Jessica, this is great! Thanks for reporting. Please don't leave out the insurance industry.. "the worse things are in the future, the more we can charge upfront.."
Thanks Sharon! Yes, First Street is firmly embedded in several agencies risk estimates. They claim at least 30 agencies: US Treasury’s Office of Financial Research, Fannie Mae, the HUD, the FHFA, the Consumer Finance Protection Board... and apparently the forestry service. Curious indeed.
The new ISSB/IFRS Sustainability and Climate related Financial Disclosure Standards S1 and S2 essentially embed GFANZ pledges into accounting, thus effectively doing an end-run around anti-trust accusations. Although the US will likely not adopt the ISSB standards, the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is aligned with the ISSB, thus American companies dealing in the EU or with EU companies will have to comply. Canada is also considering adpoting the ISSB standards thus American companies operating in Canada will have to comply. The SEC is also on the ISSB Jurisdictional Working Group and there is some indication that it is working to align the forthcoming climate rules with the ISSB. https://www.ifrs.org/groups/jurisdictional-working-group/#members
Of note, the big four accounting firms along with the WEF, IASB, CDSB, TCFD, VRF, were consulted on and helped draft the standards, then submitted comments supporting the standards, and some are listed as stakeholders wanting the standards.
At every opportunity, ISSB board members and supporters repeat the mantra that there's an urgent need for, and stakeholders are demanding, a new global language, a new global standard. But when pressed and asked who exactly is clamouring for this, which stakeholders in particular, there is either silence or a general statement of "investors" or "banking" or "capital markets".
There is a very real tightening and global standardization of ESG-style financial disclosures that will affect US companies even with the various counter-legislative measures introduced so far. Those companies currently voluntarily using TCFD reporting guidelines or the CDP or GRI questionnaires and metrics will also be pulled into this new global language since the CDP will use the ISSB disclosures, plus, the GRI has an MOU with the ISSB to collaborate on incorporating the ISSB disclosures with the GRI metrics.
We lefties hate the wealthy! ...but not really. We hate rich people who flaunt their grotesque lifestyles like sunning themselves aboard 300 foot yachts in the Mediterranean...oops, a bunch of them we like uh, who drive around in incredibly expensive cars that commoners can't afford...hold on, some of those cars are electric so that can't be right. I know, we hate wealthy people who fly all over the planet in shows of extravagance and waste...oh man lots of those people say stuff we LIKE, hmm, oh I got it, we dislike wealthy capitalists who get government to cram lots of subsidies into policy so they can make more money and ask taxpayers to cover them...oh my God this is difficult. I know, we lefties hate people who are not us! There, I did it.
Jessica, this is great! Thanks for reporting. Please don't leave out the insurance industry.. "the worse things are in the future, the more we can charge upfront.."
Or the USG using info from foundations that hasn't been ground-truthed or subject to the Data Quality Act. https://forestpolicypub.com/2023/02/22/ceq-uses-first-streets-wildfire-risk-maps-instead-of-us-government-maps-in-ej-screening-tool-why/
Thanks Sharon! Yes, First Street is firmly embedded in several agencies risk estimates. They claim at least 30 agencies: US Treasury’s Office of Financial Research, Fannie Mae, the HUD, the FHFA, the Consumer Finance Protection Board... and apparently the forestry service. Curious indeed.
Thank you for pointing out the various conflicts of interest in the ESG-Finance-Industry space. Last week, the FSB announced that the ISSB will take over the monitoring of TCFD aligned companies. https://www.ifrs.org/news-and-events/news/2023/07/foundation-welcomes-tcfd-responsibilities-from-2024/
The new ISSB/IFRS Sustainability and Climate related Financial Disclosure Standards S1 and S2 essentially embed GFANZ pledges into accounting, thus effectively doing an end-run around anti-trust accusations. Although the US will likely not adopt the ISSB standards, the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is aligned with the ISSB, thus American companies dealing in the EU or with EU companies will have to comply. Canada is also considering adpoting the ISSB standards thus American companies operating in Canada will have to comply. The SEC is also on the ISSB Jurisdictional Working Group and there is some indication that it is working to align the forthcoming climate rules with the ISSB. https://www.ifrs.org/groups/jurisdictional-working-group/#members
Of note, the big four accounting firms along with the WEF, IASB, CDSB, TCFD, VRF, were consulted on and helped draft the standards, then submitted comments supporting the standards, and some are listed as stakeholders wanting the standards.
At every opportunity, ISSB board members and supporters repeat the mantra that there's an urgent need for, and stakeholders are demanding, a new global language, a new global standard. But when pressed and asked who exactly is clamouring for this, which stakeholders in particular, there is either silence or a general statement of "investors" or "banking" or "capital markets".
There is a very real tightening and global standardization of ESG-style financial disclosures that will affect US companies even with the various counter-legislative measures introduced so far. Those companies currently voluntarily using TCFD reporting guidelines or the CDP or GRI questionnaires and metrics will also be pulled into this new global language since the CDP will use the ISSB disclosures, plus, the GRI has an MOU with the ISSB to collaborate on incorporating the ISSB disclosures with the GRI metrics.
Remarkable. Thank you for this!
And then there's this....https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/blackrock-plans-no-big-changes-esg-stance-despite-backlash-2022-12-19/
They control the largest purse strings in the world....
BlackRock is certainly embedded https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/our-participation-in-climate-action-100.pdf
We lefties hate the wealthy! ...but not really. We hate rich people who flaunt their grotesque lifestyles like sunning themselves aboard 300 foot yachts in the Mediterranean...oops, a bunch of them we like uh, who drive around in incredibly expensive cars that commoners can't afford...hold on, some of those cars are electric so that can't be right. I know, we hate wealthy people who fly all over the planet in shows of extravagance and waste...oh man lots of those people say stuff we LIKE, hmm, oh I got it, we dislike wealthy capitalists who get government to cram lots of subsidies into policy so they can make more money and ask taxpayers to cover them...oh my God this is difficult. I know, we lefties hate people who are not us! There, I did it.