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The 10-minute online survey is primarily targeted at in-house sustainability/CSR/energy leaders and managers who hold some level of responsibility for their organisation’s strategy in these areas. This year’s survey has a particular focus on leadership and skills, and on sustainable finance – two critical areas for the future of green business.

The results of the survey will be curated into a full report which will be published as part of edie’s Business Leadership Month – a bumper month of thought-leadership discussions, exclusive interviews and authoritative reports, all dedicated to dedicated to empowering, connecting and celebrating the individuals and teams who are changing business, for good. You can read last year’s Business Leadership report here.

As an added incentive, all survey respondents have the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw to receive a free pass to edie 23 – the premier annual event for sustainability and net-zero leaders taking place on 1-2 March – along with the edie Awards ceremony which takes place on 30 March.

All individual responses will be kept anonymous.

This survey will close on the evening of Wednesday 22 February.

The 2023 Sustainable Business Leadership Survey

Skidmore, Polman and Wathuti will be joined by the likes of Pukka Herbs’ chief executive Anuradha Chugh and Committee on Climate Change Chair Lord Deben for edie 23, which takes place at the state-of-the-art 133 Houndsditch events venue in London on 1-2 March 2023.

Force of Nature Founder and leading youth climate activist Clover Hogan, Leon Restaurants Co-Founder Henry Dimbleby, Earth on Board Founder Philippe Joubert and We Mean Business Co-Founder Steve Howard are also confirmed among the high-level speaker line-up.

Sustainability and energy representatives from the likes of Google, Patagonia, innocent Drinks and Sky will also take to the stage alongside NGOs, climate activists and other inspirational speakers to provide delegates with rousing and insightful discussions to empower long-lasting change.

An evolution of the multi-award-winning Sustainability Leaders Forum, edie 23 is the premier annual event dedicated to achieving environmental and social transformations through courageous business leadership. edie 23 will offer up two full days of keynotes, panels, best-practice case studies and audience-led discussions across three themed stages – Strategy, Net-Zero and Action.

These sessions will be delivered alongside an array of interactive and immersive event features, including an informal “mess up night” to discuss some of the times that sustainability initiatives didn’t go to plan, a series of “#SustyTalk Live” sofa discussions, and a “25th Birthday Party” to celebrate edie’s 25th anniversary as the UK’s industry-leading sustainable business media brand.

We are also partnering with leading mental health and wellbeing platform MyMynd to help you manage your mental health and prioritise the wellbeing and energy of yourself and your colleagues. MyMynd will offer group workshops and private, one-to-one consultations during the event.

The event is underpinned by a pioneering Mission Statement. The Statement includes an industry-leading commitment to speaker diversity and inclusivity, a strict no-greenwashing policy and a laser-like focus on sparking new ideas and trackable actions through the event content.

edie 23 is expected to be at full capacity, with more than 600 business leaders, board-level executives, sustainability, ESG and net-zero decision-makers, finance, communications and procurement experts, NGOs, academics, consultants, tech providers, and entrepreneurs expected to attend the event in March.

Find out more about the event here and secure your place here.  

That’s because, traditionally, sustainability metrics haven’t been seen as being that important to the core business and as a result have not been subject to the same levels of scrutiny and control applied to companies’ financial information. This is the year that will change.

Regulators tighten rules

Over the last 12 months, regulators are not only getting more specific in their expectations; they are also moving from voluntary to mandatory disclosure:

• The UK now requires large companies to report on their climate-related risks in line with the recommendations of the global Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
• The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) means that companies will be required to publish detailed information on sustainability performance.
• The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) is strengthening disclosure requirements on net-zero plans.
• The US Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rule changes that would require climate-related disclosures.
• At COP 27 in November 2022, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for greater accountability and verification in a bid to end greenwashing.

Investors expect more

Increasingly, investors are looking to companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics before making funding decisions – and are often finding them lacking. This was highlighted in a recent EY Global survey, which found that:

• 99% of investors utilise companies’ ESG disclosures as a part of their investment decision-making process.
• 76% of investors believe that companies are highly selective in what information they provide to investors, raising concerns about greenwashing.
• 80% of investors said that too many companies fail to properly articulate the rationale for long-term investments in sustainability.

