The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (GBO) unfortunately, confirms that the Aichi Biodiversity Targets have not been globally met. As the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming in China approaches, and the new 2021-2030 targets will be defined, the international community has to reflect on past mistakes...
The second report of the Lebanon series by Christina Lawandos we publish today considers the role that Lebanon’s monetary system and banking sector play in the present crisis. With a debt to GDP ratio of 152%, Lebanon is the third most indebted country in the world after Japan and...
The European Commission has published the new 2030 Climate Target Plan, proposing to raise to 55% the cut in GHG emissions by 2030. This more ambitious target for the next decade will put the EU on the right path to reach its goal of climate neutrality by...
The IPO of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water brand in mainland China, broke the record of the subscription capital of HKEX on September 8, 2020: it was 1,147 times oversubscribed by more than 700 thousand investors. The listing made the owner of the brand, Zhong...
While the benefit of lithium batteries are well-known (batteries are light, charge fast and are able to store a lot of energy) and used in wide-spread technologies (from electric cars to smartphones), the extracting process is far from being environmental friendly as well as it...
SVI start publishing today reports by Christina Lawandos on the current Lebanese situation from an ESG perspective. Christina is our contact in Lebanon, a local witness strongly engaged in sustainable topics. Unfortunately, what happened in Beirut has to do with very severe ESG topics: negligence,...
Pros and cons of hydrogen-powered vehicles, the "latest" solution to greening the transportation sector. When it comes to transportation and other industries heavily dependent on fossil fuels, what does create a stronger emotional commitment than the image of a Huracán 5.2 V10? Perhaps nothing, as far...
"A relevant question we all need to ask ourselves as citizens, consumers, workers, savers, investors, in our daily life as well as when we are on holiday. Everything is tightly interconnected, the environmental disaster at the Mauritius and our personal habits at home", states Daniela...
MorganStanley, Citi and Bank of America have joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, a global group composed of 70 financial institutions representing more than $10 trillion in assets, which aims to provide financial institutions with a common methodology to assess and measure greenhouse gas emissions. Morgan Stanley,...
Investors fear that firms’ financial statements do not represent the real long-term outlook for many businesses as only a minority of them accurately incorporate climate change risks. The oil and gas company BP has cut $17.5 billion off the value of its assets, reflecting the material...
Bolsonaro has imposed a ban on forest fires during the dry season and arranged military operations against deforestation practices. This decree comes after pressure from financial investors, international companies and foreign governments on the need to improve Brazil’s environmental commitment and to stop deforestation, a practice that is...
Australia’s Snowy Hydro 2.0, a pumped hydro storage project in the Snowy Mountains, has recently been approved by the federal government as an economic savior to bushfire-ravaged region and the COVID19 recession. However, several concerns arise from its economic and environmental costs. Australia has recently approved Snowy Hydro 2.0...
COVID19 has reaccelerated deforestation, with forest loss alerts increasing up to 77% compared to 2017-2019. As deforestation itself heightens the risk of future disease outbreaks, rural frontiers should be approached more holistically by taking into consideration the health of humans, animals and the planet. Despite a positive historical trend...
Alphabet has launched one of the largest sustainable bond offerings to be ever recorded, devoted to funding ongoing and new green and social justice-oriented projects. Sustainable bonds are not without risk of social washing and investor monitoring is much needed. The Covid-19 pandemic has boosted the offering of socially-related bonds,...