COP16 highlighted the urgent need for biodiversity investments and regulatory measures, but failed to secure consensus on funding, posing risks to the implementation of global biodiversity goals. What does it all mean for investors? 

Our analysis found that biodiversity footprints and underlying drivers varied significantly across regions and sectors. Such information could help institutional investors quantify the impacts of their investments, as they build and manage portfolios. 

We periodically put out this report called the net-zero tracker, and it examines the progress by the world’s listed companies toward curbing climate risk. This episode is a dive into the most important bits of that report.

Using MSCI Climate Change Metrics and the Net Zero Investment Framework, we assessed listed companies in developed and emerging markets to see how well they were aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and global net-zero emissions by 2050.

At our recent APAC climate conference, which brought investors, companies and financial institutions together, discussion focused on financing decarbonization, the usefulness of looking beyond emissions and the development of biodiversity metrics. 

Scaling up renewable-energy and energy-efficiency solutions are key steps in driving the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. Our analysis of low-carbon patents, fuel mix and renewable-energy targets may help identify where the opportunities lie. 

Investors thinking about biodiversity are asking questions such as, how do I know which holdings are most vulnerable to biodiversity loss? And, can I measure biodiversity risk exposure across my portfolio? We aim to help them start finding answers. 

COP28 concluded with an agreement for countries to transition away from fossil fuels, marking a historic pivot away from the primary sources of energy that have powered society for nearly 200 years. How can countries — and investors — address these goals? 

As TCFD reporting grows more sophisticated, investors may be able to use climate data to make meaningful disclosures across their firms. We explore three key topics: choice of metrics, internal consistency and cross-functional applications. 

Under pressure from wildfires and inflation, State Farm has stopped issuing new homeowner policies in California. We get to the bottom of how physical climate hazards may change the future shape of the insurance industry. And then we ask why the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance is a little different from the other alliances that fall under the GFANZ.

Are you aware of how much progress we are making on addressing climate change? There are all-these-pledges and all-these-plans made by companies, but have those plans been useful? Are they actually making progress on cutting emissions or are they just saying, “yeah we care about it, and we will do….something.” And what are those “somethings?” Are they far away technologies that can suck the bad stuff out of our atmosphere like a sort of techno-savior? Or something else? We answer those questions on this episode of ESG now.

Investors face growing pressure to reverse biodiversity loss. We take a look at the issues shaping nature-related financial risk, key takeaways from the COP15 pact for investors and developments in biodiversity-based disclosure.

COP27 underscored the need for action on corporate climate pledges, the importance of data and a series of initiatives to spur public and private investment for developing countries. We review some of the key developments for companies and investors.