Stakeholders must be satisfied

Companies have become increasingly alert to the way non-financial issues can impact their key stakeholders, including employees, customers and suppliers as well as investors. This is impacting business-critical areas such as investor confidence, customer satisfaction and demand, talent retention and even license to operate:

• 57% of consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to reduce negative environmental impact.
• 70% of UK employees expect their employer to take action on societal issues.
• Companies with $4trn of purchasing power are requesting ESG information from suppliers worldwide.

Without robust non-financial information, businesses will not be able to adequately address these stakeholder concerns.

CFOs rise to the challenge

These pressures are making finance leaders, who in the past may have been reluctant to integrate sustainability into their reporting processes, sit up and take notice. Put simply, if the company is going to be held accountable for its non-financial performance, then the CFO must have total confidence in its reporting. That means putting in place the sort of high-quality processes and controls for non-financial metrics that are used for financial information.

Generating value

The benefit of this forward-thinking approach can be broad and far-reaching. With proper metrics and management buy-in, a business is much better placed to understand the role of sustainability in driving business performance and creating long-term value. The connection between sustainability and strategy becomes clear and the need to apply it throughout operations rather than in the narrower field of sustainability reporting or health, safety and environment also becomes apparent.

While external pressure from regulators, investors and other stakeholders are key drivers, the creation of better sustainability metrics can help businesses to better manage risks and have confidence in the progress of sustainability plans. Unlocking this improvement means focusing on the sustainability issues that matter most to the individual company and investing in the key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure them best, putting in place the controls that provide assurance to management teams and investors. Given the increasing appetite of investors and customers for engaging with sustainability leaders, stronger ESG metrics can also become a powerful competitive advantage.

Looking ahead

With these actions in place, 2023 looks set to become the year in which any remaining fluff and puff is finally replaced by meaningful and accountable disclosures that will not only reassure regulators but also support growth.

Leadership teams must better understand which sustainability measures are most important to the business and its stakeholders and why. Stronger processes need to be put in place to build confidence, not only in the delivery of critical sustainability programmes, but also in the data on which they will be judged. This will require stronger governance, accountability, documentation, quality assessment and control. It will also mean choosing technology platforms that support data confidence and completeness. Ultimately, it will be about delivering better data that can make a real difference to the delivery of both business and stakeholder outcomes.

The majority of respondents, nine in ten, believe that the sector will not reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 – the Government’s legally binding deadline for delivering a net-zero economy.

This is perhaps to be expected. The Climate Change Committee’s most recent annual progress report to Parliament confirmed that policymaking in virtually all sectors is not sufficient to deliver net-zero within legally binding target parameters. The Committee highlighted buildings as a particular point of green policy weakness, largely due to poor action to improve energy efficiency and scale-up low-carbon heating options.

The report from the BPF sets out a string of interventions the sector would like to see from the Government in order for companies to reach their own net-zero targets – many of which are more ambitious than the nationwide target.

It bears noting that the BPF found a widespread willingness to tackle embodied carbon – the carbon generated upstream through construction and materials – as well as operational emissions. The report recommends the introduction of mandatory life-cycle assessments for businesses across the built environment lifecycle, improving data on embodied carbon. It also states that the sector would support embodied carbon reduction targets from the Government, building on voluntary frameworks and tools like those offered by the World Green Building Council and UK Green Building Council.

Several other recommendations concern investment in renewable energy to reduce the operational emissions of buildings. The report advocates for the removal of barriers currently preventing Real Estate Investment Trusts from investing in off-site renewables, by broadening the asset classes they are entitled to invest in. It also comes out in favour of rules to mandate the instillation of solar panels on large residential, commercial and public buildings.

Solar mandates seem to be picking up speed across Europe. Last October, Ireland confirmed plans for a new grant scheme to support all schools to fit rooftop solar. Then, in November, the French government outlined a new mandate for solar panels on all large car parks.

PowerMarket estimates that if just 5% of the UK’s suitable roof space on commercial buildings were covered with solar installation, businesses would collectively save £12.6bn on annual energy costs.

