CLIMATE CHANGE
IPCC warns of inevitable and irreversible major climate changes
Human activity is changing the Earth’s climate in ways “unprecedented” in thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, with some of the changes now inevitable and “irreversible”, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading authority on climate science. According to the IPCC, by 2040, temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels, breaching the ambition of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and bringing widespread devastation and extreme weather. The report finds that human activity is “unequivocally” the cause of rapid changes to the climate, including sea level rises, melting polar ice and glaciers, heatwaves, floods and droughts, adding that a 2-metre rise in sea levels by the end of this century "cannot be ruled out". Only rapid and drastic reductions in greenhouse gases in this decade can prevent such climate breakdown, with every fraction of a degree of further heating likely to compound the accelerating effects. (The Guardian; BBC News)
POLICY
UK Government launches climate resilience research scheme
The UK Government has launched a new £5 million programme to accelerate research into how the nation can improve its resilience to climate-related risks, after official advisors warned that Ministers have failed to prepare for changing weather patterns in the coming decades. A consortium of research institutions including University College London (UCL), the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and the National Centre for Earth Observation, will be tasked with assessing the impacts that warming temperatures and changing weather patterns will have on infrastructure in the UK, including buildings, power stations and electricity networks. The advice provided by the programme will be taken into account in the policymaking process. The consortium will also provide advice to local authorities, encouraging them to bolster their own local climate action plans. (Edie)
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
SEC approves Nasdaq proposal to require corporate board diversity
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a proposal submitted last December by stock exchange operator Nasdaq that requires its listed companies to have diverse boards, or explain why they do not. The proposal requires that companies have two diverse directors, including one who identifies as female and another as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+, or explain why they do not. Companies also have to publicly disclose the diversity of their boards. Nasdaq said companies could consider and disclose additional diverse attributes, such as disability or veteran status, but those attributes would not meet the requirements for a female or person who identifies as an under-represented minority or LGBTQ+. Disability rights advocates had pushed both Nasdaq and the SEC to include disability in the proposal. (Reuters)
ENERGY
US EPA shoots to push vehicle fuel efficiency to 52 mpg by 2026
US President Joe Biden's administration will propose reversing the Trump-era loosening of vehicle emissions rules with a new plan to boost efficiency 10% in the 2023 model year and aiming for a fleet average of 52 miles per gallon by 2026. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal also calls for a near 5% stringency increase in each model year from 2024 through 2026. However, it would not seek to reverse former President Donald Trump's rollbacks in fuel efficiency standards for the 2021 or 2022 model years. The plan is a big increase from Trump's proposal for vehicle fuel efficiency of just 43.3 mpg by 2026. The Biden administration said the EPA rules would require higher efficiency by 2026 than former President Barack Obama's administration would have mandated through 2025. (Reuters)
SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT
Moody's announces $2bn RMS climate risk modelling mega-deal
Financial services company Moody’s has signed a $2 billion deal to acquire RMS, a pioneer in providing climate and natural disaster risk modelling and analytics. The move comes as Moody’s seeks to boost its global risk capabilities in order to cater the new developments in risk assessment. RMS caters to 120 countries with its 400 risk models, serving the global property and casualty insurance and reinsurance industries, helping organisations to measure and manage their climate and natural disaster risk modelling. RMS will strengthen Moody’s integrated risk assessment strategy for customers in the insurance industry through greater innovation and amalgamation of both companies’ crucial fortes and services, with proficiencies across climate, cyber, commercial real estate and supply-chain risks. (Business Green*; Nasdaq)
COMMENTS