Commitments, Conglomerates and Consumption; The Great Expectations and Inadequate Responses of Big Business and International Organisations
Cop26 is less than six months behind us and already we are seeing that the agreements made are not evergreen. Instead, autumn has come early as each pledge, like a leaf turned brown and weakened by the retraction of energy, falls from the tree, leaving the branches bare and waiting for another spring to grow back into full, but temporary glory. With Cop27 a year away the climate news of the last few weeks should create great cause for concern. Whilst pledges are being implemented, many are facing challenges and we must be patient in allowing both the private and public sector to find new solutions to the age-old issues that plague sustainability and net-zero aims.
Despite the challenges, we cannot allow the pervasive lethargy which often surrounds climate change discussions to continue. Now more than ever climate activism in all its forms must come to the fore as we break through the generational divide and create an international community of people who will do everything within their ability to make a difference, educate others and help to hold back the tide of climate change. We challenge you, next time you conduct your weekly food shop, go out to purchase clothes, or wander around your nearest furniture store, to start asking the difficult questions such as - How far did this product travel to get here? Are the people who are making this product being paid a fair living wage? Is this product sustainable? Has the company I'm purchasing this product from integrated ESG's into their business? Perhaps most importantly - do I truly understand the impact my purchasing choices make on the climate? This Newsletter includes a range of interesting articles which may provoke you into asking similar, important questions.
This edition is not filled to the rafters with optimistic stories and moments of success, it instead highlights the importance of not allowing our commitment to prevent climate damage to slip, even for a moment. If we can force the hand of the largest conglomerates, many of whom supply the numerous necessities we rely upon in daily life, then necessary changes can occur, and positively impact upon the lives of people we may never even meet. This newsletter provides a short summary of some of the most notable, informative and quirky climate stories of the past two weeks in the hope that it provides inspiration and insight into climate news from around the world. Finally, we want to hear from you, our readers, about any topics that interest you which we may either produce research papers upon or include as stories within future newsletters.
OUR
TOP STORIES
European Demand Threatens Key Ecosystems says WWF
by John Ainger on 17th January 2022
One of TIME Magazine's latest articles covers the recent WWF report on the consumption rates of the European Union and provides significant cause for concern as demands threaten to devastate carbon-rich ecosystems. Such ecosystems fail to be protected by measures to combat climate change or address biodiversity loss outside of the EU's borders, with areas such as the Cerrado in South America, the world's most biodiverse savannah, being cleared for soy and beef production, the EU has been found to be responsible for 19% of the area's beef exports. With similar ecosystems such as Sumatra's peatland, the Argentine Chaco and the Cuvette Centrale in the DRC similarly affected by EU demands for timber, palm oil and other precious commodities, it is becoming increasingly clear that demand will at some point outstrip supply, not to mention the significant loss of biodiversity.
Last year new measures were proposed to curb the large-scale deforestation spurred by EU consumption. Companies will now have to collect the geographic coordinates of where their commodities originated and national authorities will also need to play their part by ensuring that only products considered deforestation-free are able to enter the market. The commodities covered under these new measures are palm oil, soy, coffee, beef, cocoa, wood and some derived products such as furniture, chocolate and leather. As important as focusing on forested areas is, there is a risk to other valuable ecosystems as making operations in forests and jungles difficult could incentivise businesses to shift to grasslands, wetlands, savannas and peatlands which remain unprotected. Environmental activists believe that such ecosystems require immediate equal protection under the law instead of relying on the European Commission's wait-and-see attitude, which is inadequate in the face of the breakneck speeds at which such ecosystems are being destroyed. According to Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, senior forest policy officer at WWF’s European Policy Office, “In times of climate emergency and accelerating loss of species, the E.U. cannot turn a blind eye to the loss of natural ecosystems beyond forests.”
At the COP26 climate change talks in Glasgow, Scotland, last year, 100 countries representing 85% of the world’s forests committed to halt and reverse the loss of woodland and land degradation by 2030. Worldwide, an area of forest the size of 27 soccer pitches is lost every minute, according to the U.K.
Great Expectations for this month's One Ocean Summit
by Rémi Parmentier on 27th January 2022
President Emmanuel Macron of France is convening world leaders and ocean advocates for the One Ocean Summit in February 2022. This year's gathering is set to take place on board a large vessel moored in the harbour of Brest on France's Finisterre peninsula. As the date of commencement draws closer many are asking if this Summit will provoke high-level movement on several Ocean issues that must be urgently addressed, preferably before Cop27.
As our ocean absorbs 90% of the world's excess heat and 25% of the carbon dioxide we produce each year, oceans are a critical safeguard against climate change, however, they are collectively struggling and are at a tipping point. Ocean currents, fish and ocean mammal migration patterns are changing and critical habitats such as coral reefs, home to 25% of marine biodiversity, are feeling the worst impacts of climate change and in certain cases have been permanently destroyed, three billion people who are dependent on the ocean for their livelihoods are finding themselves in a potentially catastrophic position.
