Featured
ESG fights for its place in mining sector’s sacred tome
For decades, the JORC code has been the little-known foundation upon which $544 billion in market value has been built. Now it’s getting a big shake-up.
- Peter Ker
Welcome to the nature positive investing movement
Institutional investors see natural capital as the next force in corporate governance, with big implications for companies growing and selling food.
- James Eyers
- Updated
- Carbon challenge
Glencore says ESG mood has ‘evolved’ and it will keep coal mining
The Swiss-based commodities giant had proposed spinning off the fossil fuel into a separate company but has decided to retain the division.
- Updated
- Peter Ker
Boards plead with Labor not to rush broader sustainability rules
The warning from the Australian Institute of Company Directors came despite concerns Australia is “cherry-picking” global sustainability reporting standards.
- Patrick Durkin
Damning Tiwi Island judgment makes bank CEOs wary of in-person visits
Major lenders had promised to send bosses to meet traditional owners near Santos’ Barossa gas project. The Federal Court has made them reconsider.
- James Eyers
June
Nature the next frontier but boards lack skills
Biodiversity is critical for maintaining a liveable planet, but a deficit of skills at the board level is proving a roadblock in accounting for its value.
- Lucy Dean
Australia is ‘cherry-picking’ sustainability reporting standards
It is one of few jurisdictions that has agreed to apply new reporting standards only partially, says former super fund chief David Atkin.
- Sally Patten
Companies undeterred by failure of the Voice referendum
Big companies such as Westpac say the failure of the Voice referendum will not dissuade them from campaigning on social issues.
- Sally Patten and Patrick Durkin
Investors ought to show fossil fuel companies ‘understanding’: TCorp
The journey to net zero is ‘riddled with uncertainty’ and investors need to have some sympathy for companies, ESG executive Alexis Cheang says.
- Ronald Mizen and Joanna Mather
Super funds target fast food giants over antibiotic use
Superannuation funds have opened a new ESG front by demanding companies such as McDonald’s provide more information about their use of antibiotics.
- Ronald Mizen
Proposed director disclosures may raise privacy concerns
Leading directors question whether an ASX proposal to recommend board members disclose their sexuality, age, ethnicity and any disabilities would add value.
- Sally Patten and Patrick Durkin
Honesty and action key to limiting ‘real’ greenwashing
The risk of regulatory crackdowns should not turn companies off making climate change commitments, provided they manage them well.
- Hannah Wootton
- Opinion
- Opinion
The biomethane route to cutting emissions
Renewables such as solar and wind get most of the policy attention, but businesses are experimenting with other low-carbon fuels.
- Jennifer Hewett
Climate targets ‘challenged’ as energy transition stumbles
The energy transition is proving much more costly and difficult than anticipated.
- Sally Patten
- Opinion
- Opinion
In the ESG debate, this is what’s really torching shareholder value
For all the talk about the “E” in “ESG”, what gets CEOs sacked and costs investors money are old-fashioned social licence and governance issues.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
Keep food scraps onshore for future aircraft fuel: industry
Singapore is quickly developing the capacity to convert waste into aviation fuel.
- Peter Ker
Security and affordability over net zero: energy giant Jemena
Rising geopolitical risks should prompt a rethink of Australia’s energy priorities so reliability of supply and affordability rank above the net zero transition.
- Ronald Mizen
The Energy Trilemma: rethinking the order of merit
Jemena managing director David Gillespie says that in the pull between sustainability, energy security and affordability, security is the most important factor.
- Updated
- Opinion
- Opinion
After the Voice, October 7, should business say less?
How should companies respond to contested social and political issues not directly related to core business?
- Patrick Langrell
May
‘Every country is worried about what’s happening in the US’
ESG champion David Atkin runs a global organisation with 5300 signatories that manage a total of $US121 trillion – about half of global funds under management.
- Ben Potter
March
Rethinking corporate responsibility
Join the debate around the future of ESG in today’s business and financial markets at the 2024 Financial Review ESG Summit.
February
Boutique adviser 333 Capital in the thick of WICET’s $3b refi
While small parcels of WICET debt have changed hands, so far there isn’t a dominant player on track to building a big exposure.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
June 2023
Keeping AGL off page one, Longo’s warning, and other tips on ESG
AGL chairwoman Patricia McKenzie joked that one of her new KPIs is keeping the company off the front page of “The Australian Financial Review”. She was one of numerous key industry leaders at the AFR ESG Summit this week.
- Opinion
- Electricity
Energy transition is trapped in ‘approval quicksand’
The clean energy transmission approvals process has been so dismal that fresh thinking is needed.
- Updated
- Ben Potter
‘Just transition’ critical in achieving net-zero
Supporting low-income customers as the economy shifts to net zero is the next frontier for companies implementing ESG strategies, executives say.
- Updated
- Ben Potter and Lucy Dean