September 2020 - Sustainable Value Investors

Companies, Coronavirus, Economics, Financial Institutions, Good practices, Impact investing / 30.09.2020

Impact-weighted accounting, Ronal Cohen’s solution to rewire capitalism

"How do we take into consideration externalities in companies’ reporting?" The debate about reforming capitalism is strong. The Egyptian-born British multimillionaire Sir Ronald (Ronnie) Cohen is a dyed-in-the-wool capitalist who, at the age of 75, aims at transforming the mind-set of today’s capitalism to a more...

Biodiversity, Climate change / 28.09.2020

2020 Global Biodiversity Outlook places “Humanity at a Crossroads”

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...

Corporate Governance, ESG / 25.09.2020

The role of the banking sector in the present Lebanon crisis

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...

Companies, Infrastructure, Mining / 24.09.2020

Rio Tinto blast of ancient aboriginal site in Australia sparks concerns over local communities’ rights

Reputational damage at RioTinto as a result of Juukan Gorge’s blast in breach of the 1972 WA Aboriginal Heritage Act brought responsible investors to ask for CEO resignation. It is clear that the Aboriginal traditional owners were not granted a Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). FPIC is...

Climate change / 18.09.2020

The European Commission has presented the new 2030 Climate Target Plan

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...

ESG, Food and beverage / 18.09.2020

Bottled water in China: Nongfu IPO success, but what about its sustainability from an ESG perspective?

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...

Automobiles and Parts, Climate change, Infrastructure, Mining, Oil and Gas, Positive impact cases / 17.09.2020

Reviving the legacy of UK’s lithium industry

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...

Corporate Governance, ESG / 11.09.2020

ESG issues in Beirut Blast

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,...

Companies, Coronavirus, Corporate Governance / 10.09.2020

The Ethics of Executive Compensation amidst the Covid-19 pandemic

As the economy increasingly struggled amidst the COVID19 pandemic, many corporations halted their dividend plans but appeared instead more reticent in sacrificing their executive compensation plans. For instance, the cases of IAG, British Airways owner, and Ryanair Bonus payment to CEO Michael O’Leary bring forth ethical considerations on the...

Coronavirus, Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions / 10.09.2020

Corporate misconduct over federal loans shadowing top-tier financial institutions

JPMorgan is to investigate clients and staff over illegally obtained federal aid. The bank has nearly arranged $29bn of forgivable loans under the PPP, a business loan initiative established as part of the US $2.2tn economic stimulus package. It is difficult to believe that this happened...

Infrastructure, Oil and Gas / 09.09.2020

Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean area grow as Turkey and Greece are ready to exploit the region’s vast gas reserves

At SVI we reflect that traditional confrontation on oil and gas reserves has to be considered in the light of climate change risk and decarbonization trend of world economies. The awareness of such topics is still very low but geopolitics will need to be revisited...

Financial Institutions, Infrastructure, Oil and Gas / 08.09.2020

Pakistani army to sideline Islamabad over China’s $62bn infrastructural project

China is pressuring the Pakistani army to impose a hybrid martial law to speed up the pace of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative in the country. Will workers' democratic rights of strike, freedom of association, and collective bargain be safe? Pakistani military seeks greater control over...

Automobiles and Parts, Oil and Gas, Positive impact cases, Renewables / 08.09.2020

Hydrogen-powered driving company Nikola makes green solutions look sexy

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...