This past week was filled with interesting sustainability and climate news, we’ve summarised the top stories below.
Nature-related finance disclosures “should be mandatory” from 2023
- In a recent roundtable at the Houses of Parliament, a group of NGO representatives, fund managers, and politicians discussed making nature-related disclosures mandatory from 2023.
- Nature-related disclosures, as defined by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), will follow the TCFD’s four pillars of disclosure: governance, strategy, risk management and metrics, and targets.
- The roundtable group have argued that addressing the planet’s biodiversity loss is “unbelievably urgent” and should be considered as urgent as climate change.
Learn more about the roundtable…
Learn more about the TNFD…
Electricity review finds record wind and solar generation but also rises in coal use
- Ember’s third annual Global Electricity Review has reported marked increases in renewable energy electricity generation in 2021 but warns these growth rates must be sustained in order to keep global warming limited to 1.5 degrees.
Report highlights:
- 10% of electricity worldwide came from wind and solar while 38% came from clean power in general.
- There was a 7% rise in power sector CO2 emissions and a 5% increase in electricity demand globally.
- Coal power rose by 9%, reaching an all-time high of 10,042 TWh and generating 36% of electricity worldwide.
- Ten countries accounted for 90% of the world’s coal power generation. These countries were China, India, the USA, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia, Germany, Russia, and Australia.
- Countries with the highest shares of solar electricity generation were Yemen, Chile, Australia, Jordan, Honduras, Vietnam, El Salvador, and Spain.
- Countries with the highest shares of wind electricity generation were Denmark, Uruguay, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Germany, Greece, and Kenya.
Learn more…
Renewed hope for a greener Australia following election
- After voting in a new government last week, there is renewed hope among Australians for stronger climate action within the country.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the new Labour government have committed to reducing emissions by 43% (of 2005 levels) by 2030 and plan to increase the country’s renewable energy share to 82% within the same period.
- They have also pledged to create a Parliamentary Office of Science, which will provide independent advice on science and climate to the government.
- The election also resulted in a record number of seats being won by the Greens Party, which has strong commitments to address climate change and achieve net-zero by 2030.
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UK banks at risk of £225bn in climate-related credit losses
- The Bank of England’s “climate stress test” has found that UK banks may face up to £225bn in credit losses by 2050.
- The test examined UK banks’ exposure to climate-related risks, including both physical and transition risks, under three climate change scenarios.
- The test also found that insurance providers were at risk of climate-related losses, both due to the impact of climate on their investments and due to increasing payouts for flood damage.
- It was estimated that under the most extreme scenario, insurers’ assets could fall by 15%.
- However, the analysis also suggested that any losses would be “absorbable for banks and insurers, without a worrying direct impact on their solvency”.
Learn more…
