OSLO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic may be accelerating a shift among companies worldwide to make their operations more environmentally sustainable, a high-ranking official at Norway's $1.25 trillion sovereign wealth fund said on Monday.
The fund is one of the world's largest investors, channelling revenues from Norway's oil and gas production into the stocks of some 9,200 companies abroad, or 1.5% of the world's stocks. It also holds bonds and unlisted real estate.
"The pandemic has not weakened sustainability work, but perhaps strengthened it," Carine Smith Ihenacho, the fund's head of governance and compliance, told a news conference, citing a survey the fund had done among a sample of firms it invests in.
Some 67% of 1,521 companies it surveyed in 2020 said they had set long-term quantitative targets to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, up from 54% in 2019, when 1,500 firms were surveyed.
Some 48% of companies surveyed in 2020 had considered different climate scenarios in their business plans or strategy, up from 35% in 2019, the fund said.
"The head of a big European company told us that the pandemic has accelerated work on sustainability," Smith Ihenacho said. She did not name the firm or the executive.
She did not spell out why the pandemic was making more companies more inclined to sustainable operations.
Still, a majority of companies surveyed this year - 52% - has not considered different climate scenarios in their business plan or strategy.
The fund is canvassing companies because it wants to test the business model of the biggest CO2 emitters in its portfolio and see whether they have a business model that can survive in a low-carbon society.
The fund had previously said it was planning to publish, ahead of time, its voting intentions at the annual general meetings of the 9,200 companies it invests in.
On Monday, the fund said it would do so five days before the vote is scheduled, and that it would start doing so from next month, making the information searchable on its website nbim.no.
"We want to be world-leading on this," CEO Nicolai Tangen told a news conference.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Europe's banks have a way to go on sustainability - BlackRock study
By Simon Jessop and Kate Abnett
Mon, December 14, 2020
By Simon Jessop and Kate Abnett
Mon, December 14, 2020
The facade of the EU Commission headquarters is reflected in the windows of the EU Council building in Brussels
LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's banks are not integrating climate change and other sustainability concerns into their risk management systems as quickly as regulators expect, a study by BlackRock for the European Union showed on Monday.
In an interim report, BlackRock said it had analysed feedback from the region's lenders and found most were only just starting to reflect environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks in their internal processes.
A final report, which will be used by Brussels to help develop new regulations, is due by April next year.
"While interviewed banks often state that they have initiatives in place to enhance the integration of ESG risks, the majority have not formalised an ESG risk integration strategy with clear timelines and responsibilities," it said.
"With respect to climate risk, many smaller banks stated that they have not yet started its integration into risk management," the report said.
It also found that only a minority of regulators provide guidance to banks on ESG risks or reflect it in their oversight processes, such as through climate-related stress tests.
"The majority of supervisors interviewed do not yet have any quantitative indicators in place to monitor and assess the exposure of supervised banks to ESG risks," the report said.
While some banks have begun to launch ESG-related products and make commitments to meet the terms of the Paris Agreement on climate, the report said that in the view of many civil society organisations, efforts by lenders so far fell short.
"The Commission is committed to transparency. As promised, we published BlackRock's interim report today," a European Commission spokesman said. "This report is only a preliminary analysis of data collected so far. The final report is to be submitted to the Commission at a later stage."
The EU's appointment in April of the world's biggest asset manager to help it plan future prudential regulations has raised concerns about conflicts of interest.
While the bloc's Ombudswoman said last month that the Commission had failed to consider such conflicts properly, she did not cancel the contract.
(This story corrects quotes attributed to the report throughout)
(Reporting by Simon Jessop and Kate Abnett; Editing by David Clarke)
LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's banks are not integrating climate change and other sustainability concerns into their risk management systems as quickly as regulators expect, a study by BlackRock for the European Union showed on Monday.
In an interim report, BlackRock said it had analysed feedback from the region's lenders and found most were only just starting to reflect environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks in their internal processes.
A final report, which will be used by Brussels to help develop new regulations, is due by April next year.
"While interviewed banks often state that they have initiatives in place to enhance the integration of ESG risks, the majority have not formalised an ESG risk integration strategy with clear timelines and responsibilities," it said.
"With respect to climate risk, many smaller banks stated that they have not yet started its integration into risk management," the report said.
It also found that only a minority of regulators provide guidance to banks on ESG risks or reflect it in their oversight processes, such as through climate-related stress tests.
"The majority of supervisors interviewed do not yet have any quantitative indicators in place to monitor and assess the exposure of supervised banks to ESG risks," the report said.
While some banks have begun to launch ESG-related products and make commitments to meet the terms of the Paris Agreement on climate, the report said that in the view of many civil society organisations, efforts by lenders so far fell short.
"The Commission is committed to transparency. As promised, we published BlackRock's interim report today," a European Commission spokesman said. "This report is only a preliminary analysis of data collected so far. The final report is to be submitted to the Commission at a later stage."
The EU's appointment in April of the world's biggest asset manager to help it plan future prudential regulations has raised concerns about conflicts of interest.
While the bloc's Ombudswoman said last month that the Commission had failed to consider such conflicts properly, she did not cancel the contract.
(This story corrects quotes attributed to the report throughout)
(Reporting by Simon Jessop and Kate Abnett; Editing by David Clarke)
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