EU’s Carbon Levy Highlights Need for Supply Chain Visibility

The European Commission has passed the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which promises to shake up pricing advantages in supply chains for carbon intensive materials. This regulation, which will require action by certain companies starting in October 2023, seeks to levy carbon prices on imported goods where the market of origin does not have carbon pricing mechanisms in place. In this article we provide an overview of what the CBAM will entail, elaborate on how it will work, which industries it will apply to and why the decarbonization of supply chains is crucial to the affected industries. A checklist of how companies can prepare for CBAM is available to download.

Successfully Implementing TCFD: Climate Scenario Analysis

This second article of our series titled 'Successfully Implementing TCFD' provides tips on how to conduct climate scenario analyses, suggesting concrete steps organizations can take in aligning with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. The scenario analysis is applied to the risks & opportunities identified as relevant for a company, as discussed in the first article of this series. This article explains how the financial impact of climate change can be determined in different scenarios and the accompanying download gives practical tips to assist your organization in overcoming three barriers that can prevent the successful implementation of TCFD.

No Time to Waste, the Only Way is Forward

Although yielding many positive outcomes, unfortunately, this year’s COP27 proved that the clock speed with official negotiations is much slower than that by the actors of the real economy where the discussion is about speeding up the transformations and getting finances to flow. Different this year from previous conferences was that there is consensus that we can’t afford any other way than a way forward, towards 1.5°C. This article is a personal account by Peter Bakker, President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) summarizing the key takeaways and elaborating on why collaboration and accountability are the way to get from commitment to action.

Protecting Human Rights & the Environment in Global Value Chains

In February 2022, the European Commission published a new EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. This directive aims to set rules and requirements for companies in the European Union to foster respect for human rights and the environment in global value chains. The draft law aims to provide consumers with greater transparency when purchasing products whose supply and production chains have been difficult to trace until now. This article outlines some of the most notable implications for companies in the European Union and provides recommendations on how to prepare for the upcoming legislation.

A Greener Manufacturing Approach using LCA

Understanding the environmental impact of products and services is a daunting and complex task but using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a great starting point and a helpful tool to assist your organization in asking accurate questions. In this article, Simon Gandy, Technical Director at SLR with more than 20 years of experience advising clients on matters of LCA explains how a high-level, streamlined LCA can be used to determine the impacts of your organization's product, processes, and services and provides a practical downloadable application in the form of a four-step plan for greener manufacturing.

Tackling ESG Integration Challenges in the Insurance Industry

An investigation of the 25 largest European insurance companies (in terms of assets) that were eligible for inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices in 2021 yielded insights into how the insurance industry is integrating ESG issues into strategy. As the largest institutional investor in Europe, with 10 trillion euros invested in bonds, equity, and other investments, this industry, whose main experience, and business specialty centers on assessing risk, provides a strong case study for how corporates strive to advance on ESG topics. This article highlights the key learnings from the recent benchmark study conducted by Finch & Beak.

Accelerating the Race to Zero for Steel, Cement, and Construction

Today, the world emits 50 billion tons of CO2 equivalents of greenhouse gases (GHG) each year. As part of this, so-called "harder-to-abate" industries are responsible for 27% of the global CO2-emissions, being the second largest source of GHG emissions. Materials, steel, cement, aluminium, and chemicals are jointly responsible for almost two-thirds of these emissions. Directly affected by the generated emissions in the harder-to-abate industries is the construction industry, which relies on materials like steel and cement. According to the Global Alliance for Building and Construction, the construction industry emits 38% of global energy related CO2-emissions, with the expectation to grow if no urgent actions towards net-zero targets are implemented.

Co-Creating Impact Summit 2021

The Co-Creating Impact Summit, organized by Novartis, gather experts inside and outside of Novartis to continue the company's work of improving its impact on the society and the planet. The summit will bring together thought-leaders and experts from academia, institutions, business, and the financial markets to discuss the expanding spectrum of impact challenges and opportunities. The all-day virtual event will explore ways of reimagining and resetting capitalism, including impact-based decision-making, impact investing, social impact of access to health care, the integration of financial and sustainability reporting, and the crucial role of leadership.

Traceability: The Path towards More Sustainable Supply Chains

In the improvement of sustainability practices, there is still massive potential in the supply chain. For example, according to CDP, if suppliers to 125 multinationals were to increase their renewable electricity consumption by 20%, over a billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions could be saved: equivalent to the combined emissions of Brazil and Mexico. Nevertheless, only 23% of tier-1 suppliers are engaging on emission reduction activities with their own suppliers. Evidently, business processes such as planning, sourcing, producing, and logistics require restructuring and redesigning. One of the factors that can play a major role on enhancing efficiency and optimization in the supply chain is improving traceability: the ability to track and monitor all steps involved in the development of a finished good, from the procurement stage of raw materials to production, consumption all the way to the disposal of goods.

The Future of Post: Transforming beyond GHG

The postal industry is experiencing a transformational shift, caused by rapid globalization, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the immense growth of e-commerce. Postal companies provide an indispensable service to society each day. However, with home parcel delivery growing by 16.5% in 2020, their impact on society and the environment also increased significantly. Moreover, the UN estimated that more than 70% of the world’s population will live in densely populated areas by 2050. Increasing demand for freight transport will require effectively managing these impacts, to turn them from risks into opportunities.