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January 20, 2021:<\/strong> <\/span> USA, Joe Biden’<\/strong>s first <\/a>executive <\/a>orders<\/a> for the environment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n January 15, 2021:<\/strong> <\/span> Summit on Biodiversity<\/strong> (One Planet Summit), 52 countries<\/strong> have committed: to work for the protection of 30% of terrestrial and marine spaces <\/strong>by 2030<\/strong>; to promote Agroecology <\/strong>($14.3 <\/strong>billion budgeted); to promote finance for biodiversity <\/strong>(Natural Capital Investment Alliance with HSBC, Lombard Odier, Mirova<\/strong>) and with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD<\/strong>) like TCFD for Climate; to cooperate to prevent zoonotic diseases <\/strong>with PREZODE (PREventing ZOonotic Diseases Emergence) initiative supported by the FAO. ((Source oneplanetsummit.fr<\/a> + link to PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n October 12, 2020:<\/strong> <\/span>The European Commission (EC) delays the implementation of level 2 SFDR<\/strong> (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) at \u2018the beginning of 2022\u2019 (likely January 2022)<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Level 1 regulation<\/a> <\/strong>(what is “high level and principle-based requirements) “will enter into force in March 2021<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other level 2 SFDR Articles<\/strong>, among which Art. 4 on Transparency of adverse sustainability impacts at entity level, are to be delayed to January 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NB: The Commission has written to two trade associations, the Italian Assogestioni and the German Bundesverband Investment und Asset Management in response to their calls for a general deferral of the SFDR requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n October <\/strong><\/span>1st, 2020:<\/span><\/strong> answers from 125 respondents to the European Union public consultation on the future law about compulsory indicators <\/strong>by March 2021<\/strong> for Financial Market Participants are now available online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.esma.europa.eu\/press-news\/consultations\/joint-esa-consultation-esg-disclosures<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dowloading the answers and reading them is very useful because one can see which bank, insurance company, organization, or country defends animal welfare, animal rights or not, is pro or against fossil fuel energies, wishes mandatory indicators or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the answers : <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Only WWF and Vegan Finance (VF) have included the word “animal”<\/strong> and animal criterion <\/strong>as a suggested mandatory indicator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. A vast majority of banks, insurance companies and lobbies are against compulsory indicators<\/strong> or want to limit them to a maximum of 10 vs. 32 initially, such as BNP, Groupama, Amundi, Allianz, State Street, Aberdeen, Allianz, Candriam, Invesco, US Chamber of Commerce, MEDEF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Only few players are for mandatory indicators,<\/strong> such as: WWF, Vegan Finance, Bloomberg, CFA Institute, Moody’s\/ Vigeo Eiris\/ Four Twenty Seven, CDP, Mirova, Environment Agency Austria, 2\u00b0 Investing Initiative, Better Finance, Climate Disclosure Standards Board<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Only few organizations propose an extension <\/strong>of the definition of fossil fuels<\/strong>, limited to solid forms only <\/span>(by the definition of the law project), to liquid <\/strong>et gaseous <\/strong>forms : WWF, Vegan Finance, UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Mirova, Invesco, Schroders, European Banking Federation, Office of Environment (Liechtenstein), CDP, Environment Agency Austria, Environment Agency Austria, Belgian Financial Sector Federation, Sustainable Finance Committee to the German government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a reminder, animal welfare indicators are not listed at all<\/strong> in this law project whereas the EU \u00abFrom Farm to Fork<\/a> \u00bb Strategy underlines to what extent it is urgent to address the issue of animal welfare for the environment and the society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vegan Finance’s action has proposed <\/strong>in August 2020 a list of mandatory indicators<\/strong> and metrics that include the following themes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our detailed response to the EU is ici<\/a><\/strong> and now on their website<\/a>. Please feel free to contact us at contact@veganfinance.org if you have any question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n September 23, 2020:<\/span><\/strong> according to Swiss Re report<\/a><\/strong>, 55% of global GDP depends on biodiversity<\/span><\/strong> which represents USD 42 trillion [compared to world’s GDP 2017 $81 trn] – a fifth of countries worldwide are at risk from ecosystem collapse as biodiversity declines<\/span><\/strong>, among them: Australia, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Morocco, Tunisia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Mexico<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n September 21, 2020: <\/strong><\/span>Animal rights, animal-welfare and environmental progess cannot exist without good<\/strong> governance<\/strong>, which is a prerequisite<\/strong>. That is why, it is important to underline the “FinCEN files<\/span><\/strong>” scandal: the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists<\/strong> (ICIJ) has revealed that during 20 years, from 1997 to 2017<\/em>, major banks have let ciculated not less than USD 