Eco Money

2023 may have seen a spotlight cast on controversy around ESG investing.

Greenwashing and confusing terminology may have punched a dent in ESG’s credibility.

Could this give way to greater clarity around language, goals and intentions in the year ahead?

MSCI ESG Research’s Sustainability and Climate Trends for 2024 is hot off the press.  Rachel Kelly speaks to Yu Ishihara, Executive Director, MSCI ESG & Climate Research to get the details. 

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It’s official, 2023 was the hottest year on record.

That’s according to the latest findings from the Copernicus  2023 Global Climate Highlights report.

And not only was 2023 the hottest, 2023 was the first year on record where all days were in excess of 1°C above pre industrial leves, with two days exceeding 2°C for the first time.

Rachel Kelly has the details in this episode of Eco Money.

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What do you need to look out for in the year ahead when it comes to sustainable business and investing? And, now that the dust has settled on COP28, which key dates do you need to highlight in your diary? 

Eco Money's Rachel Kelly takes a look at reports from Allianz Global investors and MUFG Research for key themes and what to watch in the year ahead.

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Every year - over 430 million tonnes of plastic is produced globally.

According to the UN - two-thirds of that are short-lived products that soon become waste.

In fact, abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear is the deadliest form of marine plastic, threatening 66 per cent of marine animals.

Earlier this year, Gopaal  Jeyaram Founder of Big Fins & Underwater Zombie - came face to face with ghost nets 60 meters underwater in Bali.

Rachel Kelly speaks to Gopaal in this week's Eco Money to find out more.

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National climate action plans remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

That's according to the latest report from the UN.

Even with increased efforts by some countries, the report shows much more action is needed now to bend the world’s emissions trajectory further downward and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Timely that in the same week - KPMG released its 2023 Net Zero Readiness Report.

The report highlighted that Governments and industry must deliver transformative change on net zero but are currently hamstrung by significant barriers, including global public debt, domestic tensions, increased opposition to decarbonization plans, and the need to guarantee energy supply.

Rachel Kelly speaks with Sharad Somani, Head of Infrastructure for KPMG Asia Pacific and Head of KPMG ESG at KPMG in Singapore.

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Global CCUS uptake needs to expand 120 times from current levels by 2050, rising to at least 4.2 gigatons per annum of CO2 captured, for countries to achieve their net-zero commitments. That's according to a McKinsey report.

At the Asia Clean Energy Summit organised by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore, we heard highlights from industry on transformation in this area and what more needs to be done. 

This podcast includes comments from:

Singhi Mahendra, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Dalmia Cement, 

Paul Kennedy, VP of International Business Development, Carbon Engineering 

Fadhl Zayed Fadhl Ahmed, (Acting) Manager Strategic Partnerships, Emirates Steel Arkan

Prabhat Agrawal, Senior Advisor at GaffneyCline

 

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Would it surprise you to know that the number of instances of greenwashing by banks and financial services companies around the world rose by 70% in the past 12 months.

Are all of these instances intentional? OR are companies getting caught up in eco jargon?

What is greenwashing anyway? And what role does the media play in tackling the issue.

This was the topic of a recent panel discussion organised by the Singapore Press Club titled “Cutting Through the Greenwashing”.

I sat on the panel and was joined by Esther An, CSO, CDL, Anil Changaroth, Partner at RHT Law, Quentin Fouesnant, Managing Director Zuno Carbon, Robin Hicks, Associate Editor, Eco Business and Jasmine Tuan, Co-founder of Cloop

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Developing countries face an investment gap of $2 trillion annually for the energy transition, out of a $4 trillion annual funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals. That’s according to the United Nations.

Earlier this year it called for urgent support to developing countries to enable them to attract significantly more investment for their transition to clean energy.

But barriers remain, policy, politics, and perhaps technology.

So how do we bridge this financing gap? Rachel Kelly speaks to Kelvin Wong, Managing Director and Deputy Head of Energy, Renewables and Infrastructure, DBS to find out. 

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Over 60 percent of US companies expect ESG backlash to continue or increase over the next two years.

That’s according to a recent report by The Conference Board.

As anti-ESG backlash and confusion around ratings muddies the waters - how can corporates best navigate?

Rachel Kelly speaks to Tim Mohin,  a global Partner and Director with Boston Consulting Group or B-C-G. He is the former CEO of carbon accounting startup Persefoni, and former CEO of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the world’s largest sustainability reporting standard.

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Ringing in a new era of hope for climate action.

That is the weight that hangs above this year’s conference of parties or COP28.

COP28 President-Designate, Dr Sultan Al Jaber literally did that in New York as the first COP president to ring the New York Stock Exchange bell to help raise awareness of climate finance in the US business community.

Rachel Kelly has the latest in this week's Eco Money. 

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