Data sharing and planning reform

 Another recommendation made in the report are new mandates to facilitate the sharing of energy consumption data between the owners and occupiers of large commercial buildings. This lack of information and engagement provided between the two parties often means that occupiers and owners are not on the same page when it comes to decarbonisation, thus blocking progress.

There is, on a broader basis, the recommendation of a thorough assessment of how the current planning system is hampering the net-zero transition. The report highlights not only outdated rules – and some newer rules which seem to prioritise short-term economic growth above all else – are the problem, but also misalignment and under-resourcing across the planning system.

Much of this echoes the conclusion of Chris Skidmore MP’s Net-Zero Review. The Review calls for a planning system assessment to get underway this year. It also recommends that the Government backs at least one ‘Trailblazer Net-Zero City’, to achieve net-zero operational carbon emissions by 2030.

Reflecting on the BPF research findings, the Federation’s president Guy Grainger said: “There is no denying that the real estate industry is committed to net zero, with pledges being made at a global, national and local level, but these pledges need to be turned into credible action.”

Grainger, also global head of sustainability services and ESG at JLL, added: “Without clear incentives and regulation from Government we will continue to fall short of targets. The report highlights the insight we can garner when we collaborate and this collaboration, along with Government support is critical.”

Our panel of 25 expert judges convened in late 2022 for a full day of judging where they whittled down almost 500 entries to a shortlist of around 200 finalists across 24 categories. This includes new categories such as the Net-Zero Innovation of the Year alongside returning favourites such as Partnership & Collaboration of the Year, and the coveted Lloyds Bank Sustainable Business of the Year.

The shortlist of finalists was revealed back in December, via a video and news piece on the edie website. Now, ahead of the Awards Ceremony on 30 March, we have published this free-to-download report providing more information about every shortlisted entry. Click here to download your copy. 

The Sustainability Leaders Awards ceremony, which will reveal our winners, takes place as an in-person event at the Park Plaza London Westminster hotel on Thursday 30 March 2023. Table bookings are now open and can be made here (premium tables are limited).

Commenting on the announcement of this year’s finalists, edie’s content director Luke Nicholls said: “COP27 and COP15 have underlined just how important business leadership is when it comes to accelerating climate action and reversing biodiversity loss.

“Nowhere is this leadership more evident than on our edie Awards shortlist. Despite battling through the perfect storm of Covid-19, conflict and the cost of living crisis, all of this year’s finalists have shifted from talking about a net-zero carbon, just transition to actually delivering it – at scale and at pace. On behalf of the entire edie team, I would like to congratulate all of our finalists – we can’t wait to celebrate with you on 30 March at the Park Plaza London Westminster.”

— CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THE EDIE AWARDS 2023 FINALISTS REPORT — 

BOOK YOUR TABLE at the edie Awards 2023

From single places for the drinks reception and dinner through to a full Platinum Table front-row experience – there are a variety of options to choose from to ensure you are able to celebrate with the very best of sustainable business at the edie Awards 2023.

Our glittering Awards ceremony takes place at Park Plaza London Westminster on Thursday 30 March 2023, and will include drinks receptions, guest speakers, dinner and a wide selection of entertainment. Avoid disappointment by booking now to guarantee the tickets you want.

BOOK YOUR TABLE HERE.

Our panel of 25 expert judges recently convened for a full day of judging where they whittled down almost 500 entries to a shortlist of around 200 finalists across 24 categories. This includes new categories such as the Net-Zero Innovation of the Year alongside returning favourites such as Partnership & Collaboration of the Year, and the coveted Lloyds Bank Sustainable Business of the Year.

The shortlist of finalists was revealed back in December, via a video and news piece on the edie website. Now, ahead of the Awards Ceremony on 30 March, we have published this free-to-download report providing more information about every shortlisted entry.

The Sustainability Leaders Awards ceremony, which will reveal our winners, takes place as an in-person event at the Park Plaza London Westminster hotel on Thursday 30 March 2023. Table bookings are now open and can be  made here (premium tables are limited).

Fill out the form on the left and click ‘download now’ to access your copy of our Meet the Finalists Report.

Across the UK and the world, leading businesses, cities, states and regions are turning environmental ambitions into action. Here, we round up five positive sustainability stories from this week.

