Bernhard Stormyr

Forests and peat are key to Finland’s ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2035. But the land has started emitting more than it absorbs - pushing the target out of reach. A mixture of forestry and global heating have driven the loss. Germany, France, Estonia and Czechia are among countries who have also seen dramatic declines in their land sinks. My report https://lnkd.in/eCJyWFnq

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🎉We’re excited to announce ERM as a Strategic Partner of World Hydrogen Congress, a part of World Hydrogen Week (30 September - 4 October 2024, Copenhagen!) Hydrogen energy will be crucial in cutting global greenhouse gas emissions and meeting one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. As the largest global pure play sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with the world’s leading organizations, creating innovative solutions to sustainability challenges and unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations. ERM's global team of leading experts in hydrogen energy combines international best practice with local understanding of regulations to help their clients navigate the complexities of different markets, regulations and end uses. ERM also bring to bear proprietary, cutting edge digital tools and proven workflows to provide integrated ESG, project development, health and safety and technical advisory solutions on a global scale. ERM cover the technologies that will enable the energy transition. For more information, please visit: https://lnkd.in/dR5EFc5b -- 💥World Hydrogen Congress is the premier event for senior professionals driving the hydrogen transition. This globally renowned conference, now in its 5th year, is the ultimate destination for the hydrogen community. Join 3,500+ hydrogen professionals for World Hydrogen Week in Copenhagen for a week of knowledge-sharing, innovation and networking with the ultimate goal of achieving a net-zero economy. 🎟️ Register here to secure your place: https://lnkd.in/eGc3Rw-Z 📖 Download the brochure for more information: https://lnkd.in/e6A_EDYV #WorldHydrogenWeek #Hydrogen #HydrogenEvent #HydrogenCertification #HydrogenRegulation #HydrogenTechnology #HydrogenFinance #HydrogenInvestment #HydrogenIndustry #CleanHydrogen #GreenHydrogen #Copenhagen #WorldHydrogenDerivatives #WorldHydrogenIntelligenceDay #GlobalHydrogenProjectSummit #WorldHydrogenCongress #WHC #WHD

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It’s a historic move, and potentially a model for other countries to learn from. Denmark’s agricultural carbon tariff will start in 2030 at €16 per ton of carbon dioxide emitted, rising to €40 by 2035. To put that in perspective, ministers are saying the initial €16 tariff would add about €0.15 to the cost of a pack of minced beef in the supermarket – an increase that would be dwarfed by price rises due to inflation in the same period. Stephanie Lose, minister for economic affairs, said the deal sets Danish agriculture in “a clear green direction”. But green groups say the amount should have been much higher. They also say the deal fails to fix the problem of nitrogen pollution, which has devastated fish populations in Denmark’s coastal waters in recent years. It’s caused mainly by fertilizer washing off fields into the sea. The background to all this is that Denmark farms huge numbers of pigs and cows, and the resulting pollution (released from soil, fertilizer and yes, cow burps) has a big impact on the climate. Other sectors of Denmark’s economy have managed to get their emissions down in the past few years, and now it’s agriculture’s turn. The government also announced the creation of a fund of €5 billion to buy up what amounts to one in every 11 fields and turn them into forests, meadows and other landscapes. For more positive climate news follow Imagine5 📸: Slide 1: Cottonbro from Pexels Slide 2: NurPhoto via Getty Images Slides 3 and 4: Absent Wall on Unsplash Slide 5: James Qualtrough on Unsplash Slides 6 and 7: Carina Chowanek on Unsplash Slide 9: Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

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CDP reporting deadline is fast approaching ⏱️ Navigating CDP reporting can be daunting, especially for companies new to the process. With the integration of climate, water, and forests into a single questionnaire, and alignment with global standards, the updated questionnaire presents both challenges and opportunities. To help you get started, we’ve created a CDP Score Improvement Prioritization List: https://bit.ly/45I6cD6 Reach out to learn how we can support your sustainability journey. #CDP #climatereporting #environmentalreporting #sustainability #BSI