2,100 billions, the origin of which is not identified and suspicious, and would come from: money laundering<\/strong> and criminal activities (terrorism, drug and weapons traffficking, corruption, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The major banks involved in this money laundering scandal are by order of importance: Deutsche bank, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered, Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays, Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale, HSBC, State Street Corporation, Commerzbank AG, China Investment Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n September 21st, 2020:<\/span> <\/strong>Environmental impact has to be targetted where it is effective the most. Consider that “the richest one percent<\/strong> of the world\u2019s population are responsible for<\/strong> more than twice as much carbon pollution <\/strong>as the 3.1 billion people who made up the poorest half of humanity<\/strong> during a critical 25-year period<\/strong> of unprecedented emissions growth”, according to OXFAM <\/strong>report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, the NPO suggest that : “Governments can tackle both extreme inequality and the climate crisis if they target the excessive emissions of the richest <\/strong>et invest in poor and vulnerable communities<\/strong>. For example, a recent study found that the richest 10 percent of households use almost half (45 percent) of all the energy linked to land transport and three quarters of all energy linked to aviation. Transportation accounts for around a quarter of global emissions today, while SUVs were the second biggest driver of global carbon emissions growth between 2010 and 2018″.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n La poorest<\/strong> 50 percent of humanity comprised approximately 3.1 billion<\/strong> people on average between 1990 and 2015, the richest 10 percent <\/strong>comprised approx. 630 million people<\/strong>, the richest 5 percent approx. 315 million people, and the richest one percent<\/strong> approximately 63 million<\/strong> people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2015, around half the emissions of the richest 10 percent<\/strong> – people with net income over $38,000<\/strong> – are linked to citizens in the US<\/strong> and the EU<\/strong> and around a fifth<\/strong> with citizens of China <\/strong>et India<\/strong>. Over a third of the emissions of the richest one percent <\/strong>\u2013 people with net income over $109,000<\/strong> – are linked to citizens in the US<\/strong>, with the next biggest contributions from citizens of the Middle East<\/strong> et China<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n September 18th, 2020: <\/strong><\/span>For BP, the oil decline <\/strong>has already started. In its report <\/a>on energy outlook, the major considers three transition scenarios to a greener energy by 2050, where gas and renewables will have higher shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n September 15th, 2020: <\/strong><\/span>the United Nations warns <\/a>on the unprecedent loss of biodiversity<\/strong> since the last 10 years :<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fifth edition of the UN\u2019s Global Biodiversity Outlook report can be found at this page<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n September 21st, 2020:<\/span> <\/strong>Global warming alert<\/span> ! “Arctic sea ice<\/strong> decline stalls out at second lowest minimum<\/strong>” according to the US National Snow and Ice Data center<\/strong> (NSIDC). The full report is ici<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n September 9th, 2020: <\/strong><\/span>the trade agreement between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (the Mercosur bloc) <\/strong>fails<\/strong> <\/span>on sustainability test <\/strong>according a report published on One Earth <\/strong>made by the Oxford <\/strong>university and an international group of researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Link to the full report ici<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the same subject, France <\/strong>could reject <\/strong>the Mercosur <\/strong>agreement: the increase of 2 to 3% in beef production <\/strong>which would result from a greater opening of the markets of the two continents should lead, by mobilizing additional pastures<\/strong>, to an acceleration of annual deforestation by 5%<\/strong> during the six years following the application of the agreement. By multiplying CO2 emissions, this deforestation makes the environmental cost of the agreement too high in relation to its economic benefits<\/strong> (link <\/a>to the article).<\/p>\n\n\n\n September 2nd, 2020:<\/strong> <\/span>Publication of the 2020 ranking of the top most popular vegan countries in the word<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, based on Google trends<\/strong>. It is interesting to note that more traditionally meat and dairy loving countries are turning vegan as New-Zealand, Australia or Ireland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the same subject, the US Department of Agriculture <\/strong>“sensitive but unclassified<\/strong>” report on “Germany is leading Vegan Revolution in Europe<\/span><\/strong>“can be found ici<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n January 29th, 2018: <\/span><\/strong>Vegan Finance response <\/strong><\/a>to Public Consultation of the SASB <\/strong>on their standards<\/strong>. We have communicated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n All public Comments on the Exposure Draft Standards are ici<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: The SASB standards identify Year 2020<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Year 2018<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n