Tackle climate or face financial crash, say world's biggest investors | The Guardian

Global investors managing $32tn issued a stark warning to governments at the UN climate summit on Monday, demanding urgent cuts in carbon emissions and the phasing out of all coal burning. Without these, the world faces a financial crash several times worse than the 2008 crisis, they said.

Climate Change Moves From Risk to Reward | Bloomberg Quint

Major financial institutions have joined together in the U.S. Alliance for Sustainable Finance under Bloomberg’s leadership. 

Sustainable finance: central banks test water on climate risks | Financial Times

Paul Fisher was recently interviewed by the Financial Times as part of an article on sustainable finance. The article provides a good summery of the activities in this area as well as some useful links.

The Climate Apocalypse Is Now, and It’s Happening to You | Wired

“Multiple cities will be uninhabitable and migration patterns will be far beyond those levels already creating pressure worldwide.” 

GFG Chairman Sanjeev Gupta awarded Climate Alliance Business Leader of the Year

Congratulations to Sanjeev Gupta!

World must triple efforts or face catastrophic climate change, says UN | The Guardian

Rapid emissions turnaround needed to keep global warming at less than 2C, report suggests.

Opinion | I was wrong on climate change. Why can’t other conservatives admit it, too? | Washington Post

The Three Most Chilling Conclusions From the Climate Report | The Atlantic

According to the report, human-caused climate change has heated and dried out the American Southwest, leading to deaths, enormous costs, and lingering health consequences.

We Are So Screwed: Study Warns Of 5 Degree Celsius Warming By 2100 | Clean Technica

Nice work, humans. We have conspired to foul our own nest so egregiously that our extinction is now all but assured. All that left to do is rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic as we slowly but surely extinguish any chance that we have of survival.

APRA names panel, deadline for enforcement strategy review | The Australian

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has advised that deputy chairman John Lonsdale will head an advisory panel that will review its enforcement strategy. The members of the advisory panel are former judge Robert Austin, the ACCC’s Sarah Court and University of New South Wales professor Dimity Kingsford Smith. The review has been commissioned in response to criticism of APRA in the financial services royal commission’s interim report, which noted the regulator’s reluctance to prosecute banks and insurers for misconduct.

The forsaken children strike back: 21 young people sue to save planet | SMH

The Trump administration is being sued by 21 children on behalf of themselves and future generations.

CommBank commits to 100% renewables | Renew Economy

One of Australia’s biggest financial institutions, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has become the first Australian-owned major corporate to pledge to go 100 per cent renewables, joining another 154 international companies that have signed up to the global RE100 program. 

Woodside Petroleum joins BHP and Rio Tinto to call for carbon price | The Guardian

‘By the time the science is proven, it will be too late to act,’ chief Peter Coleman says

Climate Alliance National Conference and Leadership Award presentations

Don’t forget to book your seat - only 2 weeks to go!

This year's conferences will focus on three areas:

• Leading edge insights into EU public policy changes that may soon impact Australian businesses.

• Power generators’ insights into navigating the changes in markets and regulations.

• The challenges equities investors face in managing their portfolios, in the face of these changes.

The 2018 Business Leadership Award winners will be announced at the conclusion of the conference. Tickets are $150 inc GST and you can get your tickets here: Melbourne 27th November and Sydney 29th November.

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We also have a few seats left at an exclusive private dining experience at the RACV Club in Melbourne on Monday 26th November, where you will have the opportunity to meet other like-minded senior executives and participate in a thought provoking conversation with Dr Paul Fisher, former executive director at the Bank of England.

Tickets are $220 each and are all inclusive (dinner and a selection of fine wines). Tickets can be booked here.

The warming of our world | Vox

This excellent article provides very graphic forecasts of where US weather is heading. In the Mid West, temperatures are predicted to increase by 5F. The CSIRO has developed a tool that provides similar information on the temperature outlook for Australia.

SBA relaunched as the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia

Sustainable Business Australia has been relaunched as the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia (BCSD Australia). The new BCSD Australia can be found at here.

Established in 1991, Sustainable Business Australia (SBA) has been the peak body for Australian businesses committed to sustainability and acting on climate change. It is a CEO-led coalition of leading corporate names and organisations. It was recently announced that Dr John Hewson from the Australian National University had joined the SBA Board of Directors and Dr Hewson is the Chair-elect for the newly named BCSD Australia.

“The Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement signal the need for a deep change in the way our economies work, and in the way our energy, mobility, urbanisation, food and social systems contribute to planetary and societal well-being. We advocate that business has a leading role to play as the world embarks upon this vital journey,” said Mr Bakker, President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Below is Mr Bakker’s excellent presentation: Fiona Wain Oration 2018

AICD Director Sentiment Index Survey H2 2018 | Minter Ellison

Directors want action on climate change and renewable energy: For the first time directors nominated climate change as the number one issue the federal government needs to address in the long-term.

Download the full report here

Read Minter Ellison’s post which covers the key points identified in the survey and contains links to related media.

You can also download the summary report from AICD’s website.

Key takeouts

Directors want action on climate change and renewable energy: For the first time directors nominated climate change as the number one issue the federal government needs to address in the long-term. 

In agreement on the need for stronger governance: Directors across all industries are focused on governance practices and acknowledge the need for changes to deal with current governance issues.  There is strong support (52%) for an increase in penalties for misconduct and for an increase in funding for regulators (57% support). 

Less optimistic overall: Director sentiment has declined for the first time in 18 months (and was down 8.5 points on the last survey) although it remains positive at +4.2.  The AICD attributes the decline largely to directors feeling more pessimistic around regulation, legal issues and directorship conditions more broadly.

PRA ‘expects’ banks and insurers to report climate risks | Gibson Media

"Insurers and banks are to be expected to manage and report their climate-related risks, according to a draft supervisory statement from the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

The consultation paper, which was described as “a major step for a regulator of a global financial centre”, says the risks from climate change are far-reaching and foreseeable and require a strategic approach." Read More