Archive for the ‘Research’ Category
Featured in
Governance Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
Thomson Reuters has launched a new family of environmental, social and corporate governance indices, developed jointly with S-Network Global Indexes, a New York-based specialist index design firm. The new indices are powered by “dynamic” ratings based on the Thomson Reuters ASSET4 ESG database and they mirror the performance of major global benchmarks via companies that have substantially higher ESG ratings than the weighted average for such indices as the S&P 500 or MSCI EAFE.
Key findings
- The ratings include a greater emphasis on quantitative outcomes than on qualitative corporate statements to ensure the indices are as objective and transparent as possible.
- The first two sets of indices cover large capitalization stocks located in the US and the International Developed Ex- North America region (also known as EAFE).
- Composite ESG indices are available for these two regions, as well as indices for the two regions based on the individual economic, social and governance pillars.
- Real-time index values will be available on Thomson Reuters desktops and feed products starting May 30.
- The indices and ratings will also be available via an S-Network operated website, which will allow users an affordable way to benchmark against the index and rate ESG performance of a portfolio of stocks.
- The Thomson Reuters Corporate Responsibility Indices are:
- The Thomson Reuters US Large Cap Environmental Index The Thomson Reuters US Large Cap Social Index
- The Thomson Reuters US Large Cap Governance Index
- The Thomson Reuters US Large Cap ESG Index
- The Thomson Reuters Global Large Cap Environmental Index
- The Thomson Reuters Global Large Cap Social Index
- The Thomson Reuters Global Large Cap Governance Index
- The Thomson Reuters Global Large Cap ESG Index
Author(s)
Thompson Reuters & S-Network
Source
Featured In
CSR Social Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
The World Bank released a report that highlights the role of strong private sector led growth in creating jobs and outlines how jobs that do the most for development can ignite a virtuous cycle. The “The World Development Report 2013: Jobs” Report advances a three-stage approach to help government to meet objectives.
Key findings
- Jobs with the greatest development payoffs are those that make cities function better, connect the economy to global markets, protect the environment, foster trust and civic engagement, or reduce poverty.
- A vast majority of jobs are created by the private sector.
- Government policies should remove obstacles that prevent the private sector from creating jobs.
- 1.6 billion people are working for a wage or salary.
- 600 million jobs needed over 15 years to keep current employment levels.
- 39% of the manufacturing jobs are micro-enterprises in Chile.
- 97% of the manufacturing jobs are in micro-enterprises in Ethiopia.
- The country’s level of development, institutional strength, endowments, and demography define where the development payoff from jobs is greatest.
- The challenges facing countries as they move along agrarian, urbanizing and formalizing cases, illustrates the development path.
- 1.5 billion people are working in farming and self-employment.
- 77% of the labor force is the participation of women in Vietnam.
- 28% of the labor force participation is by women in Pakistan.
- 115 million children are working in hazardous conditions.
- 21 million are victims of forced labor.
Author(s)
The World Bank
Source
Featured in
Environmental Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
TEEB for Business Coalition commissioned a study that quantifies environmental externalities such as damages from climate change, pollution, land conversion and depletion of natural resources, across business sectors and at a regional level. The study, “Natural Capital at Risk: The Top 100 Externalities of Business” assessed more than 100 environmental impacts using the Trucost environmental model which condenses them into six eKPIs to cover the categories : water use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, waste, air pollution, water and land pollution, and land use.
Key findings
- The value of the Top 100 externalities is estimated at US$4.7 trillion or 65% of the total primary sector impacts identified.
- The primary production (agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining, oil and gas exploration, utilities) and primary processing (cement, steel, pulp and paper, petrochemicals) sectors analyzed are estimated to have externality costs totaling US$7.3 trillion, which equates to 13% of global economic output in 2009.
- The majority of environmental externality costs are from greenhouse gas emissions (38%) followed by water use (25%); land use (24%); air pollution (7%), land and water pollution (5%) and waste (1%).
- Coal-fired power in Eastern Asia and Northern America rank 1 and 3, respectively estimated at US$ 453 billion per annum and US$ 317 billion. These consist of the damage impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, and the health costs and other damage due to air pollution. In both instances, these social costs exceeded the production value of the sector.
- The other highest impact sectors are agriculture, in areas of water scarcity, and where the level of production and therefore land use is also high. Cattle ranching in South America, at an estimated US$ 354 billion ranks second. Wheat and rice production in Southern Asia rank fourth and fifth respectively.
Author(s)
TEEB & Trucost
Source
Featured in
Environmental Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
WWF published a report that looks at the global palm oil market and sustainability trends through an Indian lens. “Palm Oil Market and Sustainability in India” provides an up to date look at palm oil production and market trends, with a focus on India’s role as the world’s biggest importer of palm oil.
