“ There are many balances to be struck and trade-offs to be made in the quest to minimise carbon emissions , but the goal can be reached if businesses recognise what is required and act upon it promptly ”
Financial tools for driving sustainability
INDUSTRY X . 0
“ There are many balances to be struck and trade-offs to be made in the quest to minimise carbon emissions , but the goal can be reached if businesses recognise what is required and act upon it promptly ”
NIGEL TOPPING UK HIGH LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION CHAMPION , COP26
businesses , investors , cities and regions are challenged to advance . The farther they go , the higher governments can push their targets , and so forth . It ’ s an ambition loop .”
In a global business environment that is both highly competitive and relentlessly volatile , access to real-time performance data – or a lack of access to that essential data – will make or break businesses , believes Michael Cupps , Senior VP Marketing at Activeops . He said it is now possible to have a workforce optimisation solution ( WFO ) to provide sustainability managers with realtime data in respect of the location of where employees are working and how they perform . “ This will allow businesses to gather data efficiently and affordably without an extensive implementation of full WFO , allowing them to meet their sustainability goals . There are many balances to be struck and trade-offs to be made in the quest to minimise carbon emissions , but the goal can be reached if businesses recognise what is required and act upon it promptly ,” he said .
Encouragingly , more firms are examining how to reduce their carbon footprint and become more sustainable .
Financial tools for driving sustainability
• Green bonds and sustainabilitylinked bonds are booming with green debt issuance linked to sustainability growing around $ 1 bn in 2009 to $ 270 bn in 2020
• Deploy innovative financing such as climate auctions and through regulatory standards mandating cuts in emissions
• Support commercialisation of technologies through risk-sharing mechanisms like loan guarantees
• Improve bankability of infrastructure projects in emerging economies by allocating the risks fairly across all parties
• Standardising contracts so they reflect international leading practice on key bankability dimensions can reduce transaction costs
• Invest in homegrown energy transition champions
• Development Finance Institutions ( DFIs ) can unlock private capital by partnering with banks and asset managers to finance projects .
• A financial framework can be applied to accelerate the shift away from coal power into renewables and mitigate the risk of stranded assets .
• Accelerating the adoption of a minimum set of common metrics to report progress on sustainability performance will catalyse greater cooperation and alignment among business leaders , investors and policy makers . energydigital . com 49