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𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚'𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐕𝐂𝐒 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 Congratulations to Verra on a significant achievement. For nearly two decades, Verra has been a leader in driving climate action through innovative market solutions. Their dedication to integrity has earned them the trust of project stakeholders and market investors. On the May, 2, 2024, Verra celebrated the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market's (ICVCM) recognition of Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program as fully aligned with the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) for high-quality carbon credits. This recognition is a major win for the entire carbon market. Verra's commitment to rigor, transparency, and science-backed standards sets a high bar for the industry. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: ๏ Verra's VCS program is now recognized for generating high-quality carbon credits that meet the strictest criteria. ๏ ICVCM's work in establishing a common understanding of credit integrity is crucial for a robust carbon market. ๏ Verra remains committed to collaborating with the ICVCM to continuously improve market standards for maximum climate impact. ๏ Verra's core mission is to channel investments towards impactful climate action, especially in developing countries. This recognition by ICVCM will further support the delivery of high-quality carbon credits that can unlock sustainable development opportunities. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝: ๏ ICVCM is expected to assess specific methodologies under the VCS program in the coming months. ๏ Verra offers an optional pathway for project proponents to transition to the latest ICVCM-approved methodologies. ๏ Verra's ongoing commitment to improvement is commendable! Let's celebrate their achievement and keep pushing for a more sustainable future. Source:

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When all balls are in the air, I often feel that we are expected to do magic: know everything, extract data and draft reports, convince everyone, and, ultimately, solve the world’s problems (ideally, all of them, and fast, of course). This article is actually a good description of the pressure on Sustainability roles. A good read and eye opener, thanks Sandy Nessing for sharing.

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Is your company ready for the CSRD challenge? 🔴 Episode 3 - Water and Marine Resources Continuing our series on mapping activist campaigns to the ESRS taxonomy, we now turn our attention to water and marine issues. Our analysis provides insight into the relative materiality of water and marine-related issues for different industries, as indicated by civil society activity. Here are some key themes and narratives around water and marine issues from the past two years: ➡️ Water Scarcity and Sustainable Management Environmental groups are highlighting increasing water stress in many regions, demanding better water management practices from companies and countries such as Spain and Portugal. There's growing pressure for sustainable water use, especially in agriculture and industry. ➡️ PFAS Contamination in Water Sources There's mounting concern over PFAS contamination in water bodies. Campaigners are calling for stricter regulations on PFAS use, improved water treatment technologies, and holding companies accountable for PFAS pollution, with companies such as Chemours and Shaw Industries facing legal challenges over PFAS pollution. ➡️ Marine Pollution and Biodiversity Protection Activists are intensifying campaigns against ocean pollution, particularly plastic waste, deep sea mining and chemical runoff. There's increasing pressure on companies to adopt circular economy practices and reduce their impact on marine ecosystems, with companies such as Equinor, Aker and TotalEnergies accused of using the North Sea as a "dumping ground". Key observations: 👉 Rising emphasis on corporate water stewardship and transparency in water usage reporting 👉 Growing calls for stricter regulations on water pollutants, especially PFAS chemicals 👉 Increased scrutiny of industries' impacts on both freshwater and marine ecosystems Notable regulatory changes 👇 In March 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first-ever national drinking water standard for six PFAS chemicals. This rule was finalised in April 2024, marking a significant policy change to regulate "forever chemicals" in drinking water. 🔴 Episode 4 on Biodiversity coming next week! #CSRD

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The CDP reporting deadline is just two months away! 📅 Navigating CDP reporting can be daunting, especially for companies new to the process. With the integration of climate, water, and forests into a single questionnaire, and alignment with global standards, the updated questionnaire presents both challenges and opportunities. To help you get started, we’ve created a CDP Score Improvement Prioritization List: https://bit.ly/45I6cD6 #CDP #climatereporting #environmentalreporting #sustainability #BSI

