There are a growing number of misdemeanors and offences that we have spotted in Sustainable Finance recently.
Whilst these started as fashion crimes the offences also showed underlying issues in the perpetrators who were using fashion decoys to cover their tracks.
Let’s take a look at the fashion crimes and what they tell us about Sustainable Finance…
Fashion Crime #1: BROWN CORDS
Evidence: Company in a Brown/Hard to abate sector with no detailed and credible transition plan.
Details of Offence: No detailed transition plan and strategy
Fashion Crime #2: BELL BOTTOMS
Evidence: Flaring gas (methane) and having no plan to deal with this (pretending it’s not a problem)
Details of Offence: No plans to address Methane leaks
Fashion Crime #3: ACID WASH JEANS
Evidence: Many sectors not address Scope 3 (the blotchy patterns of strategies confuse people) in their Sustainability Plans and Targets
Details of Offence: Not focusing on Scope 3 (value chain emissions), and in some industries this can be > 95% of overall GHG profile
Fashion Crime #4: WIDE TIES
Evidence: Companies look good (wide targets) but don’t have ambitious targets for ESG/Sustainability
Details of Offence: Non ambitious targets
Fashion Crime #5: WOOLEN LEG WARMERS
Evidence: Strategies look good and keep you cosy but offsets are behind the words which keep us all globally warmed
Details of Offence: Overuse of offsets
Fashion Crime #6: TRACKSUIT PANTS
Evidence: Companies trying to do Sustainability Linked Bonds/Loans with no KPI/Targets or purely qualitative commitments with very minor impact (all gear and no idea)
Details of Offence: Not including KPI/Targets properly into Linked Instruments
Fashion Crime #7: UGG BOOTS
Evidence: Nice fluffy words and sign offs from assurance providers for Linked Bonds and Loans that are low value (looking fluffed up but no substance)
Details of Offence: Assurance providers not undertaking detailed review and analysis (not meeting spirit of market principles)
Fashion Crime #8: HOOLAH HOOPS
Evidence: Companies going round and round and focusing on the net and not the zero of Net Zero
Details of Offence: Not focusing on what a company can do by itself and just using offsets to justify doing nothing
Fashion Crime #9: WEARING SOCKS AND SANDALS
Evidence: Strategies look tucked in and nice, but many companies forgetting about biodiversity, water, social and beyond decarbonization issues
Details of Offence: Forgetting the twin crises of GHG’s/global warming and the issues of biodiversity and social
Please join us and let us know when you can see through these fashion crimes and the link to underlying questionable practices and sustainable finance offences and misdemeanors!