ENERGY: Isle of Man targets 75% renewable electricity mix by 2026

As EU lawmakers grapple with how to fine-tune the design of its renewable energy directive, designed to increase the share of renewables in the electricity generation mix to at least 40% by 2030, a more ambitious target has this week been set by the Isle of Man.

The Isle’s government announced this week a new target for three-quarters of its electricity mix to be accounted for by renewables within three years. The majority of the Island’s electricity is currently generated using natural gas, with diesel, energy from waste, hydroelectric and a subsea cable to England making up the remainder.

Ministers have given the go-ahead for the Island’s state-owned electricity supplier, Manx Utilities, to commence plans to develop 30MW of onshore wind and solar capacity to help achieve the new goal. Much of this capacity will be developed on publicly-owned sites, including solar roofs on car parks and government buildings.

The new goal supports an existing ambition to reach net-zero electricity production by 2030.

“30MW by 2026 is an ambitious and stretching goal for an island community, but one we must achieve if we are to play our part in tackling global warming and climate change,” said Chief Minister Alfred Cannan MHK.

RESOURCES: Currys extends refurbished and repaired tech offering

E-waste is the world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream, according to the UN. The UN estimates that electronics, electricals and related components worth $57bn are wasted globally each year.

The good news is that the appetite for refurbished, repaired and recycled electronics and electricals appears to be growing. British retailer Currys this week revealed that trials sales of pre-owned phones and laptops around Black Friday 2022 saw 80% of lines sell out within one week.

With this in mind, Currys is expanding its circular technology offering. The retailer has launched a dedicated, expanded second-hand product range on its own website, while last year’s trials saw a smaller range made available through the ‘Currys Clearance’ eBay store. You can read edie’s full story here.

Currys’ head of development for the circular economy Mandeep Gobindpuri said:  “In the UK we produce the second highest amount of e-waste per capita in the world. As much as we all love brand-new tech, we need to address this challenge.”

MOBILITY: Travis Perkins touts ‘UK’s largest’ forklift electrification scheme

In this part of this weekly feature, we often cover exciting news relating to public transport, like sleeper trains to displace short-haul flights, or innovative electric buses.

This week, though, we have received a success story regarding business fleets – and specifically concerning the specialist, heavy vehicles which often prove to be the biggest challenge for businesses with 100% electric vehicles targets. Building materials giant Travis Perkins has pledged to switch all 1,100 of its diesel forklift trucks with electric alternatives by the middle of 2024.

The company is anticipating that the change will mitigate up to 6,600 tonnes of CO2e emissions each year. It is notably working to achieve a 27% reduction in vehicle and plant fleet emissions by 2027, against a 2022 baseline.

Travis Perkins will source the new forklifts from Briggs Equiment in what it claims is the UK’s largest forklift fleet electrification initiative to date.

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: Hayfield plans 50 ultra-energy-efficient new homes in Gloucestershire

Housebuilder Hayfield has this week submitted an application to Tewkesbury Borough Council for 50 new homes in Gotherington, Gloucestershire, that will all have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) A-rating.

There will be a mix of two, three and five-bedroom houses and bungalows at the £35m development, which will not be connected to gas. Instead, electric heating, cooling and cooking systems will be in place for residents. Air-source heat pumps will serve underfloor heating systems.

Other built-in sustainability features will include solar panels for each home, an electric vehicle charging point at each property and built-in water efficiency measures. As required by law, Hayfield will deliver biodiversity net-gain at the site. It is planning native tree pond and the creation of a pond with wetland flowers.

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP: OVO joins Community Energy England

Community Energy England has stated that just 23 new community-owned renewable energy generation assets were installed in 2021, the lowest number since 2017. It has been calling for more policy support for the community-owned approach, which proponents argue can help to maximise the socio-economic benefits of the energy transition and ensure they are shared fairly.

This week, OVO Energy joined Community Energy England as a Principal Supporter. In this post, it will help community energy associations to access subsidy-free power purchase agreements (PPAs), which are often a deciding factor in whether a project goes ahead or not. OVO Energy has this year signed two new PPAs with subsidy-free onshore wind projects from Genatec and Ambition Community Energy, and has stated an intention to expand and accelerate this work.