Key findings
- The report underscores the negative environmental and social impacts of unsustainable palm oil plantations and highlights initiatives underway to address these issues, such as the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
- India is the world’s largest consumer of palm oil and is responsible for 23% of the global consumption in 2011-12. It is highly dependent on Indonesia for its palm oil supply, with Indonesia supplying almost 73% of India’s local demand. The country therefore plays a key role in the global trade of palm oil and likewise can play a key role in making that trade more sustainable.
- To ensure an uninterrupted supply of ‘clean‘ palm oil that does not involve sacrificing the remaining tropical forests or contributing to global warming, all companies that produce, trade or use palm oil need to move towards sustainable palm oil.
- There is a need to adopt a holistic approach to transformation of the palm oil market towards sustainability, in a manner that it is economically, environmentally and socially viable.
- On the production side, there is a need to subscribe to sustainable production practices as listed out under the RSPO.
- On the other hand, there needs to be a pull from the consumption side to scale up the consumption of sustainable palm oil, such as from demand markets such as India, China and EU.
Author(s)
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Source
Featured in
Environmental Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a report which details the social and environmental changes affecting forests in the Mediterranean region, as well as the contributions that forests make to agriculture, water, energy, tourism and other economic sectors.“State of Mediterranean Forests 2013” pays special attention to the vulnerability of Mediterranean forests to global changes such as climate change, as well as to changes in regional demographics and lifestyles.
Key findings
- Innovative instruments should be developed and tested to address the current forest-related challenges and constraints in the Mediterranean region.
- The increase in ecological footprint in most countries in the Mediterranean region indicates growing pressure on resources as a result of unsustainable methods and levels of consumption. It also highlights the difficulty of implementing sustainable development policies.
- The Mediterranean region is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot because of its high endemism and because it is experiencing a widespread loss of habitat, making its conservation a priority.
- Forest policies in the Mediterranean region must deal with an increasing need to value ecosystem services, which are essential for human well-being but are increasingly threatened by climate change.
- At the same time, national and regional public authorities are increasingly less able to fulfill its policy development role, due to decreasing financial resources and the increased questioning of “top-down” approaches.
- Some government functions could, in certain situations, be substituted by market mechanisms (e.g. payments for ecosystem services), but these are unlikely to match the need.
- Moreover, the implementation of such market instruments requires efficient and transparent local governance.
- For similar reasons, it is difficult to develop “green economy” policies in the Mediterranean context, the forests and woodlands of which are characterized by their multifunctionality, low productivity and the central role of non-market services.
- Financing forest management remains a challenge, but it is crucial for ensuring the production of multiple goods and services.
Author(s)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
Source
The 2013 Human Development Report-The Rise of the South: The Human Progress in a Diverse World
2013
Featured in
Sociall Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
The UNDP released a report that investigates the fundamental shift in global dynamics propelled by the emergence of new powers from the developing world and its long-term ramifications. The “2013 Human Development Report-The Rise of the South: The Human Progress in a Diverse World” identifies more than 40 countries in the developing world that have done better than expected in human development terms in the past decade and analyses the causes and consequences of these countries’ achievements and challenges today and in the future.
Key findings
- The Report calls for a far better representation of the South in global governance systems and points to potential new sources of financing within the South for essential public goods.
- Countries from the south have been able to transform their human development as a result of three notable drivers of development: a proactive developmental state, tapping of global markets, and determined social policy innovations.
- All intergovernmental processes would be invigorated by greater participation from the South, which can bring substantial financial, technological and human resources as well as valuable solutions to critical world problems.
- Rising economic strength of development countries from the South must be matched by a full commitment to human development.
- New institutions can facilitate regional integration and South-South relationships.
- Greater representations for the South and civil society can accelerate progress on major global challenges.
- The rise of the South presents new opportunities for generating a greater supply of public goods.
Author(s)
UNDP
Source
Featured in
Environmental Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
The strategy consultants Roland Berger issued a report that analyses the global trends in offshore wind industry. ”Offshore wind toward 2020 on the pathway to cost competitiveness” examines offshore market volume, value chain evaluation for offshore and offshore potential to meet LCoE targets.
Key findings
- Offshore wind industry will become €130 billion annual market by 2020.
- Europe is expected to continue dominating the global offshore wind industry, but the Asia Pacific and North American regions will soon represent significant market shares as technological innovation reduce many bottlenecks that have stymied project development to date.
- Asia Pacific is expected to reach 1.5GW of new annual capacity additions worth €4.8 billion by 2020, primarily focused in Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan.
- While annual capacity additions and annual investment are both near zero today, the report forecasts Canada, America, and Mexico will be home to 500MW annual capacity additions and €1.6 billion in total investment by 2020.
- As more turbines are built, offshore wind farms will seek locations further from shore, solving the development challenges of limited space near coastlines and constrictive environmental laws.
