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Big Food’s Broken Promises: The Data Behind the Food Industry’s Rising Emissions

Using Low Carbon Transition Ratings data, we look at six major food companies and identify where they need to go beyond targets to meet their stated net-zero goals.

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A New Tool at the Table: Understanding Low Carbon Transition Risk By Industry and How Companies Are Managing It

Discover how leading companies are managing their low carbon transition risks. Using data from the Low Carbon Transition Ratings, we identify the industries with a large portion of the companies with strong management of transition issues and examine the factors contributing to their strong management scores.

ESG performance for Credit Suisse and UBS

A Tale of Two Swiss Banks: Financial Performance and ESG Risk Run Parallel for UBS and Credit Suisse

Amid growing interest in the financial impacts of the UBS-Credit Suisse merger, less attention has been paid to the ESG aspects. How have the two companies been performing on ESG risk?

scope 3 emissions shareholder voting

Investors Seek Meaningful Scope 3 Emissions Targets to Evaluate Climate Transition Plans

Climate concerns continued to dominate proxy voting in the 2022 proxy season. With more clarity on sectoral commitments required to achieve the global net zero goal, shareholders’ requests have become noticeably more specific. A larger number of resolutions asked companies to adopt and report on emissions reduction targets and transition plans that reference the latest forward-looking guidance.

Biodiversity COP15 Sustainalytics

Post-COP15 Outlook: Evolving Investor Responsibilities in Biodiversity

Awaiting COP15’s Global Biodiversity Framework negotiation outcomes, financial market participants could face new regulatory pressure sooner than expected to integrate biodiversity assessment into their investment, decision-making processes.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

The Role of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Achieving Decarbonization by 2050

Meeting the aviation's industry's goal of decarbonization by 2050 will require a collective effort and more ambitious measures than those currently in place, including carbon offsetting, route optimization, fuel efficiency and fleet renewals that involve a shift to more eco-friendly aircraft. However, all of these measures still revolve around fossil fuels as a source of energy.

UK Stewardship Code 2020 - Stewardship Report

Morningstar Sustainalytics has maintained its status as a signatory of the UK Stewardship Code 2020 (the Code) per the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Download the report to review how Sustainalytics' commitment to high stewardship standards meets the service provider principles set under the Financial Reporting Council’s revised Code.

Climate Change, Innovation, and Cybersecurity in the Defense Industry: New Opportunities for ESG Investors

While perhaps not a widely considered link between the defense industry and climate change, several Eurosatory conference sessions addressed how climate change can intensify security risks and threats.

Physical Climate Risks: 6 Things Portfolio Managers Need to Know

The negative physical impacts of climate change are being felt by communities and corporations globally and are likely to get worse in the coming years. The knock-on costs of more frequent “once-in-a-century” climate events on economies are likely to rise. To prepare for this looming threat, investors must forecast the asset-level effects of climate change on companies in a granular and sophisticated way. Here are six things portfolio managers should know to manage and mitigate the physical risks of climate change to their portfolios and meet growing list of climate-focused reporting requirements.

human rights

Applying Business and Human Rights International Standards to Investor Due Diligence

Socially conscious ESG investors are interested in how to implement international business and human rights norms in their portfolios and understand the potential impacts of applying additional screening criteria within their strategy.

wireless users network outage

Telecom Network Outages, the ESG Risks of a Connected World

The telecom industry is exposed to several Material ESG Issues, including Data Privacy and Security, Business Ethics, Human Capital and Product Governance. Product Governance issues in the telecom industry include service quality, maintaining reliable, high-speed networks, and responding to customer billing concerns.

ESG Risk Data Center

ESG Risks Affecting Data Centers: Why Water Resource Use Matters to Investors

Data centers play a critical role for many technology and telecom companies and for their supporting servers, digital storage equipment and network infrastructure for data processing and storage. Data centers require high volumes of water directly for cooling purposes and indirectly, through electricity generation. Morningstar Sustainalytics’ recent activation of the Resource Use Material ESG Issue (MEI) within its ESG Risk Ratings recognizes water risks of data centers.

Utilities and Carbon Emissions

Impact of US Supreme Court’s EPA Ruling on US Utilities’ Carbon Exposure

The Clean Power Plan was created using a directive from the Clean Air Act that enabled the EPA to set emission limits for air pollutants based on the best available technology to reduce emissions. The EPA aimed to cap carbon emissions and curb greenhouse (GHG) emissions by changing the composition of the existing operational power generation assets by forcing the closure of coal plants through strict emission caps, resulting in a system-wide transition to renewable energy.

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Why ESG Investors Follow the Elon Musk Twitter Takeover

A self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, Musk has criticized what he views as excessive moderation on online platforms, indicating his desire to ease Twitter’s content moderation policies and only remove content deemed illegal by governments.

EV charging station

Cobalt ESG Risks Threaten Electric Vehicle Supply Chain

Transport electrification is at the forefront of the international climate transition agenda. Because of this, global demand for cobalt is projected to grow fourfold by 2030, which raises the question, are mineral supply chains robust enough to fuel a sustainable EV revolution?

Correlation of Business Ethics and Corporate Culture - 5 Lessons from the Banking Industry

To protect a company’s reputation and economic position, its employees play an essential part in organisational risk mitigation strategy by demonstrating consideration for systemic business risk, taking accountability, and being willing to escalate concerns. Companies with a strong, ethical corporate culture have much to gain—improved employee performance, morale, and retention, and in the long run, bolstering the bottom line.

diverse patients waiting

Addressing ESG Risk in a Shifting Landscape for Clinical Trial Diversity

Low diversity in clinical trials increases the risk of unforeseen side effects, only discovered after the drug hits the market, exposing patients to harm and companies to litigation.

Russia-Ukraine Crisis Could Spell Unforeseen ESG Risks for Insurers

Russia-Ukraine Crisis Could Spell Unforeseen ESG Risks for Insurers

The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the subsequent sanctions on Russian entities have led to material and wide-ranging impacts on diversified sectors and international firms. However, company disclosures and other sources suggest that the conflict’s primary impact on the global insurance industry is limited for two main reasons

aviation in Ukraine ESG

ESG Implications of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine on the Aviation and Defense Sectors

The aviation industry is feeling the impact of rising fuel costs as an immediate repercussion of the conflict in Ukraine. In particular, the airline sector is still facing significant challenges in mounting a steady recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. On the other hand, the defense industry may be presented with opportunities in light of increased government spending in the aftermath of the invasion.

Rubles Russia ESG

Banks’ ESG Risks Related to the Russia-Ukraine Conflict on Investors’ Radars

Investor interest in the banking sector remains high as the impact of Russian sanctions unfolds. Based on Morningstar Sustainalytics’ research, total unmanaged risk has increased for both Russian and international banks with exposure to Russian clients. To what extent have sanctions affected banks’ total unmanaged risk?