Jennifer Leitsch

One of the things I love about being a certified #bcorp is that when we see a systemic need, we lean in. Together with our extraordinary partners at the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, our team of subject matter experts, social scientists, and data scientists is conducting #research with thousands of Americans to uncover the prevailing beliefs, perceptions, and actions that underpin community-level #climaterisk and #resilience. We are so excited about the kinds of insights this research will bring to our #government partners to help them design and implement #evidencebased policies, programs, and public communications that improve our nation’s resilience to #climatechange.

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- CSRD and multiple other country-level laws with more coming - emerging U.S. state regulations - increasing customer, investor, and lender requirements - keeping up with peers and industry standards "Voluntary" climate reporting is applicable to fewer and fewer companies. Let's look past the fear of accounting and disclosure and start looking at the opportunity for ... - cost savings - risk mitigation - competitive advantage - innovation

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I am excited to co-author these new reports released today on GHG accounting and environmental disclosures and how they can be improved to better measure progress toward electricity grid decarbonization. Special thanks to co-authors: Roger Ballentine, Ben Hobbs, Armond Cohen, Toby Ferenczi, Jeanette Pablo, and Iain Kaplan. A new report series from Clean Air Task Force examines how existing greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting rules can be improved to enable companies to more accurately report emissions from purchased supply serving their electricity use and better assess and report the real-world emissions impacts from their actions. Thousands of companies have set voluntary clean energy and/or emissions reduction goals. Almost universally, these companies use established rules for reporting emissions arising indirectly from electricity use, as detailed in the GHG Protocol’s Corporate Standard and Scope 2 Guidance. But oftentimes current accounting measures do not accurately capture a company’s continued reliance on unabated fossil fuels for their electricity supply. They also don’t paint a complete picture of the climate impact of their procurement decisions. This report series finds that better GHG accounting and disclosures could fundamentally change how large electricity buyers are incentivized and recognized for buying clean energy and greatly increase their role in decarbonizing the electricity grid. https://lnkd.in/ekpwWVB8

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Sharing a fascinating #podcast with Allyson Anderson Book - a chief #sustainability officer who uses her background in geology and public policy to tackle decarbonization for her company and her clients as well as #sustainabilityreporting - don't miss this one - trust me #cso

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I want to praise Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) for taking this momentous step in the sustainability reporting landscape. At International Foundation For Valuing Impacts (IFVI) we look forward to the results this will bear as we build upon the frameworks and protocols produced by GRI and the ISSB to inform our methodology for #impactaccounting. For those not as tuned in to what’s going on behind the scenes in #ESG - this is huge. For years, those of us in the industry have acknowledged the need for collaboration, clarity, and interoperability in order to meet our shared goal of a just and sustainable global economy.  And there’s been real tangible progress towards that goal. The merging of SASB and IIRC into VRF. The consolidation of VRF into the IFRS/ISSB.  This news from GRI and the ISSB is another hallmark moment. This isn’t just meeting the moment of increased collaboration; it’s creating real harmony and rebalancing the industry to ensuring that companies have more clarity in sustainability standards and reporting. Hats off to Eelco van der Enden and Emmanuel Faber for the visionary leadership to get to this moment.  https://lnkd.in/eeW4fsr5

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Ready for your weekly dose of corporate sustainability insights? Here's this week's roundup. Recap: each Friday I share standout LinkedIn posts that help me, and might help others, keep up with the fast-moving #ESG / #sustainability landscape and build better-informed opinions. Here is a smörgåsbord of great posts from my feed this week: Steffen Otten uses satire to illustrate unintended consequences of sustainability efforts, emphasising the need for practitioners to think in systems. He explains how corporate sustainability can lead to consumers buying more "green" products that they don’t actually need, believing that they're saving the planet. This “double rebound” effect shows how good intentions can backfire. Heroes and villains aren’t always as they seem https://lnkd.in/eeHDY8By    Alison Taylor questions the growing reliance on small NGOs to regulate climate standards, despite their limited capacity to police massive corporations—and often being funded by the very companies they’re supposed to oversee. With regulatory efforts focusing on disclosure, NGOs are left to hold large corporations accountable. Amazon and the Bezos Earth Fund are called out for exerting undue influence over the Science Based Targets initiative. “When did we all decide it was up to small NGOs to control large corporations?” https://lnkd.in/e-hXGyB4 With disenchantment growing about the value of sustainability reports, Mike Barry has a fresh take. Drawing from experience at Marks and Spencer, he explains that reports can be powerful tools for driving progress. They surface challenges, build business cases, ensure consistency in targets and hold potential for real strategic impact by providing data to navigate complex futures https://lnkd.in/eigp9-R7 Clover Hogan reflects on the fixation with the individual actions of sustainability professionals, arguing that it fuels perfectionism and divisiveness. Ahead of Climate Week NYC, she calls for three things: 1) a supportive, ego-free culture that elevates others; 2) shifting focus from individual lifestyle changes to systemic solutions like wealth redistribution; 3) openness to diverse perspectives, encouraging respectful dialogue even in disagreement https://lnkd.in/ebVEcWe2 Kristina Wyatt shares her ‘must knows’ about the ESG Controller role, which is growing rapidly in both significance and demand in light of increasing sustainability compliance obligations. She neatly describes what the role is and how it might evolve. Might its institutionalisation free-up resources for, or divert them away from, driving real-world impact (or neither)? https://lnkd.in/eHsuhtRK Please react and repost if you find this helpful, and share any reflections and builds in the comments 😎 —————— ➕ Follow Ben Wood for a weekly roundup of insights on corporate sustainability and ESG - posted every Friday. 📧 DM me to learn more about how S7 can help you deliver sustainability compliance and use impact to drive value-creation.

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Transparency and Integrity in ESG Ratings I've spent a lot of time over the past couple of years debating the role that ESG ratings play in the ecosystem, and some of the challenges for both providers and users of these ratings. Recently announced regulations will shine an important light on governance and controls around this. My colleague Gregory Campbell - PwC UK's Regulatory Assurance Partner - has shared some thoughts on the implications of the new regulations and how companies can prepare for them.  Find out more here: https://pwc.to/4fHlnkF #Governance #ESG #RiskManagement

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Data and hands-on experience shows us that the hybrid approach to #sustainabilitymanagement, using a mix of online and offline resources is the most effective for both the #privateequity industry and #financialinstitutions in general. This triangular approach includes: - Building a robust ESG integration strategy and policy (see. CSF #2) - Choosing decision-useful ESG metrics (see. CSF #3) - Operationalizing ESG goals by investing in ESG resources Read more below...

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