What companies told SEC about climate disclosure; US corporations and Juneteenth

The ESG Insider newsletter compiles news and insights on environmental, social and governance developments driving change in business and investment decisions. Subscribe to our ESG Insider newsletter and listen to the "ESG Insider" podcast on SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Last week marked the deadline for the public to comment on whether and how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should require stricter climate risk disclosures from the businesses it regulates. Now, Wall Street's top regulator is sifting through the thousands of comments it received from stakeholders across the sustainability world.

Many companies supported the idea of an SEC rulemaking, but with certain caveats — like enabling a phased-in approach, giving companies flexibility in the format they provide such disclosures, providing a liability safe harbor for forward-looking statements and harmonizing U.S. efforts with global standard-setting initiatives.

Despite "significant progress in expanding climate-related disclosure over the last decade, at present the sustainability disclosure landscape is hampered by inconsistent frameworks across and within industries and jurisdictions," wrote BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. "We believe it is essential to work towards a single, globally applicable, mandatory disclosure framework and set of standards."

In this week's newsletter, we also look at the steps corporate America is taking to address the country's long history of racism. We examine the implications of new ESG-related banking regulations in Brazil. And we explore the growing global market for green, social and sustainability bonds.

Chart of the Week

Top Stories

Energy, investor groups clash ahead of SEC climate-risk rulemaking

Investor groups and environmental advocates say mandatory corporate climate risk disclosures with uniform metrics are critical for shareholders and economic stability. That position is at odds with the one advocated by energy industry players, many of whom are asking for flexibility, liability protections — or no new guidelines at all.

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ESG financing takes flight in North American oil, gas pipeline sector

Enbridge Inc.'s sustainability-linked bond framework could represent the next frontier in pipeline sector finance as investors look for management teams to deliver on ESG commitments, industry observers and credit rating experts said.

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Podcast

How Corporate America is waking up to racial equity

In this episode, we're looking at how corporate America is changing its approach to diversity — and race in particular. June 19th, or Juneteenth, celebrates the official end of slavery in the U.S. in 1865. But the ugly systemic racism that slavery was built on endures. In 2020, the murder of George Floyd put that racism front and center for the world. And in response, many companies began publicly addressing race and inequality. One way that change has manifested itself is through recognition of Juneteenth.

Listen on SoundCloud; Listen on Spotify; Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Brazil's banking system braces for new ESG regulation

Brazil's central bank is stepping up its ESG regulatory framework and putting together a list of sustainability risks that banks will have to incorporate into their credit models. In order to manage those risks adequately, banks will be expected to come up with mitigation and response plans to compensate losses that may arise from events such as environmental fines, land contamination, natural disasters or excessive use of resources.

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Energy-hungry bitcoin poses questions for ESG-conscious institutions

Investment in bitcoin creates a dilemma for ESG-conscious institutional investors due to the huge amounts of energy the mining process consumes. The bitcoin network's energy consumption is roughly the same as that of the Netherlands and a large portion of it is powered by coal. Some industry experts argue that there is a greener way to power the network.

Read more>>

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