ESG Acceleration Webinar: Towards a Lean DJSI 2022 Process

As the deadline for S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment draws closer and the reporting season comes to an end, a 5-month long wait for the results is due. How can you put this time to good use?

Accelerating the Circular Economy in the Port of Rotterdam

At Finch & Beak, we are always curious about the sustainable developments taking place in the cities that we work in, and Rotterdam is one of them. In 2016, a shocking 20% of the national CO2 emissions of the Netherlands was accounted for by the port of Rotterdam. Time to take action: between the period 2016-2020, the port of Rotterdam managed to reduce its CO2 emissions by 27% to 22.4 million tons. A noteworthy reduction that can be explained by the switch to more renewable energy sources and the exploitation of waste-to-value opportunities. The port of Rotterdam is making an impact through discovering the benefits of the circular economy.

Tackling the Rapidly Growing Issue of E-Waste

As consumers are increasingly aware of environmental issues, topics such as climate change, ocean plastics and alternative proteins are grabbing the collective attention. An equally important issue, however, still seems to be hiding in plain sight: e-waste. Its scale and impact have grown because of the pandemic, as companies are purchasing new hardware to accommodate homeworking while the office equipment sits idle. As such, it is estimated that approximately 25 percent of IT equipment in Europe will not be used in the future. Electronics companies have a great opportunity in measuring the impact of their core activities and products, and collaborating with value chain partners on knowledge-sharing initiatives in order to ultimately reduce the generation of e-waste.

Update: S&P Global's Extended its Invitation List for the CSA

S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), the basis for selecting companies into the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, is now accessible for a larger group of companies. Last month, S&P Global announced to even further extend the group of companies to over 10,000,  inviting companies that are of interest to the broader investment community. Finch & Beak is launching a special offer for companies to help them make the most of their (first) active participation in the assessment.

ESG Acceleration Webinar: CSA For Rookies

During this practical and interactive webinar, Finch & Beak will break down the basics of S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment. The session is specifically designed as a training for companies that are invited for the S&P ESG Indices, for whom the online questionnaire process will start on the 1st of June.

Countering the Clock: Checklist for Your Climate Strategy

Our house is on fire: coming years are crucial for business and society to get on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, and the clock is ticking. As companies work on reducing their carbon footprints and preparing for a changing climate, investors are eager to learn how effective those strategies are. This year, S&P Global has therefore updated the Climate Strategy criterion in its Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), introducing more challenging questions, applicable to all industries. The criterion is now further aligned with the framework of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In this article, five questions are suggested to challenge your company’s climate strategy.

European Real Estate’s Underleveraged ESG Opportunities

As sustainability-labelled financing is expected to surge in 2021, companies are gearing up to get their fair share of it. Real estate, an industry that is typically capital-intensive, has a particularly great opportunity to tap into this source of financing. European real estate companies, however, appear to be lagging behind on ESG performance compared to their global peers, and may risk losing out.

ESG Essentials: Focused and Lean Reporting

Spurred by regulation and investor interest, more companies than ever are reporting on core ESG topics by publishing integrated or separate corporate sustainability reports. Simultaneously, more than $1tn in total assets under management in funds are now abiding by ESG principles, and legislation is catching up. While investors and policy makers are becoming stronger advocates for ESG disclosure, companies struggle to strike the balance between efforts and results. Focused and lean reporting combined with efficient responding to relevant external ESG rating requests can help to resolve this dilemma.

ESG Acceleration Webinar: CSA For Rookies

During this practical and interactive webinar, Finch & Beak will break down the basics of S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). The session is designed as a training for companies that are participating for the first time in the assessment, or employees that have no prior personal experience with working on the CSA.

Rethinking Value, Emerging Risks and Revealing ESG Leaders

Early February, the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2021 was published - highlighting the sustainability leaders and key industry trends, which have emerged from the 2020 Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). In addition, the Yearbook provides interesting reflections on the new challenges and trends brought about during the last year. This article gives a brief summary of the take-aways from the Yearbook, with a deeper view on rethinking value, and identifying and managing emerging risks.