If a “green” loan doesn’t actually increase sustainable outcomes, how much benefit are shareholders and the community really getting?
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Posted inFinance
Ethical investments surge as climate change does the same
Ethical funds are growing and funds managers are getting out of fossil fuels, at the very least. And yet we’ve got MPs such as George Christensen demanding that banks not penalise fossil fuel companies
Posted inNews from the Front Desk
On why it’s time for Churchillian steel, no fig leaves (and possibly Barnaby)
All on eyes are on Barnaby Joyce right now. Is he playing cat and mouse with us? Will he agree to net zero by 2050 not “if at all possible” but absolutely and unequivocally?
Posted inFinance
Now for some impact investing that anyone can take part in, not just “sophisticated investors”
Brisbane-based startup, Bloom Impact, is looking to put green investing in more people’s hands as interest in the area grows, with the launch of a new sustainable fund and user friendly app
Posted inSpinifex
Time for associations to step up on climate change
Helen Millicer recalls the “enthusiasm toward sustainability and climate change actions during the Millennium drought and then with election of Rudd in 2007…We were on wave of discussion, new ideas, training, and integration.” What happened? Australia has over 4000 associations representing and providing leadership and guidance to their members. Or do they? From industry, business […]
Posted inMaterials
The inside story on green steel – time to put pedal to the metal
SPECIAL REPORT: The built environment has developed a taste for sustainable, low emissions steel — but in Australia, the cupboards are relatively bare, By Poppy Johnston
Posted inPlanning & Design
Considering neurodiversity to create better, more productive workplaces
Kay Sargent, a director of HOK’s global WorkPlace practice, thinks we need to be “brutally honest” about what was and wasn’t working in workspace design before Covid. Even before Covid, stress and burnout rates were skyrocketing, office spaces were underutilised, workplaces were lagging behind on skills, climate change and other environmental issues were going unaddressed, […]
Posted inFinance
Green bonds the new hotcakes of finance
As the global push for climate action becomes increasingly mainstream, so too has the appetite for green bonds.
Posted inBusiness & Politics
The end of market neutrality for central banks? All eyes on the invisible hand of capitalism as climate change threatens
The woman responsible for supervising UK banks has spoken of the need for banks to abandon the “doctrine of market neutrality” when making policy decisions. That’s because of the overriding need to align monetary policies with reaching net zero by 2050.
Posted inNews from the Front Desk
On the huge appetite for green investments, starting with buildings, animal spirits and a tight skinny window
When The Fifth Estate held its sustainable finance salon in London in 2015 (see the ebook here), we talked about the “irrepressible Sean Kidney, who flew in straight from Beijing, suitcase in hand, to attend the dinner.” Kidney, founder, and pretty well sole operator of the Green Bonds Initiative in those days, was full of […]
Posted inFinance
US, Japan and China are coal’s biggest financial backers
The ANZ and National Australia Bank are the biggest Australian lenders to coal. Heading up the list for Australian investors in coal is Macquarie Group and Magellan Financial Group. The United States holds the most institutional investments in coal according to new NGO research into the world’s largest financiers and investors on the Global Coal […]
Posted inBusiness & Politics
“Australian made” now means jobs and employment and it’s a proxy for ethical labour
As many as six in 10 people in Australia are prepared to pay more for a sustainable product, although most are only willing to pay a fraction more – just 5 per cent.
Posted inArticles
Five big trends shaping sustainability in 2021
The Fifth Estate is back in the saddle for 2021, and ready to explore the big stories in sustainability for another year.