As ocean resilience to the climate and other human-induced impacts becomes increasingly urgent a large coalition of countries co-chaired by France, Costa Rica and the UK is calling for the protection of at least 30% of the world's ocean by 2030. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 the conferences have been repeatedly postponed; however, there are hopes that the formal endorsement of this so-called 30×30 target will take place in 2022. There are still concerns that this endorsement will not come, as similarly to UN negotiations to conserve marine biodiversity in the high seas (covering 45% of our planet), which were originally to be adopted in 2022, the pandemic and lack of political interest have slowed the adoption of such resolutions. Meanwhile, proposals to establish marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean have consistently failed as governments chose instead to continue allowing mining of the deep seabed worldwide and in this region, with potentially devastating consequences.
Mr. Rémi Parmentier (Co-director of the Varda group) has suggested some ideas which could lead to the drastic protection of the world's oceans;
● " Governments can and should make ocean protection the norm rather than the exception, by reversing the burden of proof. Rather than forcing ocean advocates to demonstrate that protection is feasible, ocean users would have to demonstrate that their activities are safe or that adequate mitigation measures are in place to prevent irreversible environmental damage. Environmental Impact Assessments would thus have more clout because they would condition the choices governments make when licensing ocean resources and seascape exploitation. It would put the precautionary principle into practice.
● Establishing effective Environmental Impact Assessment procedures and the means to designate marine protected areas are at the centre of the high seas treaty negotiations. High-level thinking outside the box, in Brest, could give the high seas negotiations a much-needed political boost.
● At the upcoming One Ocean Summit, governments could call for a high-level Antarctic Life Summit that could resonate with the general public, where ministers would be forced to pay attention and leaders compelled to take meaningful action."
As France's climate credentials are called into question after failing to support a resolution for a moratorium on deep seabed mining that was organised at the World Conservation Congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2021 there are hopes that President Macron and the French Government will join the 81 governments who ratified this agreement and lead the campaign to protect the ocean from deep seabed mining.
Nestlé Takes the Reigns in Cleaning up the Chocolate Trade
by Gillian Tett on 31st January 2022
A little over a year ago a campaign group called the International Rights Advocates sued several western companies involved in the chocolate trade over their use of child labour in their supply chains. Though initially many believed the case would have little success, it seems appearances can be deceiving. As activists embrace new routes to plead their case by hyperactively lobbying big investors in chocolate groups, particularly those who have made ESG commitments, this new approach is garnering increased success. Though it is unclear whether such lobbying has prompted investors to force change with the businesses they patronize, an announcement made in late January from Nestlé struck a chord; after years of arguing that child slavery lay beyond their control it has announced a tripling of investment in cocoa sustainability funding to SFr1.3bn ($1.4bn) over the coming eight years. Most crucially of all direct payouts to African cocoa farmers will be implemented in an attempt to remove child labour from its supply chain. By ensuring households involved in cocoa cultivation receive payments to send their children to school and implementing sustainable measures such as planting shade trees and allowing the diversification of incomes through additional crops and livestock, which will also be paid, managers at Nestlé are hoping this incentive-based approach will raise standards and put an end to children slavery and child labour in this sector.
There are worries that such plans will be difficult to implement as a University of Chicago study found that 1.56m children, or 45% of agricultural households in the Ivory Coast and Ghana - the two biggest cocoa-producing countries - are engaging in some form of child labour. However, NGOs have given the plans a cautious welcome with hopes that the other six major cocoa groups follow suit as many step up their ESG initiatives. As NGOs are getting savvier in tracking and targeting asset owners who engage in ESG issues within their supply chains and activists are taking an approach of not just focusing on "E" factors but "S" topics too, the "scope 3" accounting systems for carbon emissions is being transferred onto social issues to carry out the lateral vision many hope prompt more imaginative solutions from supply chains. By encompassing both the "E" and "S" in approaches to clean up the chocolate trade the onus will be on companies to fix embarrassing issues themselves instead of turning to governments and NGOs. By decarbonising, introducing sustainable practices, ensuring children gain an education which will benefit the environment in the future and abolishing unethical practices there will hopefully be a bright future for the chocolate trade.
Plans for New Oilfield Approved Despite Climate Goals
by Jillian Ambrose on 1st February 2022
Ministers face a backlash from climate groups after giving the green light to a new North Sea oilfield just weeks after the Cop26 UN climate talks in Glasgow.
