Climate change “firmly established” as a material risk for investors
According to a joint report published by the European Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, the North American Investor Network on Climate Change, the Australia and New Zealand Investor Group on Climate Change and the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, more than 50 percent of investors view climate change as a material risk and as a consequence have retained, or advanced, their commitment to addressing climate change in their investment activities. The report found that 53 percent of asset managers decided to divest or not invest in listed equities based on climate change concerns. 69 percent of asset owners said that climate change integration influenced their fund manager decisions in 2012, an increase of 26 percent since 2011. However, challenges that investors reportedly face include a lack of clarity on which investments should be measured, limited data for fixed interest investments and inadequate company disclosures. (Edie)
Environment
Report: Food companies and investors ignore environmental risks at their peril
A new report has been published by the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, examining the range of environmental risks faced by the agricultural industry and the subsequent risk factors for investors, food companies and the insurance industry. Many pension funds and other large financial institutions are reportedly failing to factor environmental risks into their due diligence or product pricing when it comes to agriculture. Environmental risks examined in the report include climate change, disease, water availability and fertiliser availability. Ben Caldecott, one of the authors of the new report, Stranded Assets in Agriculture, said that "business and investors both need to do more work to understand how these risks might affect them in different markets and geographies.” The report states that there is currently a five percent chance of agricultural-related losses amounting to more than $8 trillion in a single year. (Guardian Sustainable Business)
Only a tenth of EU solar waste recycled
According to research by the energy consultancy S&T Consulting and the French solar recycling organisation CERES, only 10 percent of waste from solar panels within the EU is recycled. This follows a report earlier this year from the Associated Press, which estimated that photovoltaic (PV) producers are also generating more than 500 tonnes of polluted sludge and contaminated water, which is often unreported. The Belgian solar recycling company PV Cycle said it collected approximately 3,700 tonnes in 2012, with CERES collecting an estimated 1,200 tonnes. However by February 2014, the amended EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive means that all PV producers will be responsible for the free collection and recycling of the PV modules. According the report, the cumulative volume of waste created from used and discarded PV waste in Europe will reach an estimated 5.8 million tonnes by 2026. (Environmental Leader)
California aims to push renewable energy storage
The US state California is pushing for a rise in energy storage to better integrate renewable power with the rest of the electricity grid. The state has a legal mandate for one third of its electricity to be renewably sourced by 2020. An analyst from the US firm Lux Research said that California’s proposal is the first legislation that will have an immediate and lasting impact on the grid storage market, which is estimated will soar to installations worth $10.4 billion in 2017 from just $200 million last year. The state’s target has attracted investment from companies such as LG Chem, and General Electric. Andrew Chung, a partner with the US venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, said that California’s push also “really cracks open the door” for start-up business that until now have had difficulty expanding small pilot projects into big purchases. (Eco Business)
Consumers
Unpaid bills blamed for Thames Water bill increase
Bills for customers of the UK’s largest water supplier, Thames Water, could increase to an average of £400 per household in 2014, nearly 50 percent higher than it was five years ago. Yesterday, Thames Water asked Ofwat, the UK industry regulator, if it could increase consumer charges to recover £164 million in revenues owing to unpaid consumer bills. This is despite the admission earlier this year that the company had paid no corporation tax in the previous financial year, when it made £550 million in operating profits. Sir Tony Redmond, the regional chairman of the UK Consumer Council for Water, said that one in seven customers are struggling to pay their water bills and that “many other water companies have absorbed the costs that Thames say they are facing than they have done so without applying for a further price increase.” (The Times*; The Guardian)
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