Environmental

Australia to pilot Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 4 NOV 2011  |  NEWS
The Australian government has agreed to undertake a pilot of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), with Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson announcing that the government will provide AU$12.7m to support ...

Low Carbon Australia relaunches Carbon Offset Guide

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 4 NOV 2011  |  NEWS
Low Carbon Australia has relaunched the Carbon Offset Guide website, which provides information on carbon offset providers in Australia.

Commonwealth Bank reports lower customer satisfaction

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 2 NOV 2011  |  NEWS
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reported a customer satisfaction rating of 75.2%, slightly lower than last year and putting the bank in 4th place against the other three main Australia banks, against a backdrop of full year net profits of AU$6.39bn.

Stockland increases green star ratings, reduces water use

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 2 NOV 2011  |  NEWS
Stockland, the diversified property group, has reported reducing water use across its office portfolio by 11% and its retail portfolio by 10%, commenced installing LED lights at its Stockland Nowra development and reported a 64% decrease in injury frequency ...

Using ESG factors to broaden fixed income analysis

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 28 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
Institutional investors are looking to apply environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis to fixed income portfolios. Investment professionals say the trend towards using ESG factors as part of the fixed income investment process is a work in ...

Governance, environmental issues for AGM season

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 28 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
With the arrival of the annual general meeting (AGM) season, governance experts and sustainability researchers say that some issues at play this year will include executive remuneration and the processes around capital raisings, plus resolutions on environmental ...

IGCC working group to engage with green finance banks

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 21 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
The Investors Group on Climate Change (IGCC)'s new Low-Carbon Finance Working Group will play a stakeholder role with "green" financing institutions both domestically and overseas, consulting with the institutions being established by governments to ...

Environmental Upgrade Agreement for Melbourne property

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 21 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
The City of Melbourne has signed its first-ever Environmental Upgrade Agreement (EUA) to fund a AU$400,000 retrofit of a building that will result in a reduction of approximately 170 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

Investor groups call for climate change policy action

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 21 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
Three leading investor groups on climate change, including the Investor Group on Climate Change Australia/New Zealand (IGCC), have called for policy action to stimulate private sector investment into climate change solutions that can create jobs and ...

Jillian Broadbent to chair Clean Energy Finance Corp panel

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 14 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
The Gillard government has created an expert review panel to advise on the design of the AU$10bn Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which is expected to commence operations from 2013-2014.