Thematic Thoughts
Thinking about the big issues around how sustainability links into the world of finance
Industrial decarbonisation - it's not just about cheesemaking
The US Biden administration has recently announced up to $6 billion in funding for 33 projects intended to curb carbon pollution from industrial facilities, including steel mills, cement plants and an Illinois factory where Kraft Heinz makes its well known, at least in the US, Mac & Cheese (for some
Clean ammonia - the decarbonised future of fertiliser
We know we need to decarbonise ammonia production. There are already technical solutions, including electrification, and the use of green hydrogen as a feedstock. In most cases they are not yet financially comparable, but they seem to be getting closer. But in many situations decentralisation can also be a practical
Buying ethical and affordable chocolate is really hard
Those of you who celebrate Easter will have noticed that your easter egg has either got smaller or more expensive. But spare a thought for those who want to buy ethical chocolate - they have a different problem. How do you know your chocolate is ethical, and how much extra should
Coal's (very) long goodbye
Bloomberg (republished in various newspapers) recently highlighted coal's recent period of resurgence, on the back of China's energy insecurity, rising Indian demand, the fallout of the Ukraine war, and "faltering international programs to wean developing economies off fossil fuels". If we go back a
Has Britain's diversity drive backfired?
We have recently seen 'DEI' come under fire, particularly in North America, but also in Europe. "Britain's diversity drive has backfired?" was the headline of a recent Telegraph article that caught our eye via a LinkedIn post from Paul Sesay. On 20 March 2024,
Temperature control is a key electricity demand driver
In Hannah Ritchie's recent Sustainability by numbers blog, she asks the question "what do American households use electricity for?" As many of you will know, Hannah is a data scientist and deputy editor and lead researcher at Our World in Data. She dives into data from
Facilitating inclusion
At a recent Australia and New Zealand Roadshow in London organised by the UK Department for Business and Trade, I met Denise Crouch and Jamie Crathern from LapSafe who talked passionately about their business. LapSafe provide smart lockers, trolleys and cabinets to organisations in the education, healthcare, manufacturing and other
Economic shutdown in the energy transition
It's not just the total cost of the alternatives that we need to consider, it's the operating cost advantage. Much of what we read about transition technologies, such as EVs, heat pumps and renewable electricity generation, focuses on new capacity being added. So new EV sales
EV charging on a neighbours driveway?
A recent report from Zenith suggests that only 1 in 7 UK EV drivers use public charge points. The EVXperience Report (EVX2), which polled almost 2,800 of Zenith’s EV customers, also shows that more than two-thirds (69%) primarily rely on charging off-street at home. The good
Legal opinion - no surprise, directors do need to consider nature related risks
The Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative, together with Pollination, commissioned a legal opinion from a team of corporate and financial law barristers on the duties of UK company directors and the need to consider and assess nature related risks. For regular readers of our blogs, it will come as no
Thinking differently about energy: it's not like-for-like
Michael Liebreich published part 2 of his series of essays titled "Net Zero Will Be Harder Than You Think – And Easier!" Last September we discussed part 1 in which Michael focused on the challenges in transitioning to net zero (the 'harder' bit) 👉🏾 https://www.thesustainableinvestor.org.
Sunday Brunch: the building blocks for a good strategy
Financial accounts might sound like they are only for financial specialists. But that would be wrong. The financial Annual Report should also be about sustainability.