As companies set goals around environmental, social, and governance initiatives, their financial partners like banks and private-equity firms have potential to lead by example.
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Investors looking to focus on ESG goals might find the inconsistent reporting and broad range of information confusing.
Experts advise investors to look for authenticity from companies reporting on their efforts.
The conversation was part of Insider s virtual event Financing Net-Zero, presented by IDA Ireland, which took take place on Thursday, May 13, 2021.
Investors looking to implement environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy into their portfolios may find themselves perplexed by the lack of consistent standards, and the quality of claims made by companies. There are a lot of different definitions for what impact means, what ESG means, said Jeff Cohen, director of capital markets integration at the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. It can be very easy to get confused or overwhelmed … but ultimately it s about what you are looking to accomplish.
Green finance is the practice of funding projects that are tied to sustainability objectives.
Many financial institutions around the world are turning their attention to green finance, including those who manage clients investments like BlackRock and traditional banks such as AIB.
Ireland is focused on growing the state of green finance in the country.
Ireland is playing a key and growing role in green finance a term referring to funding for projects that have a sustainable outcome with a mix of home-grown services and overseas investors exploring the Emerald Isle as a base for their green strategies.
Political leaders and businesses around the world are now focusing on climate change and Ireland is no exception, with the Government announcing in October it s committing to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. In terms of power, the country wants 70% of electricity production to come from renewables by 2030 – currently wind and solar power make up 35% of Ireland s elect
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Synthetic biology, also called synbio, is a growing area of science that could impact everything from what we eat to how we treat diseases.
Many companies and research centers within Ireland are making a serious investment in synbio.
Gene therapy is just one of the many applications of synbio.
Synthetic biology, or synbio, is based on the idea that living cells can be engineered in a certain way and it has potential applications in a vast number of areas, including health, packaging, and food.
Chantelle Kiernan, a senior scientific advisor for innovation at IDA Ireland, the country s development agency, says that synbio has a number of different use cases. In its purest form, what everyone s aspiring to is to be able to take that [genetic] code that s available, but in nature, and pick and play from it and develop an entirely new code that gives us something completely new and entirely different, she adds.