The REP Wrap: 51 firms chose to comply with California’s suspended climate disclosure rules
Your weekly summary of corporate sustainability news.
Schneider Electric is among 51 companies to have voluntarily filed disclosures under California’s climate-related financial risk reporting rules since the docket opened in December, despite it being suspended. SB 261 was scheduled to enter force this month, but was put on hold by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in November, to allow it more time to consider a legal challenge from the US Chamber of Commerce. The court held a hearing on the topic this week, where the Chamber argued the laws constitute “compelled speech”, which is against the law in the US.
The US has withdrawn from the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Trump administration said the decision was made because the initiatives “no longer serve American interests” and promote “ineffective or hostile agendas”. It’s believed the decision will slow down the publication of the IPCC’s next report. In total, US president Donald Trump quit 66 groups this week, including others on development and gender equality.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Chinese listed firms plan to increase or maintain their investments in decarbonisation, according to a survey by China Asset Management and ZD Proxy Shareholder Services. The poll also revealed that the materials sector showed the strongest willingness to ramp up investment, with 52% of firms planning to increase it by 10% or more.
Academics have worked with investors to publish a paper identifying ways in which companies’ sustainability or ESG pursuits have improved their bottom line. The research includes three case studies. One of the case studies is a freight company that improved conditions for its drivers and saw its staff turnover – and consequently its recruitment and training costs – drop significantly. Its insurance premiums also went down because drivers were having fewer accidents.
A trade body representing 20 of the largest agribusinesses, including Bunge and Cargill, has withdrawn from the Soy Moratorium. In a statement, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries said the initiative, launched in 2006 to stop soy-related deforestation, had “fulfilled its historical role”. The announcement comes after the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso – the country’s top grower of soybeans – enacted a law removing tax benefits from traders who comply with the Soy Moratorium, on the basis it was extra-territorial. The national competition authority tried to suspend the Moratorium last year, but was told by a federal court its plan was “monocratic”, “disproportionate” and “premature”.
Alphabet has agreed to buy clean energy developer Intersect in a deal worth $4.75bn. The US tech giant already owned a minority stake in Intersect.
A new academic paper out of Switzerland has found that achieving a 2℃ world through carbon taxes alone would require such taxes to reach $474/tCO2. “Relying solely on carbon pricing to meet Paris Agreement targets imposes prohibitive economic costs,” concluded the authors of Beyond Carbon Pricing: Integrating Mitigation, Adaptation, and Carbon Removal. The research also concluded that carbon removals are a necessary condition for stabilising the climate, “rather than a supplementary measure”.
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market and the World Bank have launched a joint programme dedicated to the digital measurement, reporting and verification of carbon credits. The first initiative under the new collaboration is a survey, launched this week, on what improvements are needed in the space.