GaiaLens

We’re delighted to be recognised in FinTech Global's ESGFinTech100! In Richard Sachar's words: “The ESGFinTech100 serves as a crucial resource for senior management, helping them identify the leading ESG tech companies [...] This guide is essential for any organisation committed to achieving net-zero targets.” To be part of the change, start by checking out the list here: https://lnkd.in/eUcpbKpR P.S. Like what you saw on pages 35-36? Find out how we can help you put your ESG strategy into action: https://lnkd.in/e7ZzYaU6

The #ESGFinTech100 list for 2024 was just released to recognise the leading tech companies driving sustainability in financial services. Some of the leading companies on the list include (1/2): ACA Group Kristen Mooney; Arctic Intelligence Anthony Quinn; Arbonics Kärt Johanna Ojamäe Kristjan Lepik; Ascent Robb Verna; Auquan Andrew Wright Chandini Jain; Comply Exchange Ltd Evelyn Wright; Corlytics Elaine Mullan; dacadoo Fernando Doblas Orozco; DLT Apps Richard Easton; Earth Blox Cassie Anderson Mike Mason; ESG Playbook Sonia Zugel; GaiaLens Sebastien Kirk, CFA Gordon Tveito-Duncan; WeeFin Grégoire Hug Estelle Hingant; Greenomy Annemarie McCurrach; intellectAI Barbara Stanton; Kidbrooke Fredrik Davéus; KYND Melanie Hayes

Here is a blog I wrote with Pauline Schouten about our work at GaiaLens creating a PDF GenAI Chatbot this year! This has been a really exciting product to develop, and I am very proud of the team for building it super fast and to such a high standard. The GaiaLens PDF Chatbot is a handy tool to save analysts lots of time when analysing company reports. The product has massive potential; it’s already multi-lingual and is a big improvement on “ctrl + F-ing” through a PDF. There are some really interesting use cases that involve it, such as detecting greenwashing in a corporation’s sustainability report or in a fund prospectus. Another use case is using it to benchmark a sustainability report against the user’s sustainability criteria/goals. Hope some of you find the blog interesting! Also, I would love to hear of any more interesting use cases of LLMs/RAG that people are working on, so let me know 🤓! #RAGcity #genai #chatgtd

As AI evolves, so do its environmental impacts. For instance, data centres that host AI: ⚡ Guzzle energy: according to International Energy Agency (IEA), these data centres have an annual electricity consumption equivalent to the electricity demand from around 350 000 to 400 000 electric cars. (https://lnkd.in/etTTzzim) ⚡ Have a growing footprint: data centres account for 1% of global electricity today and could hit 4.5% by 2030. (https://lnkd.in/gb_SZDQR, https://lnkd.in/g8R7iC23) ⚡ Use millions of gallons in water to stay cool. (https://lnkd.in/gAAbBVr) But AI's environmental impact goes far wider than data centres: ⚡ Rare mineral extraction for AI hardware production causes deforestation and water pollution. ⚡ AI hardware’s disposal leads to mounting e-waste, releasing toxins like lead and cadmium. But some AI giants, like Meta, have pledged to be net zero emissions across their value chains by 2030.  How far has Meta got? ⚡ Its carbon footprint is significantly larger than it was in 2020.(https://lnkd.in/dnvpi9_Z) ⚡ While its market-based emissions have dropped, its location-based emissions have rocketed. ⚡ In other words, while its almost halved its emissions on paper, it’s difficult to say how much its reduced it in reality. We should not just be concerned about Meta. The attached graphic by The Guardian shows the extent to which official figures released by other big tech companies are misguided and misleading. (https://lnkd.in/dQuYgvRM) Although Article 69 of the European Union's long-awaited AI Act introduces codes of practice to minimise AI systems’ environmental effect, these are voluntary. (https://lnkd.in/g7Jugax4) ...And its previous voluntary Disinformation Code of Practice has long been criticised by researchers for its failure. (https://lnkd.in/gvizkNA7). Clearly, we need better mechanisms to assess and unmask big tech companies' environmental impact. At GaiaLens, we’re here to help. Our greenwashing detection tool ensures investors get accurate insights into AI companies' sustainability efforts. 🔗 : https://lnkd.in/gRcqSta7 🔗 : https://lnkd.in/g3D7UtYj #AI #Sustainability #Greenwashing #ESG #GaiaLens #ClimateAction #TechResponsibility

🎉 What a way to end the week! We are delighted to announce that our Greenwashing Analytics Solution has won FinTech Scotland's "Shaping the Future of ESG in Financial Services" innovation call (https://lnkd.in/eWFAywUk ). We will be using the awarded funding to further develop our Greenwashing Analytics Solution, designed to help investors evaluate the greenwashing risk of funds and companies, with abrdn and HSBC over the next few months. Thank you to the FinTech Scotland team, particularly Trish Quinn and Giovanna Cucchi, for running a great innovation call! 🤝And it is great to be recognised in such good company - congratulations to Scott Logic, siccar, ESG360°, CienDos, ESG Disclose, Verifoxx and TEXpert AI To learn more about our multiple award-winning (😉) solution, get in touch here: https://lnkd.in/eNRXwJpz University of Strathclyde University of Glasgow Adam Smith Business School

We are delighted to announce the winners of the "Shaping the Future of #ESG in Financial Services" innovation call. Congratulations to: Scott Logic, GaiaLens, siccar, ESG360°, CienDos, ESG Disclose, Verifoxx and TEXpert AI Those companies successfully worked with University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Phoenix Group, abrdn, HSBC, Virgin Money, EY, Sopra Steria, and Equifax. The winners will receive funding to further develop their proposals and tackle the ESG challenges highlighted by Industry. https://lnkd.in/eWFAywUk

