Harry Etra

Climate Capital Guidebook: Last month the White House released a Climate Capital Guidebook to provide a simple map of capital programs (grants, loans, and equity investments) across the federal government available to climate-related #startups, small- and medium-sized businesses, and their investors. This Guidebook contains information on programs made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and annual appropriations. Each program has information on eligible entities (with specific information relevant to startups like whether pre-revenue companies are eligible), eligible uses, deal size, application requirements, the program website, and more, as well as points of contact so businesses can get quick answers to their questions. #climate #capitalaccess https://lnkd.in/gP--uBPG

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Who doesn't love a five-minute video version of a 45-page written report?!? 😎 Check out the amazing work done by my Fifth Wall colleagues and our incredible portfolio companies on the #energytransition and #decarbonizing the #builtenvironment.

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Webinar: Climate Change and Financial Strength of Water Sector Utilities Thursday, September 12th | 2- 3:30 pm ET This webinar will discuss high level information about how climate change can affect the financial strength of water sector utilities and their access to financing and insurance, and it will feature perspectives from the water utility, credit rating, investor and insurance sectors. The intended audience is water sector utilities of all types, but especially those that have little to no background knowledge of the financial issues related to climate change. You can register for the webinar at this link: https://lnkd.in/g8NgvcGj.

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NIRI takeaways related to climate! 🌿 Key takeaways from discussions and polls from our panels at the NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations conference: 1. Lots of discussion of climate 2. Focus on data rigor 3. Uncertainty about the litigation against the SEC and California and what it will mean for timing of compliance Many other important discussions. This is always such a great opportunity to LEARN! Huge thanks to John Moten, IRC, Niels Holch, Mike Wallace and the NIRI team. Looking forward to next year. It's a great way to keep a pulse on what investors and analysts are asking companies. #investorrelations #climatechange

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There are 4️⃣ major regulatory mandatory reporting jurisdictions: (1)) California, (2) US SEC (3) EC CSRD and (4) Intl ISSB. It’s great to see the voluntary #sustainability reporting platforms Like CDP align with these major regulatory standards; in the case of this story, the ISSB. 👍🏼 We are getting closer and closer to transparency, comparability and accountability on corporate sustainability. CDP International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

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I was quoted in The Wall Street Journal, by H. Claire Brown on how companies are evolving their approach to #ESG and #sustainability. As we've found at The Conference Board, businesses have adjusted their ESG terminology and programs in a time of political backlash and market correction. But the underlying work and commitments remain strong. Check out the full article:

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- CSRD and multiple other country-level laws with more coming - emerging U.S. state regulations - increasing customer, investor, and lender requirements - keeping up with peers and industry standards "Voluntary" climate reporting is applicable to fewer and fewer companies. Let's look past the fear of accounting and disclosure and start looking at the opportunity for ... - cost savings - risk mitigation - competitive advantage - innovation

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🌍 Massachusetts companies are navigating new ESG disclosure regulations from the SEC, EU, and states like California. 🌱 In the Fall of 2023, CA passed a law requiring carbon- emissions disclosures, and in March 2024, the US SEC released new climate regulations. Be prepared! Read AIM member Sustainserv brief for more insights: https://okt.to/sVoIuP #ESG #Sustainability #AIMMember #AIM #AIMhigh #WhatsUrAIM

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New EU regulations on ESG reporting will compel large companies to submit a raft of additional information by July 2025. My colleague Katie Parry offers a primer on CSRD and how companies can prepare.

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I'm very much looking forward to GreenBiz25, where corporate sustainability and finance leaders will be addressing the critical "capital gap," as research from GlobeScan, Robert Eccles and Alison Taylor termed it. That is, while #sustainability is (self-reportedly) a key priority by commercial enterprises, the shortfall between funds for sustainability efforts and available capital is significant. Many companies have yet to derive tangible value – or realized the "business case" – from their commitments. Highlights on the agenda so far, with a star-studded lineup of (all female) experts: 🌲 How leading companies are transforming environmental stewardship into a competitive advantage, with Impact Pathways's Chris Hagler, Morgan Stanley's Courtney Thompson and the Wildlife Conservation Society's Ashley Camhi, Ph.D. 💸 How investors and analysts are scrutinizing companies' decarbonization efforts to determine value, with Apollo Global Management, Inc.'s Carletta Ooton and Deutsche Bank's (and former GreenBiz 30 under 30) Shrinal Sheth 🤝 How sustainability teams are spearheading climate transition plans while collaborating with finance and legal teams to strengthen development, implementation, and disclosure strategies, with Ceres, Inc.'s Laura Draucker and Vontier's Katie Rowen And much more to come! Stay tuned, and see you in Phoenix. Katie Ryan Trellis Group #sustainablefinance

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New data on the quality of ESG audits catches regulators’ attention. https://lnkd.in/gXrkC4Kj A closer look at ESG verification is influencing the debate over requiring corporations to report their carbon Thanks to Stanford University Graduate School of Business and @Alexander Gelfand #ESG #audit #KPI #climatechange #carbonemission #environment