“We’re looking forward to helping the OVO team with their initiatives to support the growth of community energy by providing the sector with more investment and enhanced levels of support,” said Community Energy England’s head of operations Philip Coventry.

“With ongoing cooperation, we are confident that OVO’s engagement with community energy will facilitate new opportunities that will benefit the whole sector and its growth.‘’

Don’t miss out: Register now to attend edie 23

Taking place in London on 1-2 March 2023, edie’s biggest annual event has undergone a major revamp to become edie 23, with a new name, new venue, multiple new content streams and myriad innovative event features and networking opportunities.

edie 23 will take place at the state-of-the-art 133 Houndsditch conference venue in central London. Held over two floors, the event will offer up two full days of keynotes, panels, best-practice case studies and audience-led discussions across three themed stages – Strategy, Net-Zero and Action.

Click here for full information and to book your ticket.

The report found that platforms like Meta and Twitter are failing to tackle or remove cases that could be considered greenwashing and that these platforms do not have policies in place to address the issue.

The report is accompanied by new data from Global Witness, which claims that BP more than doubled spending on environmental ads on Facebook and Instagram during the first seven months of 2022, compared to the whole of 2021, amounting to about £800,000. Ads that ran across those platforms were focused on emissions reductions, electric vehicles (EVs) and net-zero. However, the report also states that, over the same period, BP spent more than £3bn on new oil and gas projects – more than 10 times the £300m it spent on low-carbon energy globally.

It also claims that Shell failed to run any environmental ads across Facebook and Instagram in the UK with the political disclaimer required by Meta since at least November 2019, which is needed for content on climate, energy and fossil fuels.

According to Global Witness, both companies’ digital advertising appears to breach the UK Competition and Market Authority’s Green Claims Code.

The Code was first published in 2021 and was designed for businesses with consumer-facing products and services to check whether their environmental claims would be misleading as defined by British consumer law. It covers issues including inaccurate claims, overstated claims and claims that don’t enable ‘fair and meaningful’ comparisons.

Stop Funding Heat’s campaign manager and report author Sean Buchan said: “With a growing international movement to halt greenwashing and prevent the promotion of climate misinformation, these Big Tech platforms are on borrowed time.

“We are already seeing some regulators begin to crack down on greenwashing from large polluters, while a number of cities and towns are introducing bans on the advertising of climate-wrecking products. Big Tech needs to get its house in order and tackle greenwashing and climate misinformation instead of continuing to profit from it amid a climate crisis.”

The report features previous research from InfluenceMap, which found that fossil fuel companies spent $9.6m of ad revenue on Meta platforms in 2020, amassing more than 430 million impressions.

Stop Funding Heat’s report claim that, based on ad data from Meta, $10m was spent by fossil fuel firms promoting influence campaigns annually in the US alone. The report states the “actual figure could easily be double this in just the US. More research needs to be done; but ultimately, only Meta can quantify exactly how much they earn from such activities”.

The report puts forward a list of recommendations to combat the issue. It states that there should be “tobacco-style” advertising bans for fossil fuel companies, trade groups and corporate lobbying associates.

Other recommendations include creating a publicly accessible advertising library where all fossil fuel industry advertisements are stored permanently to improve transparency and subjecting the fossil fuel industry to more rigorous checking procedures.

The report comes in the same month that fossil fuel firms announced record profits.

Alongside posting record profits, energy major BP has stated that it is no longer likely to meet a previous pledge to reduce oil and gas production by 40% by 2030 against a 2020 baseline.

IBP confirmed that it will increase by an average of $1bn per year until 2030 investment into energy transition activities. These include electric vehicle charging, bioenergy, green hydrogen, blue hydrogen and renewable electricity.

However, it will also increase investment at the same scale and pace into oil and gas. It has argued that near-term demand for oil and gas is higher than previously expected and stated that additional fossil fuel earnings can “support investment” in the energy transition.

With these changes to strategy in mind, BP is rolling back its 2030 targets to cut oil and gas production. It is also targeting less steep reductions in emissions.

