Countries around the world are tuning in and exploring ways to guide companies to report on ever more important climate related disclosures. Embracing of the Task Force recommendations is a key policy move by governments.
After the 2008 global financial crisis, the major economies that are member-nations of the “G20” formed the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to serve a think tank and forum for the world’s leading developed countries to develop strong regulatory, supervisory, and other financial sector policies.
Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the great promise of the 21st Century – the Paris Accord. Can you believe, it is now five years on (260 weeks or so this December) since the meeting in the “City of Lights” of the Conference of Parties (“COP 21”, a/k/a the U.N. Paris Climate Conference). This was the 21st meeting of the global assemblage focused on climate change challenges.
Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the great promise of the 21st Century – the Paris Accord. Can you believe, it is now five years on (260 weeks or so this December) since the meeting in the “City of Lights” of the Conference of Parties (“COP 21”, a/k/a the U.N. Paris Climate Conference). This was the 21st meeting of the global assemblage focused on climate change challenges.
Looking back 90+ years to the 1920s, corporate financial disclosure was in essence, a joke. (Why, said one public company leadership, would we ever tell investors what our real financial condition is!) Financial reporting was voluntary! And then…came the 1929 market crash.
Change is a-coming – quite quickly now – for corporate sustainability reporting frameworks and standards organizations.
Before the disastrous October 1929 stock market crash, there was little in the way of disclosure and reporting requirements for companies with public stockholders. The State of New York had The Martin Act, passed in 1921, a “blue sky law” that regulates the sales and trades of public companies to address fraud issues.
The private, public, and social sectors have long been stuck on how to define the value of donated time – the inspirational stories and output reporting we’ve all relied on just don’t tell the whole story. Common Impact was ready for a better way, so we worked closely with the measurement experts at True Impact to move beyond outputs and look at the real value-add volunteerism – and in particular, skilled volunteerism – can deliver for communities.
As 2020 Began, $1-in-$3 of Professionally Managed AUM in the United States Had ESG Analysis and/or Portfolio Management Strategies Applied…US$17.1 Trillion Total
Every two years, since 1996, the influential trade organization for sustainable, responsible and impact investment (US SIF) conducts a year-long survey of professional asset managers to determine the total of USA-based assets under management (“AUM”) that have ESG analysis and/or portfolio management applied.
Pro Bono Week 2020 came at a time of unprecedented difficulty and uncertainty, but in spite of that – or even for that very reason – it produced some of the strongest, most inspiring, and most necessary cross-sector collaborations we’ve ever witnessed. Corporate, public sector, and nonprofit professionals participated in everything from webinars and conferences to skills-based volunteering projects ranging a day or a week or several months, all in the name of better supporting their communities through COVID-19, racial injustice, and intractable societal challenges.
As the second wave of COVID-19 surges, so does the urgency of needs in our most vulnerable communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the resultant economic instability. Basic needs – food, work, housing, health – are at risk for many.
Indexes – Indices - Benchmarks – these are very important analysis and portfolio management tools for asset owners and their internal and external managers. We can think of them as a sort of report card; fiduciaries can track their performance against the funds they manage; financial sector players can develop products for investment (mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds, separate accounts and so on) to market to investors.
