A quarter of companies that set targets to meet their net-zero commitments are quietly shelving reports about their progress in a process known as ‘green-hushing’, according to a study.
In July, the United Nations General Assembly declared that everyone has the right to live in a healthy, sustainable environment. In so doing, it recognised that the well-being of our society is inextricably bound to the functions of the natural world.
Last year, a report jointly published by Deloitte and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) dubbed the CSO (chief sustainability officer) “the sense maker in chief”, predicting that the role would grow significantly in prominence over the next two years.
Identifying where actionable, sustainable improvements can be made in business is a challenge, says Rio’s Dan Botterill. (Photo by Thibault Renard via iStock)
There has been a significant rise in the number of disruptive platforms, apps, new products and services emerging in the ESG space in recent years. As sustainability has become more integrated into the corporate landscape, and targets and reporting are enshrined in legislation, ESG technology catering to these changing requirements has fast become an industry in its own right.
We are thrilled to announce that we have won the ESG Innovation Award at the Environmental Analyst’s inaugural Sustainability Consulting Awards. The awards recognise and celebrate industry excellence in the sector and applaud those consultancies who have made significant advances in both their own and their clients’ sustainability journeys.
Rio was proud to sponsor The Future of Climate Finance last week; an exclusive one-day conference held in the heart of London that addressed the escalating mobilisation of finance in favour of sustainable global development. As well as sponsoring the conference our CEO and founder, Dan Botterill, sat on a dynamic panel discussing the evolution from ESG to sustainability and real impact.
The conference saw a discussion amongst lead investors, policy makers and CFOs on the multi-billion dollar climate-focused funds investment industry. Specifically, over $650 billion poured into climate-focused funds worldwide in 2021 and 2022 is set to be another record-breaking year for green finance.
As the environmental stakes increase and the vocal and natural warnings grow menacingly stark, pressure on the global investment industry to tackle climate change is higher than ever before.
There is no vaccine against the potential of a climate crisis and the rapidly shifting change in sentiment towards those that can assist in delivering a greener future is already widening the gap between winners and losers. There is no end of money to be made by those who anticipate the number of opportunities brought about by this uneven pace of change.
Moreover, the politics of climate change continues to have significant implications for how capital markets are expected to perform. It seems increasingly possible that the owners of capital will either die alone in the pursuit of growth or share a bed with the concepts of sustainability and social well-being.
Is this endless pursuit of growth compatible with an urgent need to slash carbon emissions? Or is this the end of capitalism as we know it?
Click here below to listen to the key takeaways from some of the excellent speakers including Olga Hancock, Deputy Head of Responsible Investment, Church Commissioners for England, Amanda Young, Chief Sustainability Officer, abrdn and our very own Dan Botterill, CEO and Company Founder, Rio ESG LTD.
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At Rio, we stand by our manifesto and that means practising what we preach. To do this, last year we set science-based targets to achieve Net Zero within our organisation. So, a year on, we’re looking at the targets we set, what practices or policies we put in place to achieve them and where we are now.
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The Rio manifesto highlights the principles that drive us and the commitments we’ve made to our employees, customers, communities, and planet. There are 12 principles in our manifesto and the last principle focuses on practising what we preach.