Time is one of the biggest challenges to manual ESG reporting, often taking up to 20 hours per portfolio to sift through various data sources to ensure assets remain compliant with evolving regulations. At GaiaLens, we believe automating this process is the key to: ⏰ Speeding up data collection 🔍 Monitoring data in real-time 🎯 Increasing accuracy when generating ESG and sustainability reports. Discover how automating ESG reporting allows you to move beyond spreadsheets in our latest blog: https://lnkd.in/e3yPRYed #ESGReporting #ESG #GaiaLens

🔍The UK’s Modern Slavery Scandal - A Call for Stronger Oversight of Labour Practices What happened? 🚨 A recent BBC investigation has uncovered that 16 victims of modern slavery were employed at a McDonald's branch, and a bread factory supplying major supermarkets, in the UK between 2012-2019. 🚨Neither McDonald's nor the supermarkets, including Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose & Partners, and Co-op, detected the slavery while victims worked at the branch and the factories. 🚨There were clear signs of modern slavery including: extreme overtime (70-100 hours/week); victims’ wages paid into unknown bank accounts and 4 victims’ wages paid into the same account; 9 victims having the same registered address; victims unable to speak English with a gang member sitting in on job interviews as a translator. 🚨 Dame Sara Thornton, the former independent anti-slavery commissioner, who reviewed the BBC’s findings expressed her concern “that so many red flags were missed, and that maybe the companies didn’t do enough to protect vulnerable workers”. This case demonstrates a glaring failure in corporate responsibility to ensure ethical labour practices, joining other controversies like: ⚠️ Child labour on cocoa farms supplying major packaged food companies like Barry Callebaut Group, Nestlé, Mars and Ferrero. (https://lnkd.in/e7ypfJH4). ⚠️ Dangerous and abusive working conditions endured by the migrant workers in run-up to the Qatar World Cup 2022. (https://lnkd.in/eVBy6Uzk). Here at GaiaLens, we’re here to help investors detect issues within their portfolio companies, so: 👉 We developed an AI-powered ESG Real-Time Controversy alert tool which warns investors when there is a controversy affects one of their portfolio holdings. 👉 By monitoring 100,000 articles worldwide daily, this tool helps investors to finetune their portfolios for optimal performance. 📺 Watch Slavery on the High Street here: https://lnkd.in/efg6CNYp 🔗 Psst McDonald's, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose & Partners, and Co-op check out our controversy system detecting incidents like these for greater oversight of the labour practices in your supply chain: https://lnkd.in/erGqBtBB

🇮🇹 Autorità Antitrust Investigate SHEIN Over Misleading Environmental Claims – A Warning for Investors in Fashion Sector What happened yesterday? 🌍 The Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Antitrust) has launched an investigation into SHEIN’s site operator, Infinite Styles Services Co, over potentially misleading sustainability claims on its website. 🌍 Under the spotlight are SHEIN’s website pages, like one entitled “evoluSHEIN”, for making “vague” and “misleading” claims about the environmental impacts of Shein’s products. What is the fashion sector’s record on greenwashing? ⚠️ 81% of large fashion brands with greenhouse gas emissions targets do not state whether they are on track to meet them. (https://lnkd.in/gXD8ixhr) ⚠️ The fashion industry is mimicking tactics from the tobacco and fossil fuel industries to delay and distract from meaningful transformation. (https://lnkd.in/eDX_Tsu6) ⚠️ The fashion industry is responsible for 2-8% of global carbon emissions and the second-biggest consumer of water. (https://lnkd.in/ea5Y5nDJ) How are regulatory bodies cracking down on this greenwashing? 🌱 In the UK, ASOS.com, boohoo, and George at Asda have been forced to revise their green claims by the Competition and Markets Authority. (https://lnkd.in/gnPXv634) 🌱 The Competition and Markets Authority will soon have the authority to fine companies up to 10% of global revenue if they break consumer law. (https://lnkd.in/edkcFdmy.) 🌱 A popular sustainability rating system, the Higg Materials Sustainability Index, has been criticised by the Norwegian Consumer Authority and The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets. (https://lnkd.in/ebtSW75d) What does this mean for investors? ⏳With the enforcement of stricter regulations on sustainability claims and textile waste management, ensuring that investment portfolios align with genuine ESG practices is more important than ever. 👀 Hey SHEIN investors, check out how we would secure the ESG claims in your investments: 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gRcqSta7 🔗: https://lnkd.in/g3D7UtYj

🔍 ASIC fines Vanguard $12.9M over Misleading ESG Claims – Time to Review Your Own Sustainable Investment Strategies What happened yesterday? 👩🏾⚖️ In a landmark decision, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has fined Vanguard a record AUD12.9 million for misleading claims around their ESG exclusionary screenings. 🤥 ASIC found that 74% of Vanguard’s ESG funds had failed to exclude companies tied to fossil fuels and other industries contrary to the fund's stated sustainability goals. 👀 Meanwhile Vanguard has defended their claims by explaining that "Companies are excluded if FTSE Russell, An LSEG Business or MSCI Inc. determine them to derive revenue (above a threshold) from a particular business activity". 💡This violation of the ASIC Act highlights the regulator's increasing focus on tackling greenwashing in the financial sector. Why does it matter? ‼️This crackdown signals a wake-up call to all investors, asset managers, and asset owners about the importance of transparency and accuracy in ESG-related claims. How can we help? 👉 At GaiaLens, our Greenwashing Analytics Solution offers a more comprehensive view of a fund’s sustainability performance. By leveraging AI, we hold funds accountable for their claims, contributing to a more financial landscape. Find out more about how you ensure the integrity of your sustainable investments: 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gRcqSta7 🔗: https://lnkd.in/g3D7UtYj Psst Vanguard, maybe worth a read?