‘Black Wednesday’ for big oil as courtrooms and boardrooms turn on industry | The Guardian

The world’s patience with the fossil fuel industry is wearing thin. This was the stark message delivered to major international oil companies this week in an unprecedented day of reckoning for their role in the climate crisis.

In a stunning series of defeats for the oil industry, over the course of less than 24 hours, courtrooms and boardrooms turned on the executives at Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron. Shell was ordered by a court in The Hague to go far further to reduce its climate emissions, while shareholder rebellions in the US imposed emissions targets at Chevron and a boardroom overhaul at Exxon.

Wall Street Rebels Against Exxon | NYTimes

Exxon Mobil suffered a stunning loss at its annual shareholder meeting yesterday, as a small new activist investor focused on climate change, Engine No. 1, won at least two seats on its 12-member board. To corporate America, the upset was a clear sign that company boards and leaders need to pay attention to environmental, social and governance issues (known as E.S.G.) — or suffer rebukes.

The bell has tolled for the fossil age: Why net zero makes us all richer | SMH

Net zero does not cost jobs: it replaces 5 million lost in oil, gas and coal with eight times as many jobs for engineers, electrical experts, offshore operators, solar technicians or lithium miners, whether directly or indirectly.

It does not raise energy costs: it cuts the average bill for households on heating, cooling, electricity, and car fuel from $US2800 ($3630) to $US2300 ($2980) a year by 2030 in advanced countries. The energy share of disposable income halves from 4 per cent to 2 per cent by mid-century. It is tantamount to free energy.

Averting Climate Crisis Means No New Oil or Gas Fields, IEA Says | Bloomberg

That’s the bold assessment from the International Energy Agency, the organization that has spent four decades working to secure oil supplies for industrialized nations. In its new road map for achieving net-zero global carbon emissions by 2050, the IEA laid out in stark terms what the planet must do to avoid harmful the climate change -- and just how far that is from our current reality.

Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals | The Guardian

ExxonMobil is the greatest single-use plastic waste polluter in the world, contributing 5.9m tonnes to the global waste mountain, concludes the analysis by the Minderoo Foundation of Australia with partners including Wood Mackenzie, the London School of Economics and Stockholm Environment Institute. The largest chemicals company in the world, Dow, which is based in the US, created 5.5m tonnes of plastic waste, while China’s oil and gas enterprise, Sinopec, created 5.3m tonnes.

‘Big mountain to climb’: Macquarie chief says Australia behind on EV transition | Sydney Morning Herald

Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake says Australia is trailing the world on electric vehicles after the investment powerhouse reported a record full-year profit and outlined a bold plan to accelerate its push into green financing.

Ms Wikramanayake said Australia was at an earlier stage than other markets on the transition to electric vehicles and called on industries with large transportation fleets, such as the mining sector, to convert.

Biden’s First 100 days: A Climate Resilience Appraisal | Triplepundit

It’s encouraging that the new president’s climate action strategy includes important and valid emphasis on climate change mitigation. He has spoken favorably about decreasing greenhouse gas emissions primarily through increasing investments in renewable power, while increasing regulations to direct the private sector toward more efficient technologies and operations. Nevertheless, to connect this strategy to apply to all Americans, the White House must emphasize climate resilience. So far, the administration’s policies are trending in a positive direction.

Go for net zero: A practical plan for reliable, affordable, low-emissions electricity | Grattan Institute

Australia can achieve a net-zero carbon emissions electricity system without threatening affordability or reliability of supply.

It’s a myth that Australia needs to continue to rely on coal-fired power stations to keep electricity bills down.

But we should not rush to 100 per cent renewable energy, because ensuring reliability would be costly – especially in the depths of winter in the southern states when electricity demand is high, solar supply is low, and persistent wind droughts are possible.

A guide to the TCFD

The casualties of the climate crisis could include financial stability, the global economy, and the value of investments. As governments catch up to the realities of climate change and the policy response continues to gather pace, global markets need transparency into the financial impacts of climate change on companies.

‌The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) released their recommendations in 2017 to improve and increase reporting of climate-related financial information. Today, 2,000+ organizations support TCFD, including 110+ regulators and government entities across 78 countries.

Why read this guide?

It outlines the benefits of climate reporting to firms such as yours, and explains how companies and regulators are implementing the TCFD recommendations.

Firms implementing the recommendations are able to:‌

• Efficiently identify climate-related opportunities and risks

• Proactively address investors' demands for climate-related information in a framework that investors are increasingly asking for

• More effectively meet current requirements to report material information in financial filings

• Enhance risk management and strategic planning, through better understanding of climate risk‌.

Bloomberg has created this guide to help you better understand the benefits of implementing the TCFD recommendations.

New US 2030 emissions reduction goal accelerates global race to attract investment in net zero emissions industries and infrastructure | IGCC

Analysis by the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) shows the new US target is now one of the strongest emissions reduction commitments amid the G20, only slightly behind what has been adopted by the United Kingdom and European Union (EU) nations. Overnight Japan and Canada, key trading partners and allies of Australia and New Zealand, also strengthened their emissions reduction goals for the end of the decade.

Big super fails to back activist resolutions | AFR

Activists are disappointed after the majority of large superannuation funds failed to support shareholder resolutions on environmental, social and governance issues last year.