Ikea launched a renewable supply chain programme in 2021. With almost two-thirds of Ikea’s climate footprint located in the supply chain, the retailer is aiming to power the entire value chain using renewable electricity.

At the time of the launch, the programme supported around 1,600 firms and direct suppliers, with bundled framework agreements and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to be set up for businesses in Poland, China and India – three of the company’s largest purchasing countries.

Ikea stated that achieving 100% renewable electricity through the suppliers in Poland, China and India would save 670,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to 3% of the carbon footprint of Ikea’s value chain.

The company has this week confirmed that the programme will be expanded to the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey and Vietnam. The combined electricity consumption for production in these markets is around 0.27m tonnes of CO2 – equitable to 13% of Ikea’s climate footprint.

“Striving towards 100% renewable energy is critical to limit climate change to 1.5C. We know that many of our supply partners struggle to purchase 100% renewable electricity and that only a part can be generated onsite,” Ikea Group’s head of climate Andreas Rangel Ahrens said.

“By working together, we have shown that it’s possible to make renewable electricity both accessible and more affordable. We hope this also inspires other businesses to support their suppliers in the same way.”

Ikea will provide suppliers in those countries with solutions including bundled framework agreements and PPAs to procure renewable energy. Additionally, suppliers can also install onsite solar panels and boilers through an existing €100m renewable energy fund announced in 2019.

Ikea is also a founding member of the 1.5C Supply Chain Leaders initiative, a collaborative platform for businesses striving to cut emissions sharply across their supply chains, which was launched by a string of big businesses including BT and Unilever.

The Exponential Roadmap Initiative was launched in September 2020, as part of the Race to Zero campaign, with Ikea, Unilever, BT, Ericsson and Telia named among the founding corporate members of the 1.5C supply chain leaders. This scheme, and its other workstreams, are supported by the We Mean Business coalition.

The initiative builds on Ikea’s commitment to become climate positive by 2030, which includes the retailer powering its global operations with renewables by 2025 and then ensuring that all remaining energy, including heating and cooling, derives from renewable sources by 2030.

Ikea’s parent company, Ingka Group, generated more renewable energy than it consumed in 2020, marking a milestone in its vision to become a “planet-positive” business.

The resolutions called for both companies to set out how they are protecting employees from climate risk stemming from where they invest employees’ pensions.

As You Sow argues that, because high-carbon investments increase climate-related systemic risks over time, investing in this manner increases the likelihood of diminishing returns. Alternatively, if the global economy does move more rapidly than expected in the low-carbon transition, high-carbon investments can lead to diminished returns because they can become stranded assets.

In filing a ‘no-action’ request to the SEC, corporations seek to block a vote being held on shareholder proposals. Both Amazon and Comcast are arguing that shareholders do not have the right to information about climate risk stemming from their default 401(k) plans for staff. As You Sow is contesting the requests by submitting its own briefs to the SEC.

“Employees saving for their future continue to be denied the freedom to invest the way they want to invest,” said As You Sow’s chief executive Andrew Behar.

“It’s a matter of personal freedom, and these companies are denying that freedom by offering default investment options filled with fossil fuels, deforestation, private prisons and weapons companies.”

edie has reached out to both Amazon and Comcast for comment. A Comcast spokesperson said the firm will not be commenting further to the SEC filing. The filing “respectfully requests” that staff concur that information about the company’s ordinary business operations, including employee benefits and compensation, should not be made public.

Comcast’s filing also calls As You Sow’s wording “misguided in several respects”. It argues that the board does not hold responsibility for pension plans, for example.

2023 marks the second consecutive year that As You Sow has filed resolutions at Amazon and Comcast, asking both firms to disclose more information about climate risk management relating to pension investments. Last year, resolutions at both companies achieved a high enough shareholder vote to be refiled again this year.

At Comcast last year, as you sow asked the broadcasting giant to provide information on the degree to which carbon-intensive investments feature in its default investment option – Vanguard Target Retirement funds. It noted that these funds were ranked poorly on fossil fuels, deforestation and tobacco by Invest Your Values. Amazon, As You Sow noted in its 2022 filing, uses the same default investment option.

