...and be cut by 45% by 2030 to stay sub-1.5 degrees | IPCC Working Group II: Distinctions between 'E' and 'S' can be a false dichotomy | IPCC Working Group III: "It's now or never" | Greenwashing continues? HBR article reviews work from University of Chicago, which finds high-ESG-rated mutual funds don't outperform, and an unrelated survey finds companies in ESG portfolio have worse labor and environment compliance records | Asian debt is exposed to ESG risks

ESG factors can help explain 1 in 4 potential bond downgrades says a recent study by S&P | Positive ESG ratings do not mean carbon free | Morgan Stanley study shows that bonds with rigorous sustainability targets tend to have superior price performance a month after an offering | Green real easts starts to see a "green premium"

...is how much we have to remove to hit 1.5 degrees | The US Department of Energy repositions the department of Fossil Energy as Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, and invests in R&D for carbon capture and storage | The Ford Mustang E triples production capacity | Livewire's SPAC: Harley Davidson will own 74% of the company | EVs are for rich people, who produce 50% of global carbon emissions

Generation finds that solutions for 50% of emissions getting 10% of the capital | Stanford's Research Initiative on Long-Term Investing uses AI to help capital allocators better understand ESG metrics in financial risk terms | 15% of green bond issuers are “controversial” - including Saudi Aramco and Qatar Energy | Test scores among 13-year olds decline for the first time in 50 years.

The U.S. Department of Defense publishes (a lot) ahead of COP | Morgan Stanley's report on the lack of diversity of investors driving diversity | Penn State/ROKK's survey finds Americans across the political spectrum support companies making a positive impact | DeFi's strong growth, and strong ESG credentials

Tariq Fancy - formerly of BlackRock - writes an essay | Desiree Fixler blows the whistle at DWS, and the SEC investigates | Aswath Damodaran suggests ESG creates more harm than good | Morningstar's paper on the forward-looking potential value of ESG | Regulations continues to gain momentum

...in ESG ratings, anyway | Impact Delta co-authors a white paper with Dream on the launch of its impact funds | HBS's report on quality over quantity of ESG data: the more data is provided, the more ESG scores tend to diverge | SFDR's first phase trims the size of assets under management claiming to be sustainable | Green bond issuance will top $1tn in 2021

This paper is the product of a collaboration between Dream and Impact Delta. Dream is one of Canada’s leading real estate companies, whose purpose is to deliver strong returns while delivering positive impact in the communities where it works. We advised Dream on the launch of its impact investing strategy, which is outlined here.

FTSE Russel threatens to expel 208 companies from its FTSE4Good index this week | DEI efforts are pushing the middle market to change | Summa's annual impact report: one of the first managers to highlight principal adverse impact indicators | Female and minority board member are on multiple Fortune 500 boards 35% more than white men

...and another record foe ESG flows | Exxon holds its annual shareholders's meeting | EQT's sustainability-linked bond: more expensive debt if ESG targets are not hit | PWC ESG Value Creation Survey: 66% of respondents cite value creation as one of the top 3 drivers of responsible investing | Morningstar: Q1 2021's net inflows into ESG funds were 5x Q1 2019

(Almost) everyone wants more disclosure | The EU enacts the first phase of its SFDR | The Maple 8 announcement: seeking better corporate disclosure of sustainability data | Why do some green bonds trade at a premium to other green bonds? | Sea level rose by 6.1mm in 2019, and by 1.4mm per year for most of the 20th century

...this is how much the G30 Working Group on Climate Change and Finance things global GDP will fall by in 2100, if the transition away from fossil fuels isn't faster | Impact Delta's new white paper: Getting Paid for New Behavior | Greenland's ice sheet lost 233bn tons of ice in July 2019, vs 255bn per year 2003-2016