Sustainability voices

There’s a need for sustainable investment in supply chains around the globe. This episode explores the acceleration of technology investment and the subsequent wide-scale digital transformation and how it can continue to support supply chain leaders into the future.

As companies consider their decarbonization strategies and their net zero ambitions they should aim to reduce their energy consumption and source higher amounts of low carbon or green energy. For companies looking for a secure long-term supply of renewable energy, Power Purchase Agreements or PPA’s offer the most cost-effective method of sourcing large amounts of renewable energy, at competitive prices.

In almost every part of our lives we interact with the natural environment. Human pressures on nature have increased substantially over time, with land use change, climate change and pollution all contributing to unprecedented nature loss. Halting and reversing this loss is a significant challenge, bringing with it risks to corporate and financial stability, but also opportunities. It is clear that the time to recognize the value of nature is now, and that businesses have a critical role to play in leading the way towards a future where nature can thrive

The ocean is a vital ally in this existential venture. Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) — which include mangroves, tidal and salt marshes, seagrasses as well as open ocean food webs and nutrient cycles — have enormous capacity to store carbon within the plants, animal biomass and in the sediments below for long periods of time. BCEs are an essential part of the global drive to counter climate change, protect biodiversity and enhance livelihoods by capturing carbon and keeping ocean and freshwater systems healthy and productive to help ensure sustainable future.

There is increasing pressure to embed ESG and sustainable practices throughout organizations and within their business models — and when tackling ESG issues, there is a broad range of approaches. But what is clear is that innovation and new ways of doing things are needed to create change that has real, lasting impact. To unlock hidden potential and encourage growth, businesses should consider authentic strategies that include their stakeholders along the way.

Institutional investors hold more than US$1 trillion worth of infrastructure assets. Many take an active role in their investments. Some have evolved into massive infrastructure operators. And that gives them significant room to influence how the infrastructure sector achieves the world's net zero goals. What is clear is that appetite for green and impact investments is strong amongst institutional investors and their clients. But what does impact actually look like? How are institutional investors assessing impact on their existing and new investments? And how are institutional investors and operators helping shape the net zero pathways of their assets and investments?

In the final half of this two-part episode, Mike Linter, Global Head of Private Enterprise Tax, KPMG International, Loek Helderman, Global Tax Lead, KPMG ESG, KPMG International, and Partner, KPMG in the Netherlands, and Shay Menuchin, Policy Lead for KPMG’s Private Enterprise Tax Network, KPMG in Canada, discuss ESG strategies, opportunities and challenges for private enterprises related to the regulatory environment and more.

In part one of this two-part episode, Mike Linter, Global Head of Private Enterprise Tax, KPMG International, Loek Helderman, Global Tax Lead, KPMG ESG, KPMG International, and Partner, KPMG in the Netherlands, and Shay Menuchin, Policy Lead for KPMG’s Private Enterprise Tax Network, KPMG in Canada, discuss how ESG is impacting private enterprises in relation to tax.

The EU’s new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive also known as the CSRD is transforming ESG reporting. Almost 50,000 companies are subject to mandatory sustainability reporting. Even companies with longstanding experience in sustainability reporting will likely require advancements in their ESG data collection, processing, and reporting systems. The clock is ticking for CSRD reporting and companies should ask whether they are ready.

COP15 will look to establish a framework aiming to set out an ambitious plan to implement broad-based action to bring about a transformation in society’s relationship with biodiversity and nature and to ensure that, by 2050, the shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled. To dig into all this on the sidelines of COP15 in Montreal, Canada, I am delighted to be joined by David Greenall, Global Managing Director, Climate Risk, Decarbonization & Resilience, KPMG International; Carolin Leeshaa, Natural Capital & Biodiversity Global Lead, KPMG International and Orlaith Delargy, Biodiversity lead EMA, KPMG in Ireland.