The new ISO Framework for implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles...
The New Future of Greenwashing Enforcement
The question of where the SEC stands on ESG has been difficult to answer. Back in September, the SEC quietly dissolved their ESG taskforce, leaving many to wonder if ESG enforcement was no longer a priority at the agency. Despite...
Ford Drives B2B Sustainability Gains
Cue the automotive and EV puns… Last month, I wrote about differences between sustainability value propositions for B2B and B2C relationships. Trellis (formerly GreenBiz) recently provided an example of these differences and pivoting strategies. According to the article: “In September,...
It Was a Big Week for Climate Disclosure News
Last week saw several important reports published about climate disclosures, most likely timed for COP29: The 2024 EY Global Climate Action Barometer. Among its key findings – “While most of the companies are aware of the physical risks they face...
Accidental Disclosure: A Real Risk for ESG/Sustainability
Last week, Matt Levine told a story about how far some investors will go (legally) to find hidden information about a company and what is behind numbers companies publish. Investors, he said, seek “that sweet spot of information that is...
Don’t Say You Aren’t Doing ESG But Don’t Say You Are. Are We Clear?
As long as we’re on Matt Levine’s commentary on disclosures… I feel like we are getting into multiples of double negatives which isn’t helpful. Last week, Levine also offered up a view on how the SEC’s Invesco enforcement case could...
Seminal Dutch Shell Case Overturned
In 2021, a landmark case was decided in the Netherlands holding that Shell plc (formerly Royal Dutch Shell plc) owed a duty of care under Dutch tort law to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019...
Oh Deere Redux: John Deere Fights DEI Shareholder Proposal
This summer, John Deere sent shockwaves through the ESG world by axing it’s DEI programs due to a public pressure campaign waged on social media. However, in responding to one stakeholder, others felt jilted, including activist fund “As You Sow”-...
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
This week’s notable additions and new resources for members: New Q&A: How do you find out which ESG disclosure frameworks shareholders prefer? New Guidebook: Generic Climate Change Sample Disclosure – A framework and jurisdiction-agnostic sample climate disclosure covering governance, GHG...
Sustainability Budget Tightening or Uncertain? How We Can Help
Facing a smaller ESG/sustainability budget while having to manage more than ever? Under pressure to show the ROI on program expenses? Need to efficiently draft ESG/sustainability disclosures for your company or clients? Looking to reduce the time you spend searching...
EFRAG Gives First Look at Non-EU Parent Company Disclosure Standards
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a massive piece of disclosure legislation that sustainability professionals are struggling to wrap their heads around. Even as we work to understand and comply with the current European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS),...
SEC’s Newest ESG Enforcement Includes $17.5 Million Fine
The dominoes are falling. The SEC issued their latest enforcement action against an investment advisor for not living up to its marketing and explicit commitments to ESG investment strategies. Last week, the SEC charged Atlanta-based charged Invesco Advisers, Inc. with...
UN-Backed Carbon Offset Framework Approved at COP29
COP29 in Azerbaijan is off to quite a start. According to remarks from Yalchin Rafiyev, COP29 Lead Negotiator: “Parties reached consensus on the standards for Article 6.4 and a dynamic mechanism to update them… This will be a game-changing tool...
California Climate Disclosure Laws Survive Early Court Hurdle
Washington D.C. will face drastic change in January. The SEC’s Climate-related Disclosure Rules already had an uphill battle in the 8th Circuit and the changing political regime all but guarantees its demise. However, that doesn’t mean its time to stop...
ESG/Sustainability Professionals – Just Ignore the Election Results
I intentionally waited to publish this blog, even though I wrote it the morning after the US presidential election results were announced. There were enough immediate articles, news items and posts lamenting the results and wringing hands about the future...
Bees Sting Meta’s AI Climate Plans
There’s something of an irony here. According to Financial Times last week, Meta’s plans to “build an AI data centre in the US that runs on nuclear power were thwarted in part because a rare species of bee was discovered...
SEC Issues Risk Alert for Investment Companies, Includes ESG
Last month, I wrote about the SEC’s latest Exam Priorities for investment advisors and companies, broker-dealers, and a few other “market participants.” This includes registered investment companies (RICs), which consists of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. In that blog, I...
Sustainability Goals No Reason to Be Tone Deaf to the Market
I’m a car guy – I love the art and engineering in automobiles and even turn wrenches on mine (replete with busted knuckles, yelling and cursing). I’m not anti-EV by any means – I leased a 100% EV from 2015-2018...
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
This week’s notable additions and new resources for members: New Q&As: Lawrence provides insight into the future of emissions disclosures if the SEC’s Climate-Related Disclosures Rule is overturned. John clarifies specifics on the timing of GHG disclosures in company 10-Qs....
Political Pressure Building in EU to Scale Back CSRD
The EU is arguably the world leader in sustainability legislation with the European Green Deal being at the forefront of global ESG regulations. However, passing and implementing environmental policy has not come without a political cost. This summer, right-wing candidates...
New Insurance Available for Carbon Offset Fraud
It’s an interesting time for insurance in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). Yesterday, I wrote about concerns with VCM buffer pools, which act as a type of insurance for VCM buyers and project developers; last week, I blogged on considerations...
Is an Alternative to Voluntary Offsets Coming?
Since we’re on the topic of offsets… It’s been a tough couple years for voluntary GHG offsets, what with claims of fraud, turmoil in market players and the rise in greenwashing claims. Even so, advocates argue that doing something about...
CSOs Need to Improve Their Credibility With CFOs
A new report from EY How can CFOs be confident in value creation without confidence in reporting? offers interesting perspectives based on new survey data. CFOs are doing more than they ever have – moving from purely managing numbers to...
More Offset Controversy – This Time, It’s Buffer Pools
The old saying goes “the only inevitable things are death and taxes.” These days, we should add “voluntary carbon offset controversy.” A new existential problem with the voluntary carbon market (VCM) rears up almost monthly. Bloomberg reported on a particularly...
Hidden Benefits of Materiality Assessments
Materiality assessments are at the center of many disclosure frameworks. These serve the obvious purpose of setting out the topics to be covered in company disclosures, but they may also have hidden benefits. A recent article in ESG Today discusses...
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- Investor Policies & Trends / Shareholder Activism & Engagement / Shareholder Proposals
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View all Subject Areas, including those spanning multiple disciplines, here.
Featured Q&A Members Only
Answering Questions about Shareholder Proposal Topic
If an institutional shareholder calls the company a few days before the annual meeting to ask questions about climate change policy and political spending (both the subject to shareholder proposals), and the company agrees to talk with them, can the company say more than is in the proxy statement (seems like the answer should be yes, or why have the conversation) and can the company direct the shareholder to publicly available information (e.g., sustainability report already on company website) w/o filing the information as additional soliciting material? Rule 14a-6(f) seems to support a conclusion that all of this should be permissible w/o any additional filing. If it matters, the company isn’t going to provide any material nonpublic information, they just want to be responsive.
12/2/2024, Question #25597
Shareholder Proposal – Committee on Decarbonization Risk
My company received a “Committee on Decarbonization Risk” shareholder proposal. Has anyone seen this proposal at other companies?
11/18/2024, Question #25477
Reporting to SEC if Climate Disclosure Rule is Vacated
If the SEC climate disclosure rule is overturned or vacated by the court, is it correct that companies will have no legal obligation to report on climate risk management matters to the SEC?
10/31/2024, Question #25193