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Congratulations to PwC Sustainability leaders for another remarkably informative webinar. Heather Horn is an informed AND informative moderator. Valerie Wieman and Emily Kirsch always crisp, to the point and informative. Thanks for the reminder - and good info - on Green Taxonomy. Marcin Olewinski gives practical, relevant info on climate and GHG. OK, I'm a PwC alum - but no bias here! For anyone wanting to launch a career in this field, or sharpen your existing skills, it's hard to beat PwC's Viewpoint. Check out the replays - and fasten your seat belt. https://lnkd.in/gDghyvDY #Sustainability #Sustainabilityreporting #GHGemissions

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The latest

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ESG Ratings Providers Government response to ESG ratings providers condoc published. Only a handful of responses from civil society. Here is FIC's: https://lnkd.in/e76YMTmV. Good to see commitment to regulate. But several problems. 'The overall process of....commencing the ESG ratings regulatory regime is expected to take approximately four years'. Four years! In meantime, we have FCA's voluntary code developed by a group dominated by finance representatives. Gov not regulating ESG data nor it seems the models that determine ratings. V risky. We could be in a position where ESG ratings providers comply with new reg standards but the 'products' are still v misleading. The idea that 'competition' will drive up the quality of models and data is rather hopeful. Do policymakers really think that insurers,banks,asset managers will choose the most robust ratings models or that pension trustees/retail investors will have enough nous to ensure most robust models are used? To hold finance to account for harming people and planet, we need reliable foundational data eg. emissions data to allow independent analysts to build up composite models which provide an objective assessment of the degree of climate harm contained within financial portfolios. Ratings should be built on robust definitions and hard data, not 'qualitative' assessments of the 'intentions' of financial institutions or transition plans. Narrative based approaches allow for obfuscation. See: https://lnkd.in/erxdR6rs UK is bascially adopting IOSCO approach to assessment which is far too subjective, narrative and qualitative based. So, unless civil society can find a way to create truly objective ratings based on, say, emissions data this new regime is unlikely to do much to hold the City to account for enabling climate harm.  The S part of ESG has its own issues. The current approach promoted by advocates of 'Impact finance' sets a v low bar. See: https://lnkd.in/dHsh6Am2 And Gov response has obligatory 'Growth is the number one mission of this government' statement. There are 2 ways to be competitive and promote growth - i. robust regulation to ensure quality and trust; or ii. weak regulation to attract business (regulatory arbitrage) and reduce costs in short term. Which path will Gov and FCA (under real pressure to promote the City) choose? #ESG #financialregulation #greenwashing #impactwashing https://lnkd.in/erYrPUXa

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Next week at #ClimateWeekNYC, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) will host a roundtable event to discuss the revisions coming to the GRI #Climate Change & #Energy Standards with GRI Community members & the experts of the GRI Standards Climate Technical Committee. Organizations like Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT), WWF, Science Based Targets initiative, Ørsted & Microsoft will give introductory presentations on the critical subtopics related to the new draft disclosures & interactive discussions will follow. Key topics to be covered include: - scope 3 accounting - target-setting - organizational boundaries - transition strategies - just transition - carbon credits. The event is an opportunity to discuss & give final inputs to the Technical Committee to finalize open issues after which the publication of the #GRIStandards in Q1 2025. We look forward to this in-person session with our GRI Community. If you're interested in joining the GRI Community & this event during #ClimateWeek, find more info here: https://lnkd.in/egvk9t8s #ClimateChange #SustaiabilityReporting #JustTransition #Carbon #Impact #ImpactReporting #Transparency #CarbonAccounting #Scope3 #NetZero #SocialImpact #GHGProtocol #ESG #ESGReporting #DoubleMateriality

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Here’s an excerpt this Substack note from Matthew Sekol: "If companies want far upstream suppliers to decarbonize, pressure and incentives to report won’t work. This means there is no simple way out of this challenge. To support change this far up in the value chain, it takes significant cooperation, engagement, and policy support to drive this complex transition. And perhaps at this level, we find the most significant lesson in our never-ending chase for carbon accounting. Every company will have core material issues like this that can only be solved at the systemic level. At this low-lit intersection, we find the impact of material ESG issues with impact. Few companies have reached this destination. A handful of management teams are standing at the well-lit intersection of ESG and disclosures but are curiously looking at this intersection with distant interest. While the world is focused on point solutions focused on mitigation through measuring and managing, we need to be aware of three key points: • Carbon may not be your most material environmental issue. • The further up the supply chain, the more difficult systemic issues are to address without a systemic approach. • Adaptation may take precedence over mitigation for specific industries due to near-term and long-term challenges, like climate risk. For now, rather than pressuring high-upstream value chain players with surveys and emissions reporting, we need to ensure they are focused on adaptation for near-term climate risk issues. Otherwise, they may not survive the short term to be long-term suppliers. Proxy data and averages can help alleviate this pressure. #esg #climate https://lnkd.in/ecm4RArQ

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The biggest and loudest lesson about the New York City congestion pricing battle and legal attacks against ESG finance shifts, in general, is that advocacy for it has been out-organized. Precarious progress quickly buckles under attacks from the high-carbon cartels and neoliberal Democrats. This is the general issue with the progressive environmental side here in the hyper-individualistic neoliberal captured US. We will continue to be out-organized until we shift to broader networked organizing of organizers and groups of groups across all levels of governance.

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As a big believer in Impact Investing, I encourage all to read the post here by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. This blog gives a clear and comprehensive look at how this approach brings value to the communities they serve. #impact

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