- The average offshore wind farm size will jump from 200MW today to 340MW in 2020, with average turbine capacity rising from 2-3MW today to 4-7MW.
- Offshore wind capital expenditures are forecast to drop 6%, while operation and maintenance costs fall 14% and capacity factors rise 12%.
Author(s)
Roland Berger
Source
Featured in
Environmental Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
Montpellier Panel – a panel of international experts led by Professor Sir Gordon Conway of Agriculture for Impact – produced a report that provides innovative thinking and examples into the way in which the techniques of sustainable intensification are being used by smallholder farmers in Africa to address the continent’s food and nutrition crisis. The ‘Sustainable Intensification: A New Paradigm for African Agriculture’ report outlines four principles essential in delivering the ambitious objectives of sustainable intensification, which are prudence in the use of inputs, efficiency in seeking returns and in reducing waste, resilience to future shocks and stresses and equitability, in that the inputs and outputs of intensification are accessible and affordable amongst beneficiaries.
Key findings
- Sustainable intensification offers a pathway towards the goal of producing more food with less impact on the environment, intensifying food production while ensuring the natural resource base on which agriculture depends is sustained, and indeed improved, for future generations.
- Examples of sustainable intensification in action referenced in the report include:
- Microdosing of fertilisers in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, using the cap of a soda bottle to measure precise amounts of nutrients for each seed hole
- Planting of Faidherbia trees, a leguminous tree which curiously sheds its leaves in the wet season – providing a natural nutrient source to crops, such as maize, planted underneath and allowing for sunlight to pass through during the growing season
- Conservation Farming in Zambia as a replacement for the traditional long fallow system of the region
- New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a cross-fertilisation between Asian and African rice species, resulting in Uganda being able to reduce its rice imports by half and an increase in farmers’ incomes
- Farmers’ cooperative associations, such as Faso Jigi in Mali which assists smallholder producers of cereals and shallots in marketing their products and receiving higher prices because the association offers centralisation of stocks, better quality of storage facilities and accessibility.
Author(s)
Montpellier Panel
Source
Featured in
Environmental Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) has commissioned an international group of 60 scientists to undertake the first ever comprehensive assessment of Arctic Ocean Acidification. “Arctic Ocean Acidification Assessment: Key Findings” presents the results of their three-year assessment.
Key findings
- Arctic marine waters are experiencing widespread and rapid ocean acidification
- The primary driver of ocean acidification is uptake of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by human activities
- The Arctic Ocean is especially vulnerable to ocean acidification
- Acidification is not uniform across the Arctic Ocean
- Arctic marine ecosystems are highly likely to undergo significant change due to ocean acidification
- Ocean acidification will have direct and indirect effects on Arctic marine life. It is likely that some marine organisms will respond positively to new conditions associated with ocean acidification, while others will be disadvantaged, possibly to the point of local extinction
- Ocean acidification impacts must be assessed in the context of other changes happening in Arctic waters
- Ocean acidification is one of several factors that may contribute to alteration of fish species composition in the Arctic Ocean
- Ocean acidification may affect Arctic fisheries
- Ecosystem changes associated with ocean acidification may affect the livelihoods of Arctic peoples
Author(s)
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)
Source
Featured in
Governance Research Digest – May 2013
Summary
Environmental Investment Organisation published the Environmental Tracking Carbon Rankings, which examine the GHG emissions and transparency of the 800 largest companies globally. This latest set of Carbon Rankings build on the methodology established previously for the ET 2011 Carbon Rankings, where companies were placed into one of four Disclosure and Verification categories and then ranked by carbon intensity (tonnes of CO2 equivalent per million US dollars of turnover) based on Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions.
Key findings
- Only 37 percent of the world’s largest companies report their greenhouse gas emissions fully and correctly.
- BASF, (Complete & Verified), comes top, disclosing all 15 Scope 3 Categories, according to the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Reporting Standard, with a combined Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions intensity of 932.74 tCO2e/$M turnover.
- US based First Energy comes last, with no public data and an inferred combined Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions intensity of 10,342.03 tCO2e/$M turnover.
- RWE, (Complete & Verified), has the highest publicly disclosed Scope 1 & 2 figure of 166,200,000 tCO2e, with a combined Scope 1, 2 & 3 intensity of 3,870.19 tCO2e/$M turnover.
- Europe leads the world on all disclosure metrics: 35% of companies report complete and independently verified data. This compares to 11% for the BRICS, the lowest of any region.
- 8 of the top 10 companies in the ET Global 800 are Europe based.
- 267, or 33%, of companies within the ET Global 800, report one or more Scope 3 categories. However, only 15, or 2%,report 5 or more Scope 3 categories.
Author(s)
Environmental Investment Organisation
Source
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