Regulation and Sustainability: Moving the Conversation Forward
How sustainability is understood by businesses and investors has changed dramatically since the 1960s. It has grown from being an annual report to shareholders of the actions taken in relation to a company’s social and ethical obligations, to becoming an integral part of many companies’ business strategies.
There isn’t a global agreement on corporate social or sustainability reporting requirements. However, much of the push behind the incorporation of sustainability into business operations is coming from the globalisation of supply chains, and mounting pressures from investors, asset owners, non-government organisations and the general public for companies to report on ESG risks. As a result, there are significant differences in how the US, the EU and Asia are developing frameworks, programmes and legislation to achieve the global shift to sustainability.
At the regional level, the European Union (EU) has a unified sustainability reporting, enforced through Directive 2014/85/EU. In January 2018, the European Commission (EC) laid out plans to cement sustainability into the European financial system. It suggested introducing a classification system of what is “sustainable” and measures to impose conditions on corporate reporting requirements and the duties asset managers had to investors.
Rapid economic growth has left China facing some of the most severe environmental issues on the planet. China views sustainability as an opportunity for its companies to develop innovative technologies that will allow the country to move up the value-added export chain. What is clear is that it wants a return on its environmental investments. By focusing on research and development, China hopes to lead the world in environmental technology.
However, China still must deal with with the social and economic pressures that have built up as the country has developed. Failing to address these sustainability issues could have serious future cost, reputation and growth consequences for businesses in China.
Recent cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, such as the ransomware attack on the US Colonial Pipeline which forced the largest fuel pipeline in the country to shut down its operations for several days, should serve as a warning of vulnerabilities faced by all nations. As cybercriminals’ hits against power grid operators, water treatment plants and other […]
In a previous article, I wrote about the early impact of Covid-19 on equity valuations across the energy and infrastructure space, noting changing cashflow expectations in some sectors, but not necessarily all, and no general trend of higher discount rates. I will provide an update of valuation trends in a future piece, but in this […]
As advisors and financial modellers, we are in the business of change, and trying to forecast what different futures can look like. As we enter a new period of “interesting times”, it is worth looking back at what happened to businesses after the last crash, and how previous futures were temporarily and permanently altered. After the 2008 crash, cash became a […]
It has been some few weeks. I am writing this from home, connected to team members and clients through technology but otherwise working in isolation, and this experience will be familiar to nearly all of our clients around the world. As well as its direct impact on people who have contracted the disease, Covid-19 has […]
The renewable energy sector has experienced its fair share of bad deals. Some sub-sectors and geographies have seen particular systemic issues that go beyond individual projects but the sector has actually been good at learning lessons from failures – especially legal and technical.
The global green bond market has expanded rapidly in recent years, growing by 75% between 2016 and 2018 and recording an issue volume of 175 billion dollars in 2018. One of the new features of this market is the issuing of securities by a variety of non-public players, including non-financial firms. We also expect the […]
Current state of valuations in the renewable energy markets A short thought to kick off with, based on experience working with a global client base of renewable energy developers, financiers, investors and asset managers. Across markets, valuations of renewable energy assets are continuing to rise, and we are seeing evidence of this everywhere – from […]
Regulation can be a powerful force in driving sustainable practices amongst businesses – from corporate reporting to mandatory action. But what are the right metrics for sustainability and who should be responsible for tracking them? The response to these questions may be different based on geography, sector and market segment. As demand for sustainability grows […]
Storage is the next frontier in the global transition to renewable energy. Some markets are moving at a more rapid pace than others, and in our recent breakfast briefings on the topic ‘valuation of storage assets’, presented in collaboration with Norton Rose Fulbright, we discussed the experiences from the United Kingdom, Australia and the United […]
There is no question that the U.S. water infrastructure needs repair. The unprecedented flooding and droughts across the country over the past 15 years and the lead contamination of public water in Flint, Mich., are just a few examples that highlight widespread need for more resilient water infrastructure. While there has been movement to improve […]
Companies are starting to discover how they can incorporate new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain or the Internet of Things (IoT) to advance their environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts and the way they report on them. Over the past decade the world’s biggest companies have started to come under pressure from stakeholders […]
Mazars and Eversheds Sutherland jointly hosted a panel event attended by nearly 100 industry participants focusing on the viability of subsidy-free renewables in the UK. Welcoming experts from across the sector, our panel discussed the major topics in the industry, and addressed questions from the audience. The main outcomes of the discussion were that: The […]
The value of Bitcoin as a worldwide payment system and ongoing investment in the currency, has been a rollercoaster ride from December 2017, when prices surged above $19,000 per Bitcoin, to June 2018, when each coin fell to approximately $7,000. Bitcoin is produced by computers via blockchain technology, which is a record of transactions maintained […]
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