The exceptions were construction industry fund Cbus, Local Government Super and Vision Super, which voted in favour of shareholder resolutions on more than 75 per cent of occasions, Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility's climate and environment director, Daniel Gocher, said.

“Despite claims from many funds that they are ‘ESG aware’, there is still widespread reluctance to support sensible shareholder proposals on these issues,” he said.

Heightened expectations of climate-related disclosure and assurance | MinterEllison

Corporations are facing increased pressure to apply climate-related governance, strategy, risk metrics and disclosure. Report preparers, assurers and auditors must approach climate change-related issues with the same degree of rigour as any other financial variable.

As reporting season approaches, financial report preparers are grappling with new expectations concerning the disclosure of financial impacts associated with climate change.

Read more

Google Wants To Use AI To Track Pollution From Every Power Plant On Earth | Gizmodo

They all want to learn more about the greenhouse gases and other pollutants that pour out of the world’s power plants, with the aim of holding companies and polluters accountable. They’ll be relying on satellites currently up in space to gather data for this endeavour.

Weathering the new storms: risks and culture in agribusiness | Turlough Guerin for Farm Institutes Insights

Climate, culture and risk are now mainstream governance issues in agriculture and natural resource management.

In a recent risk and governance forum held in Australia, experts highlighted that organisations should undertake rigorous review of their non-financial risks, in particular those related to culture and climate.

While some sectors – including banking and agriculture – were directly called out in terms of their impact, there were implications for all sectors of industry.

With the increasing focus on the need for good governance, and expectation that the advice provided by professionals meets the highest ethical standards, it is incumbent upon professionals in all sectors to demonstrate how they are acting in the interests of their clients and organisations as a whole, and not just focus on financial performance.

Continue reading or download the newsletter.

This article was originally published in the Australian Farm Institute Insights newsletter in May 2019

ALAN PEARS: The cost of Labor’s Paris Climate Change Policies | John Menadue, Pearls and Irritations

Economic modelling is one of many tools for policy development. It is often taken out of context and misused. The present debate over the cost of Labor’s climate policy provides an example. Lack of context, modelling assumptions and selective use of modelling results risks distorting future climate and energy policy, with serious consequences.

Before entering into discussion of recent Coalition claims regarding the impact of Labor’s climate policies, we should consider some context.

Eight EU countries call for more ambitious strategy to tackle climate change | Euro News

Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden urged the EU to cut emissions to net zero by 2050. They also demand that at least a quarter of the EU budget be spent on projects to fight climate change.

MPs endorse Corbyn’s call to declare climate emergency | The Guardian

Responding for the government, the environment secretary, Michael Gove, said he accepted “that the situation we face is an emergency”, and called for a consensual, cross-party approach so the UK could take a lead on climate action.

'Outrage is justified': David Attenborough backs school climate strikers | The Guardian

“[Young people] understand the simple discoveries of science about our dependence upon the natural world,” he said. “My generation is no great example for understanding – we have done terrible things.”

The protests by young people were enormously encouraging, Attenborough said. “That is the one big reason I have for feeling we are making progress. If we were not making progress with young people, we are done.”

Who will replace Mark Carney as Bank of England governor? | FT

Carney has delayed his exit from the BOE twice because of Brexit, though he’s said he won’t do so again and will leave at the end of January 2020.

HLEG Recommendations and the bilateral trade agreement - what are the implications?

Last week, the EU announced that it is going to immediately proceed with new regulations that will impact a broad range of financial services. The new regulations will be based on the recommendations made recently by the High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance.

The Australian Government and the EU jointly announced last week they are going to fast track a bilateral trade agreement. This will open up new opportunities to the Australian financial services industry – but also potentially make them subject to EU regulations. See below for more on these two important announcements.

EU Announces Plans to Implement HLEG Recommendations

24 May 2018.

Vice-President of the EU Commission Valdis Dombrovskis

Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union said: "We should put our money into projects that are compatible with our decarbonisation objectives and the fight against climate change. This is important for the environment and the economy, but also for financial stability. Between 2007 and 2016, economic losses from extreme weather disasters rose by 86%. The proposals presented today show that the European Union is committed to ensuring that our investments go in the right direction. They are about harnessing the vast power of capital markets in the fight against climate change and promoting sustainability."

The proposed Regulation will introduce consistency and clarity on how institutional investors, such as asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, or investment advisors should integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment decision-making process. Exact requirements will be further specified through Delegated Acts, which will be adopted by the Commission at a later stage.

But the council has added a warning that it wants to make sure the deal doesn’t compromise its high standards of social and environmental protection, or hurt small and medium sized business. Read More

EU-Australia Free Trade Negotiations Start - Sydney Morning Herald

22 May 2018

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. Photo: AP

European officials will land in Australia next month to begin negotiations on a free trade deal, after the EU’s governing council gave its long-awaited official authorisation on Tuesday  to begin negotiations for trade deal with Australia.

“The council also approved negotiation of a similar deal with New Zealand. They expect the agreement to increase EU exports to New Zealand and Australia by about a third in the long term, through removing customs duties and other barriers. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the deal would “safeguard high standards in key areas such as sustainable development”. Read more