Spark Newsletter – December 2022
We launched the Spark Newsletter five months ago and want to thank you all for reading! As the global focus on companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance grows, we hope you’ll continue to read Spark next year for all the latest news and updates on key ESG-related topics.
As we wrap up 2022 with our last Spark newsletter of the year, we’d like to wish you happy holidays and a prosperous new year!
The December 2022 issue examines:
What Is a Materiality Assessment?
ESG reporting requires companies to share qualitative information and data on issues that are material for a business’ performance and outlook. Naturally, material issues vary from company to company, so a business must determine for itself which issues fit the description. This is where a materiality assessment helps.
Green Deal: The Incentives and Impact of the EU Taxonomy
As always, a new year brings new laws, and the EU Taxonomy regulation is among those that will be ushered in when the calendar flips to 2023. While parts of the EU Taxonomy—specifically the objectives of climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation—went into effect on January 1, 2022, the remaining objectives will apply at the start of 2023 to make it fully effective. The EU Taxonomy—also referred to as the Green Taxonomy—supports the EU’s goal of climate-neutrality by 2050.
The Future of Green Hydrogen
Dr. Toyin Sanusi, implementation consultant at Sphera, joined the SpheraNOW podcast for a conversation on the future of green hydrogen that includes defining green hydrogen, discussing its advantages and disadvantages in relation to other biofuels and examining the role of green hydrogen in ESG.
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When discussing how green hydrogen fits into the conversation around ESG and what impact there can be on ESG with increasing deployment of green hydrogen, Dr. Sanusi notes:
"There are positive claims that increasing hydrogen deployment could potentially strengthen energy independence. So strategies and tools to monitor governance and social changes that are influenced by an increasing green hydrogen energy share are required. The environmental impact of new infrastructure deployment, including material use and reliance on existing infrastructure, will need to be measured against the ESG pillars to create a less biased comparison with other energy sources.”
A Look at the ESG Investment Landscape
ESG can’t be ignored. As a concept that brings focus to a more comprehensive set of business performance metrics, ESG simply provides better information to individuals and organizations that have a stake in how a business operates and performs.
It’s hard to argue against better information: This position was widely held by the financial industry leaders who spoke at the recent Reuters-hosted ESG Investment North America event. Of course, they’re right. Better information drives better decision making. Among speakers at the event was Elizabeth Lewis, Managing Director & Deputy Head of ESG at Blackstone, who gave a keynote on the importance of ESG.
The UK Proposes Measures to Prevent Greenwashing in Investing
Efforts aimed at curbing the practice of greenwashing are in the headlines once again. In late October, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) proposed new measures that intend to protect consumers and build greater trust in investment products that are labeled as sustainable. By promoting greater integrity in ESG-labeled investment instruments and products and in the general investing ecosystem, the proposed measures build on the commitment published in the U.K.’s ESG Strategy and Business Plan.
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