Paragon Impact’s Post

it was great to be in Oxford discussing ESG trends and challenges with this amazing group of professinals. The report of the conference is now out. #ESG

🌍 Transition planning continues to be a hot topic and is crucial for the transition to a net-zero economy. Businesses are facing increasing pressure from investors and policymakers to draw up robust and credible climate transition plans. Explore our latest blog post for the most recent developments on climate transition plans, including: ◾ Global: ISSB takes over responsibility for UK TPT materials on transition plans. ◾ EU: EFRAG is working on transition plan guidance under the CSRD. ◾ EU: Platform on Sustainable Finance to publish recommendations on transition plans for the financial sector. ◾ EU & UK: Joint AFME/Linklaters report on transition plans for the European financial services sector. ◾ UK: Labour government to make transition plans mandatory. 👉 This blog post and more can be found on our new transition planning and transition finance webpage, which brings together our key materials on the topic: https://lnkd.in/ewpzHzrH #sustainability #transitionplans #ESG #climatechange #netzero

The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) releases recommendations for just transition in financial industry, aiming to incorporate environmental and social factors into the core business of the financial industry. #esg #esginvesting

A new paper urges UK government to mandate ISSB-aligned corporate sustainability reporting as part of a "whole-of-economy" transition plan 🇬🇧 Addressing climate change and its financial implications starts with integrating sustainability into financial reporting and policy decisions. That's why investors, customers and regulators worldwide want to see businesses' #CarbonData. 👉 Read Mark Manning's report, with contributions from Bankers for Net Zero (B4NZ), the World Benchmarking Alliance, the Climate Bonds Initiative, Chapter Zero, the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Risk Institute, and PwC: https://lnkd.in/eWBqrv6s 👉 Prepare for standardised reporting today with CarbonChain: carbonchain.com #SustainabilityReporting #CarbonReporting #ISSB

OPINION | CBK’s GREEN FINANCE TAXONOMY (KGFT 1st Edition) INTRODUCTION The debate around Green Finance Taxonomy is an interesting one because we all feel the impact of climate change and the ripple effect it has on the environment through climate-related risks. This has made it important for economies to invest and draft policies to address climate change impacts such as floods,cyclones,typhoons,droughts,wildfires et cetera All these risks have a huge potential to impact the global economy at large and needs measures and policies for mitigation and easy adaptation to weather the harshness of climate change as this affects the value and quality of assets used to access financing or generate wealth. Global Outlook #European Union & European Investment Bank The Global North countries have enacted policies to help mitigate against climate crisis. European Investment Bank (EIB) has been in the forefront as the world’s main financiers of climate action. The European Union and EIB have been playing a key role in the implementation of the Paris Agreement(COP21) whose activities places sustainability as a core element for this decade(2021-2030) EIB 2023 total financing was €44.3billion ( #Climate action €22.6bn, #environmental sustainability with climate action €19.2bn, #Environmental sustainability €2.5bn) #International Sustainability Standards Board(ISSB) The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation,at COP26,announced the formation of ISSB to help in developing standards that will result in an impactful and high-quality,comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures focused on the needs of investors and the financial markets. Other initiatives include Climate Disclosures Standards Board (CDSB), the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), World Economic Forum’s Stakeholders Capitalism Metrics etc. The IFRS Standards IFRS S1 & S2 are the resultant standards whose effective dates for annual reporting periods began on 1st January,2024 with earlier application permitted. #International Association of Insurance Supervisors(IAIS) The body is working on structures such corporate governance,risk management,valuation of assets & liabilities, and investment activities by its regulators and supervisors in more than 200 jurisdictions it represents. Issues include; #1 Catastrophe insurance-reducing abrupt macroeconomic losses caused by extreme weather events #2 Banking stability affected-adverse impacts on growth,inflation,production & consumption,credit supply,collateral value,sovereign debt sustainability, and asset values. #3 More unforeseen claims-will increase underwriting and liquidity risks hence resulting in premium increase Continental Outlook-Africa South Africa,Kenya, and Rwanda have offered green investment handbooks aimed at closing huge climate financing gap. The Green Finance Taxonomy handbooks are dubbed “SA GFT” “KGFT” & “RGT” respectively. #Kenya Green Finance Taxonomy Players: #1 CBK Continued….