An Amazon spokesperson said the firm has not changed its position since last year. Last year, it stated: “Our 401(k) plan has for many years offered plan participants an ESG screened investment option. Further, the managers of most of the plan’s core investment options currently consider and integrate ESG factors in their stewardship or security selection processes.

“Also of note, the plan offers a self-directed brokerage option that gives plan participants the ability to invest some or all of their plan accounts in hundreds of ESG-friendly funds (in addition to thousands of other investment funds). The array of ESG-friendly investment opportunities means that plan participants already have the ability to invest their plan accounts according to their personal ESG strategies.“

Employee demands

As You Sow is arguing that, in failing to respond to the growing demand for “climate-safe, sustainable investment options” from workers, companies “are not only exposing their workers to climate-related financial risk, but also may have issues with hiring and employee retention”.

KPMG recently published research on what it is deeming “climate quitting” – a phenomenon involving employees either leaving jobs or turning down job offers because they are unimpressed by employers’ pledges and performance relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics.

KPMG found that one-fifth of UK-based office workers would turn down a job on ESG grounds. It also found that almost one-third of people have researched a company’s ESG approach thoroughly before applying for a role there.

Last year, a survey from Censuswide on behalf of Arriva found that the majority of UK adults would consider leaving their current job in order to pursue a role they perceive as “greener”.

This trend can also be observed in the US. Former Unilever chief executive Paul Polman this week published his first Net-Positive Employee Barometer, tracking the attitudes of more than 4,000 workers in the US and UK. 68% of those polled said they were not satisfied with the ESG performance of their employers, and almost half (45%) said they would consider resigning from a position if their values were misaligned with their employers’.

Over the course of 90 minutes on the afternoon of 15 February, edie delivered a 60-minute webinar exploring crucial interlink between supply chain sustainability and net-zero; and a 30-minute masterclass focused on how the Modern Slavery Act can be used to tackle inequalities and enhance social sustainability at every point in the chain.

-CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY ONLINE EVENT ON-DEMAND-

Backed up by real-life case studies, this edie webinar and masterclass united a selection of sustainability and supply chain experts to showcase how organisations large and small can take their supply chain sustainability strategy onto the next level in 2023 – with a focus on reducing Scope 3 emissions and tackling modern slavery.

Over the past 12 months, businesses have faced a ‘perfect storm’ of the ongoing energy crisis, increasing extreme weather events and international trade frictions – placing immense pressure on global supply chains.

With these converging challenges showing no signs of abating, many organisations are looking to embrace a “leadership through crisis” mindset by engaging with suppliers to ensure emissions reductions aren’t forgotten across the value chain; and championing more inclusive, local, and socially sustainable procurement.

As such, we hosted this exclusive online event in association with Carbon Quota and BSI. It is now available to watch on-demand, at your convenience, for free.  Click here to register.

Session 1: Supply chain sustainability – Best practice case studies

 Chair:

• Sarah George, Senior Reporter, edie

Presenters:

• Nathan Tiller, Co-Founder, CarbonQuota

• Anita Neville, Chief Sustainability Communications Officer, Golden Agri Resources

• Michael McGowan, Group Sustainability Manager, Ibstock Brick

Discussion points

• What makes a great supply chain sustainability strategy in 2023?
• Scope 3 emissions: Engaging with suppliers on the path to true net-zero
• The role of transparency and risk analysis in future-proofing product supply

Session 2: 30-Minute Masterclass: Tackling modern slavery in your supply chain

 Chair:

• Sarah George, Senior Reporter, edie

Presenters:

• Anne Hayes, Director of Sectors and Standards, BSI Knowledge Solutions

Discussion points

• Modern Slavery Act: Key updates and need-to-knows for business leaders
• Understanding the link between modern slavery and environmental sustainability
• Tools and strategies to monitor your supply chain for human rights risks

-CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY ONLINE EVENT ON-DEMAND-

Also disappointed were a number of major sustainable finance advocacy organisations, who had been expecting a full update to Barclays’ climate policy along with the results.

Barclays pledged in spring 2020 to achieving net-zero emissions across all business scopes, plus all financed emissions, by 2050. It has always maintained that its approach is consistent with the 1.5C temperature pathway of the Paris Agreement, regarded as necessary to avoid the worst physical impacts of climate change.

