Environmental

PRI: ESG factors material to sovereign bond creditworthiness

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 13 SEP 2013  |  NEWS
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are material to sovereign creditworthiness and investment performance, according to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

Companies lag on implementing UN Global Compact

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 13 SEP 2013  |  NEWS
Companies that have signed the United Nations Global Compact are making commitments in keeping with the sustainability initiative's principles, but implementation, measurement, and communication all lag behind, the initiative reports.

NAB, Westpac leaders in 2013 CDP Global 500

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 13 SEP 2013  |  NEWS
Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the 50 largest emitters have increased since 2009, even as overall emissions of the top 500 companies have fallen, according to the CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report 2013.

YES BANK signs on to Natural Capital Declaration

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 11 SEP 2013  |  NEWS
YES BANK, India's fourth largest private sector bank, has become a signatory to the Natural Capital Declaration (NCD).

Australian/NZ property continue dominance in GRESB survey

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 6 SEP 2013  |  NEWS
Australian/New Zealand property companies and funds continue to demonstrate global leadership in sustainability performance as the top-performing region in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) 2013 report.

Melbourne wins energy efficient built environment award

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 6 SEP 2013  |  NEWS
The City of Melbourne has been recognised at the C40 and Siemens Climate Leadership Award in the category of Energy Efficient Built Environment.

AXA IM: impact investing to drive growth in ESG strategies

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 4 SEP 2013  |  NEWS
Impact investment and other trends will drive growth in environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies over the next 10 years, according to AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM).

HSBC calls for policies to support low-carbon financing

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 30 AUG 2013  |  NEWS
Smart global policy frameworks are necessary to reward financial markets to find the more than US$1 trillion per year that will be needed to decarbonise the global energy system by 2020, according to HSBC Global Research.

ASX to include ESG disclosures in governance principles

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 28 AUG 2013  |  NEWS
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has proposed amending its Governance Principles and Recommendations to ask listed companies to disclose how economic, environmental and social sustainability risks are being identified and managed.

Beyond Zero Emissions proposes model for retrofitting houses

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 23 AUG 2013  |  NEWS
Australian residential and commercial property could reach zero carbon emissions standards in 10 years with sufficient retrofitting to reduce energy consumption, according to Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE), a not-for-profit research and education organisation.