Tag: Ceres

New Benchmark Analysis of U.S. Utilities Sector Reveals Inconsistent Climate Policy Advocacy

Stuart Mitchell

A new benchmark analysis of 12 of the largest U.S. electric utility companies finds significant inconsistencies between utilities’ public climate commitments and their direct and indirect climate lobbying practices.   The assessment, Toward Consistency: Assessing the Power Sector’s Climate Policy Advocacy, shows that utility companies are heavily involved in climate policy engagement and are taking steps to reach their climate commitments by advocating in support of certain climate policies. However, this progress is undermined by simultaneous advocacy against other climate policies. This analysis is a follow-up to the second Responsible Policy…

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Dozens of major companies lack comprehensive deforestation policies, new Ceres analysis finds

Stuart Mitchell

With escalating risks from the world’s climate and nature crises and enhanced European regulatory risks, Ceres released a new scorecard today that reveals few of the largest global companies are taking ambitious action to tackle commodity-driven deforestation and drive progress toward a net zero economy.   The Ceres’ Deforestation Scorecard: Assessing Corporate Action on Deforestation Amid Growing Regulatory Risk assesses 53 major companies across 15 industries, including adidas AG, Cargill, Restaurant Brands International, and Procter & Gamble Co. These companies face the greatest risks from sourcing deforestation-linked commodities like soy, timber,…

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Ceres applauds Farm Bill extension, urges expansion of climate-smart investments in 2024

Stuart Mitchell

Ceres pledged to continue working with leading food, apparel, and agriculture companies in the coming months to pass a five-year Farm Bill reauthorization that equitably invests in U.S. farmers and rural communities. The statement comes after President Biden last week signed a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, ensuring critical programs will be available to support efforts to modernize the U.S. food system to benefit agricultural producers, consumers, communities, and the planet.  “The Farm Bill extension preserves key programs that confront the agricultural risks of climate change by building…

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Newly released resources for private equity investors will help evaluate portfolio progress toward net zero

Stuart Mitchell

Ceres welcomes two important new resources for private equity investors to help them evaluate and communicate the progress their portfolio companies are making towards net zero. Last week the Initiative Climate International (iCI) and the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Private Equity Task Force, supported by Bain & Company, launched the Private Markets Decarbonization Roadmap (PMDR). This tool is for measuring and communicating private company alignment with net zero and was developed in consultation with Ceres, CDP, GFANZ, IIGCC, ILPA, and PRI.  It adds to existing private equity guidance for measuring the…

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Carbon emissions from U.S. power sector decreased slightly in 2022, nineteenth annual benchmarking report finds

Stuart Mitchell

Due to a drop in coal generation, the U.S. power sector saw a marginal reduction of less than 1% in carbon emissions in 2022, according to the latest analysis of air emissions for the country’s top 100 power producers. The report shows that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2022 are down 34% below their peak levels in 2007.  Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States, now in its 19th edition, examines and compares the air pollutant emissions based on 2021 power generation, plant…

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