Sustainability Series

What comes to mind in a discussion about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? Food, agriculture, and climate change are inextricably linked – not only is the sector one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but conversely, climate change will have a detrimental impact on food production in many regions.

The recent flow of funds into ESG0-type financial products has prompted investors beyond the impact investing space to consider impact and try and understand its boundaries. Impact investing goes beyond ESG investing as the investment must not only target impactful activities, but also be impactful in and of itself. This sounds simple, but there is a big debate on how to measure impact as well as the ways in which an investment can be impactful.

The first of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) is to end poverty. While one of the benefits of globalization over the past 30 years has been the reduction in absolute rates of poverty worldwide, poverty is often still simply measured in terms of income levels. Yet poverty is multifaceted and reflects more than a deficiency of income and productive resources. It encompasses economic, social, cultural, and political elements and is inherently interwoven with a lack of fundamental human rights. According to the UN, its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, inequality, social discrimination and exclusion, deprivation, inadequate access to education and basic services, as well as lack of participation in decision-making. To make progress towards poverty reduction, we need to consider ways to mobilize more investors and businesses to adopt this goal.

One of the largest carbon-emitting industries is the building sector. Building construction and operations accounted for 39% of global CO2 emissions in 2017, with operational carbon (i.e., the amount of carbon emitted during the daily use and maintenance of a home) accounting for 28% of total CO2 emissions. As we look for ways to decarbonize the planet, what if we could build a net zero emissions home?

Financial markets and climate change are two topics which were traditionally seen by some as only vaguely related. However, parts of financial markets are and will continue to be profoundly affected by climate change in one way or another. Furthermore, financial markets are increasingly considered to play a key role in the transition of economies to lower emissions states — a process which will ultimately reduce the human and economic risk presented by climate change. These interactions have prompted regulators, governments, and investors the world over to focus increasingly on climate change — the futures it might present, the risks and opportunities embedded in these futures, and the impacts of these on the many companies, projects, and activities which make up any given economy.

Growing up next to a small lake provided year-round entertainment — swimming and a rope swing in the summer when the sun was out and ice skating and hockey when the lake froze over in the winter. The only time we thought about the weather was when it rained and we couldn’t go to the beach or when it warmed up and we were threatened with falling through the ice. But things are different now. Concerns about the weather aren’t just about our activity schedules; they are now mixed with a growing awareness around climate change and the effects of global warming. While we snuck away from school to get some extra time at the lake, kids are now using their stolen time to demonstrate for climate change awareness in hopes they can stop the planet being damaged by rising temperatures.

It’s a simple question: Will we be able to feed everyone if the population of the planet rises from about 7 billion people today to 9-10 billion in 2050? If you are a student of Thomas Malthus and buy into his Essay on the Principles of Population, then you believe this type of population increase will result in famine and poverty. The good news is that when Malthus published his famous paper in 1798 the global population was only 800 million and despite an almost nine-fold increase in population, his predictions luckily have not been realized.

“There’s no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere” — Annie Leonard, Executive Director of Greenpeace USA

The focus on emissions and climate change is likely to reach new heights this November with the advent of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. But while we might all be aware of the big picture, the rise of “net zero,” and the many climate acronyms popping up daily, do we really know where we are now, what the current plans in place — if delivered upon — would achieve, and what the plan to get to net zero actually is?

Electric vehicles as a concept have been around since the very beginning of auto invention. But it’s only in the past few years that the technology has caught up with the concept. Cars that can drive for long distances without a charge are starting to be produced and demand for electric vehicles has slowly started to increase but why hasn’t demand for them taken off? In the pages that follow, the authors look at where we are now in terms of battery electric vehicle adoption, where we’re likely going, and how long they think it will take for us to get there.What do you think of when you think of the ‘Car of the Future’? The first thing that springs to mind for me is from the cartoon The Jetsons where George gets into his flying car and then folds it up and puts it in his briefcase before he gets to his desk. While that might be a bit further out in the future than is reasonable, what you consistently do not see in most futuristic stories is someone stopping on the side of the road to fill up their gas tank.

This report takes a deep look at the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and advocates for applying the same sense of urgency to both issues. With an objective to closing the gap between academic and policy literature and the perspective of the business and investor community, the report focuses on one question: Why should businesses and investors care about biodiversity loss?

Although there is much in the world to be proud of, we still face enormous societal, environmental, and economic challenges. Even in this day and age, more than 2 billion people — a quarter of all humankind — lack access to even the most basic elements of life that most of us take for granted, such as clean water, sanitation, and energy, while 800 million people — more than one in ten of us — remain undernourished. At its most extreme, the picture is infinitely worse; 700 million people, again, almost one in ten of us, still live below the poverty line on less than $1.90 per day, a sum that many of us spend on a coffee without a second thought. More than 40% of children younger than age 14 (800 million) still lack access to a 'complete' education, and are denied the opportunity to reach their full potential. Beyond the obvious impact on their own lives, what benefits might almost a billion extra well-educated people bring to the world?