Posted inFinance
Why Exxon has been tossed over by a green company and the new Lendlease green bond is oversubscribed
FINANCE: Green bonds and other sustainable finance vehicles are still booming amid the pandemic. In fact they’re seen as lower risk than traditional investments. It’s no surprise then that Australian property companies are getting on board. Global green bond issuance passed the $1 trillion-mark last week and Australian property giant Lendlease is not missing out on […]
Posted inInvestment/deals/companies
Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft under the greenwash spotlight
When it comes to sustainability, it’s hard to tell who is going green and who is just green washing. It’s easy for companies to talk a big game about sustainability. Some have even taken some major strides to change how their businesses operate. But just how green are these companies actually going? How green is […]
Posted inBusiness & Politics
What we’re reading in Australia and overseas
BNP Paribas does good French bank BNP Paribas SA released A$140 million in green bonds as a reward to 100 companies on the Australian Climate Transition Index. All of these eight year bonds pay a fixed coupon with a potential return based on performance of the index, comprised of 300 Australian companies expected to thrive […]
Posted inGovernment/Regulations
Europe’s €540 billion recovery package is aimed at realising the Green Deal and a just transition
Every nation would do well to emulate Europe’s Green Deal approach. Here’s how it works.
Posted inInvestment/deals/companies
Impact investment is booming, even now under Covid
The market for impact investment in Australia is exploding and shows no signs of slowing down, even under global pandemic conditions. The bi-annual benchmarking report from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) released on Tuesday showed that the market for impact investment had more than tripled over the past two years from $5.7 billion to […]
Posted inArticles
Covid-19: Let’s make this the microbe that changed the world
There are big socio-economic implications for of the COVID-19 lockdown and ultimately for urbanism and climate change.
Posted inClimate Change
A climate-change conscious post-Covid-19 economic stimulus will deliver recovery faster – it did last time
All bets are off. Covid-19 has changed the rules of the way we live and do business forever.
Posted inArticles
Europe and COVID-19 like WWII… but not
The coronavirus outbreak is having a dramatic effect in Europe. Here are the latest developments, and the potential sources of hope amidst the terrifying gloom.
Posted inArticles
News Round Up: green loans, emerging markets, NABERS, Coronavirus assistance
Westpac issues a green loan for superannuation On Wednesday, Westpac announced Australia’s first green loan designed for the superannuation sector, a $65 million loan to Local Government Property Fund (LGPF) managed by Local Government Super (LGS). LGPF is the fifth entity in Australia to receive a green loan, allowing members to invest in the growing […]
Posted inArticles
Banks appetite for green bonds on the rise
Banks issued a record number of green bonds in 2019, reflecting investors’ increased priority on environmental social governance (ESG) and the larger role banks will play as the economy transitions to low carbon.
Posted inArticles
EU “green list” could be a game changer for international investments
The Fifth Estate talks to Sean Kidney of Climate Bonds Initiative about a green list of economic activity being adopted by the European Parliament that could put the kibosh on unsustainable developments, such as new coal mines, by tackling demand rather than supply.
Posted inArticles
Business thinking has changed as temperature rises on climate change-related risk
The Australian government has been accused of – literally – fiddling while the country burns but there has been a sea change in attitude among business leaders and investors, who are fast coming to grips with climate change.
Posted inEnvironment
On the Australia Fires and what comes next
Dear Scott Morrison, we told you well before Christmas you had the chance to be a superhero. To jump onto the world stage and claim leadership on a scale that no small-to-mid size country has seen before.
Posted inEnvironment
Here’s to the new regret-free decade, and the heroes of the last one
OXYGEN FILES: Hands up if you’re keen to put the 2010s in a box and shelve them and hope like hell the 2020s will kick off scaled up, meaningful and cohesive action to save our global habitat?
Posted inFinance
NAB’s messaging on coal and sustainability
As the government bunkers down around the fossil fuel industry and cries foul at last week’s decision by the Swedish central bank to dump Australian and Canadian bonds due to emissions footprints, the final of the big four banks’ annual reports hit the headlines.
Posted inNews from the Front Desk
On creative accounting and why it’s always worth looking under the hood
Think we’re running out of time to save the world from catastrophic warming? Well, it seems much of the corporate world might have given up on the tight timeline needed to meet the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels.
Posted inBusiness & Politics
A “+4 degree world is not insurable” so why invest in brown assets?
The world’s central banks need to recognise not all assets are of equal value, according to a report just released by the Climate Bonds Initiative. Some are downright disasters in the making.