The Guardian has recently produced a news article covering the approval of the Abigail oil and gas field off the east coast of Scotland. Having been quietly approved by the government's Oil and Gas Authority defying the climate experts who less than six months ago made clear that no new fossil fuel developments would be compatible with the world's climate targets. The development has received such extensive backlash as campaigners believe that the search for diminutive gas reserves will not secure the UK's energy supplies whilst contributing more to carbon emissions. Tessa Khan, the director of Uplift, a group which campaigns for a fossil-free UK, said the field will be of little benefit to UK energy consumers and will worsen the climate crisis and line the pockets of large oil firms. Instead, the UK should be cutting reliance on expensive, highly polluting energy sources as bills skyrocket and the climate crisis worsens. The UK government cannot continue to bankroll the oil and gas industry.
The government has faced backlash previously for failing to insist that an oil development at Canbo in the North Sea comply with climate legislation. As work halted after its project partner Shell hit fierce opposition to the project from environmental activists, government climate checklists are being called "farcical" in which the bar is set so low that the oil industry may take advantage and continue climate-wrecking for decades to come. Caroline Rance, a climate and energy campaigner for Friends of the Earth Scotland has stated that there is no such thing as a climate compatible oil and gas development. The climate crisis and the science are clear that burning fossil fuels is a driver of the climate crisis and that searching for new oil and gas fields cannot continue if we wish to limit warming to 1.5°.
Terrorism, Climate Change and Piracy in West Africa
by Shirley Botchwey on 1st February 2022
In a particularly engaging article published by the Financial Times we can observe the streets of Accra (Ghana) filling with migrants from the Sahel - Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Chad and Nigeria - who are streaming in daily in an attempt to escape the jihadist terrorism which is spreading across their homelands. These new migrants are one of three major issues facing the government of Ghana during its two-year tenure on the UN Security Council, other issues also include climate change and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
As jihadist terrorism has been pushed back in areas of North Africa, many groups have gravitated towards the Sahel bringing with them increased violence and brutality towards citizens and driving forced migration to places such as Accra. Unfortunately, citizens of these countries are not only at risk of terrorism but are facing the full force of climate change. Lake Chad, the largest body of water in the Sahel is estimated to have reduced by 90% over the last 60 years as temperatures in the Lake Chad Basin are rising one and a half times faster than the global average. Availability of fresh drinking water is reducing and nomadic herders are migrating south in search of fresh pastures and water, violent conflicts have been triggered between these migrants and those living in the Savannah and forest belts of the South who already have limited resources. However, as towns are vacated across the Sahel, jihadists are moving in, creating bases and calculating the best time to move further South.
Pushing back against terrorism, climate change and piracy cannot be left to a small handful of West African nations. Such interconnected issues can and will have significant consequences for the global community and must therefore be recognised and tackled by international organisations such as the United Nations Security Council. However, the approaches taken in the Congo, Lebanon etc. cannot be copied and pasted onto West Africa, which requires new and flexible approaches in which Africans lead the way and make the key decisions.
Small Island Developing States and Cop26; The Modern-Day David and Goliath
by Kate Martin on 27th January 2022
In November 2021 World Leaders, Policy Makers, Climate Scientists, Environmental Activists, Businesspeople, Community Groups and Climate Protestors, all convened in Glasgow (UK) for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. As the date of commencement drew closer the initial utopian images of green energy, reduced plastic and a world dedicated to stopping the oncoming crisis morphed into a less promising picture. For those in the know, the inner political cogs had been whirring for some time and not all for the benefit of the climate. Unexpected alliances, underhand deals and a serious lack of commitment to making real world changes seeped out into public view, which disheartened many, but surprised few. Naturally, Covid-19 also played its part as leaders of Pacific Island states struggled to reach Glasgow, contributing to the innate inequality visible in all international political institutions and conferences. As Boris, Biden and Trudeau nodded their heads in unison to Mia Mottley (president of Barbados), one of the greatest orators of the event, making a heartfelt and powerful plea for change one cannot help but feel as though they presided over the conference like a group of Roman Emperors at a gladiatorial fight, turning their thumb downwards in unison and sealing the deadly fate of an innocent person or peoples. Whilst this may appear an extreme and visceral image, it is no less so than the worst results of climate change…
To read the full paper click on this link.
Pico Analytics ESG Integration and Sustainability Metrics
by Subbu Loganathan on 9th February 2022
At Pico Analytics, we aim to ensure that all organisations and firms are able to meet their ESG commitments while ensuring stakeholder interests are surpassed through transparency, and data analytics. Our Sustainability Metrics model provides complete ESG and sustainability metrics integration with all aspects of the investment lifecycle, from portfolio modelling, product development, trade execution, to incorporation of climate risk and stranded asset risk in the risk management framework, to client reporting and regulatory reporting and disclosures.
If your business is looking to integrate ESGs then follow this link to find out more about how we can help you to achieve your goals.