🌿 ESMA’s Long-Term Vision for Sustainable Finance 🌿 ESMA has outlined a comprehensive long-term vision to enhance the EU’s sustainable finance framework. This publication is in line with the recently published ESA's Joint opinion - key recommendations include making the EU Taxonomy the central reference point, adapting transparency requirements and implementing a product categorization system. We have summarized the update in our article below - please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. #SustainableFinance #ESG #ESMA #FinanceFramework #Sustainability

The development of a common #transitionfinance framework remains largely absent after COP28; transition finance should focus on the "dynamic process of becoming sustainable." While GFANZ provides a high-level view, financial institutions will need more nuanced considerations and should rely on science-based tools to seek transition finance opportunities. New analysis by Kevin Leung: https://lnkd.in/dPuxtNzw

As climate change impacts increase, ESG regulations increase too. In fact, we've seen a global rise of 155% over the past decade!! By the end of this month, financial institutions in the EU must comply with the new Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (#SFDR) requirements, specifically focusing on the disclosure of their financed emissions. What does this include? 👉Reporting Financed Emissions: Disclosing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their lending and investment activities. 👉Annual Reporting Deadline: The first mandatory reports under the phase 2 requirements of SFDR are due by June 30, 2024. These reports will cover the 2023 financial period and include a year-on-year comparison of the disclosed ESG data. 👉 Use of PCAF Standards: Institutions are encouraged to use the standards developed by the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) for measuring and reporting their financed emissions. PCAF standards ensure consistency and comparability in the reported data. Want to know more? For a great overview of sustainable finance regulations and disclosure requirements, take a look at this piece by Guidehouse! #ReportingFrameworks #ESGData #ESGCompliance #ESGRegulation

I have attend the 'CLIMATE FINANCE' workshop conducted by Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode The workshop delved into the critical intersection of climate change and financial solutions. Sessions: Session 1: Assessing Climate Impact for the Bottom-Up (antoine mandel): This session emphasized the importance of granular climate impact assessment. By understanding the localized effects of climate change, we can design more effective mitigation and adaptation strategies. We explored various impact assessment models that pinpoint areas at risk and evaluate the financial consequences of climate change. Session 2: Financing the Green Transition: An Indian Perspective (Mridul Saggar): This session highlighted the urgent need to address climate change and the funding gap hindering the green transition in India. We discussed key concepts like ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing, net zero targets, green bonds, and the dangers of greenwashing. Mr. Saggar shared a fascinating anecdote from his time at RBI about promoting ESG adoption. The idea was to create a voluntary framework where companies could choose to follow ESG principles. However, signing on would require an agreement, making them accountable to investors and consumers. This approach incentivized major companies to sign up, ultimately influencing market behavior. Investment firms even started prioritizing companies committed to ESG practices. Session 3: Panel Discussions (antoine mandel, Mridul Saggar, Deva Prasad): The experts from various backgrounds engaged in a discussion on climate finance. Discussed on: The role of international cooperation in mobilizing climate finance. Human rights considerations within climate change solutions. Overall, the workshop provided valuable insights into the financial aspects of climate change.

ESMA has set out its vision for the EU Taxonomy to have a greater role in the sustainable finance framework - in a gradual takeover of SFDR's more flexible "sustainable investments". This is set within a proposed new categorisation system for sustainable investment funds. Alongside these proposals, ESMA encourages "minimum basic sustainability information" to be disclosed, regardless of the ESG-related strategy of the fund. For further information, please do see our alert, as shared by Michael below. #esma #esg #sustainablefinance #sustainability #sfdr #taxonomy #funds #proskauer