Green groups have disputed this, with criticism regularly levelled at the bank’s policies on lending to high-emission sectors including fossil fuels.

Barclays pledged last year to end financing for thermal coal mining and power by 2030 in OECD nations, and by 2035 elsewhere. It also committed not to take on new clients engaged in thermal coal mining from 2023. Additionally, it pledged to exclude clients opening new thermal coal mines and/or power plants from 2023 if the openings involved a “material expansion” of coal activities by 20% or more.

While these targets were welcomed, groups including ShareAction highlighted a number of loopholes and also rapped Barclays for failing to exclude finance for oil and gas expanders.

Barclays did set targets for energy companies to cur absolute emissions by 40% between 2020 and 2030. It also set intensity-based targets for the power sector. But it stopped short of pledging to exclude companies expanding oil and gas, despite acknowledging that most oil and gas majors “are not yet on the 1.5C-aligned pathway”. ShareAction classes Barclays as one of Europe’s three biggest lenders to the oil and gas sector between 2016 and 2021, alleging that it provided $46bn to companies leading oil and gas expansion in this timeframe.

Reclaim Finance claims that, between April 2021 and December 2022, it provided a further $8.4bn to these companies.

Again, today, Barclays has brought forward no new commitment to exclude oil and gas expanders, nor to reduce its oil and gas exposure.

Reclaim Finance’s director has called this a “missed opportunity” and argued that the bank’s claims on reaching net-zero could be regarded as “greenwashing” by UN standards.

Similarly, ShareAction’s head of banking Jeanne Martin called the omission “disappointing”. Martin also expressed disappointment in the lack of an update on Barclays’ fracking policies and said the bank “continues to be out of step with current minimum standards of ambition within the industry”.

“By continuing on this path, Barclays is ignoring the science and disregarding its customers,” added Make My Money Matter’s chief executive Tony Burdon. “Because any strategy which does not include restrictions on financing for new oil and gas represents a failure of leadership, ambition, and action. We expect this approach will lead to Barclays customers voting with their feet and moving to a bank which isn’t financing climate destruction.”

Barclays did set out a new exclusion policy on financing for companies that are mainly active in oil sands extraction, and for projects directly linked to oil sands production and transport.  With immediate effect, these companies will be excluded. Barclays had previously supported select oil sands companies and projects that evidenced reductions in their emissions intensity.

When criticised by ShareAction earlier this month, Barclays stated that the bank “can make the greatest difference as a bank by working with customers and clients as they transition to a low-carbon economy, focusing on facilitating the finance needed to change business practices and scale new green technologies.”

A Barclays spokesperson elaborated: “This includes many oil and gas companies that are actively engaged and critical to the transition, and committed significant resources and expertise to renewable energy. We are in regular dialogue with many stakeholders, including ShareAction, on climate and broader sustainability topics and we value their ongoing thoughtful engagement.”

Customer demand for climate action

The news from Barclays comes shortly after Ecology Building Society published the results of a nationwide consumer survey, taken by more than 2,040 adults in the UK.

The survey revealed a sense of frustration about the level of environmental information provided by banks; 53% of respondents said they did not know how their bank or building society uses their money and what the environmental footprint of that use may be.

This is usually not through want of trying. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they want to influence how and where their money is used, and three-quarters want their savings invested in ways that have a positive impact on the environment and society. But almost four in ten didn’t understand the available saving products.

Ecology uncovered how these frustrations are beginning to prompt people to switch banks for those which are more transparent about their environmental and ethical credentials. 52% of the people it surveyed said they would move providers if doing so would enable them to see the positive impact of their savings.

Ecology’s chief executive Gareth Griffiths said: “This year already looks set to continue to follow in the trend of the last one which was defined by permacrisis. This means many people are understandably feeling a loss of control over many aspects of life. The spiraling cost of living and the climate emergency can feel far removed from individual action.

“In a time of multiple pressures, people want to ensure strong returns but with a transparent process that they can support consciously. ISA season offers a timely opportunity to reflect on consumer demand and if it is being met by the industry.”