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Congratulations to all of the winners of the Environmental Finance Sustainable Debt Awards 2024! https://bit.ly/440JLbs A special congratulations to those issuers that trusted Morningstar Sustainalytics SPO services for their award-winning bonds: Stora Enso - Green Bond of the Year - Corporate (EMEA) PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy Tbk - Green Bond of the Year - Corporate (APAC) Air Products - Green Bond of the Year - Corporate (Americas) Vinte - Social Project Bond of the Year Freddie Mac - Sustainability Bond of the Year - Agency Caja Rural de Navarra - Initiative of the Year - Green Bond Banobras - Award for Innovation - Use of Proceeds (sustainability bond) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) - Award for Innovation - Use of Proceeds (green bond) Aegea Saneamento - Sustainability Project Bond of the Year Republic of Chile - Sustainability-Linked Bond of the Year - SSAs/sub-sovereigns DHL Group - Deutsche Post - Sustainability-Linked Bond of the Year - Corporate New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency - Sustainability Bond of the Year (Supranational) Republic of Brazil - Sustainability Bond of the Year (Sovereign) #SustainableDebt #SustainableFinance #ESG #Sustainability

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Celebrating International Biodiversity Day: Integrating Biodiversity into Climate Risk Management 🌍 Today, as we mark International Biodiversity Day, we are reminded of the complex web of life that maintains our planet. Biodiversity is the foundation of our ecosystems, supplying us with critical services such as clean air, water, & food. However, our abundant biodiversity is under enormous threat from climate change. Why Biodiversity Matters in Climate Risk Management: Biodiversity & climate change are inseparable. Protecting biodiversity can enhance ecosystem resilience, which in turn mitigates climate risks by providing: - Resilient Ecosystems: Diverse ecosystems are more resilient to climate shocks. Healthy forests, wetlands, & oceans can better withstand extreme weather events, sequester carbon, & manage water cycles. E.g., Mangrove forests cover only 0.1% of the planet’s surface, but can store up to ten times more carbon per hectare than terrestrial forests. - Sustainable Livelihoods: Biodiversity safeguards sustainable livelihoods. Fish provide 20% of animal protein to about 3 billion people. Over 80% of the human diet is provided by plants. As many as 80% of people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional plant‐based medicines for basic healthcare. - Ecosystem Services: Biodiversity-rich ecosystems provide essential services such as pollination, pest management, & disease regulation, ensuring food security & human health. Incorporating Biodiversity in Climate Strategies: To address climate risk, we need to incorporate biodiversity into our climate strategy. This includes: - Incorporating biodiversity issues into national and corporate climate strategies and risk assessments. - Prioritizing habitat conservation and ecosystem restoration. - Encouraging sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fisheries practices to preserve biodiversity. The #UAE is home to habitats such as wetlands, mangroves, & desert ecosystems, all of which play essential roles in maintaining environmental balance & mitigating climate risks. Mangrove forests can hold up to four times as much carbon as typical tropical forests. Furthermore, the wetlands of the UAE are excellent examples of how wetlands feed a variety of bird species, work as natural water filters, & provide flood control. Additionally, the UAE's deserts endure a vast range of flora & fauna adapted to harsh climatic conditions, which promotes ecological balance, gives opportunities for ecotourism, & contributes to diversification of the economy. Integrating biodiversity into climate risk management is critical for the oil and gas sector to meet regulatory and investor obligations, as well as to ensure economic resilience & sustainability. On this International Biodiversity Day, let us "be part of the plan." 🌿 #BiodiversityDay #ClimateAction #Biodiversity #Sustainability #ClimateRiskManagement #OilAndGas #NetZero #SustainableFuture #PartOfThePlan #ForNature

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Food production is a climate problem but also a potential solution. Which way will we choose to go? Great analysis from Project Drawdown

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💧 Struggling to quantify the potential #financial #impact of #WaterRisk? You're not alone. 💧 For many sustainability managers, calculating the potential financial impact—often referred to as "value at risk"—can be a significant challenge, especially when reporting to CDP or other frameworks. During our recent webinar about the CDP water reporting requirements, our senior water advisor, Meagan Knowlton, explained this challenge in more detail. Ready to gain clarity? Join our #webinar this Thursday for a deep dive into understanding and calculating the financial impact of water risk, specifically tailored for sustainability managers. 👉 #Register now: https://hubs.la/Q02Lzg0q0

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🚀 The SBTI (Science based targets Initiative) offers guidelines to help organizations report their progress, including the types of data to be collected and methods for measuring emissions. 🌍 Learn about who is concerned by the SBTI and why you should apply it!    Find out more about the SBTI and other frameworks thanks to our ESG reporting guide (available in english and in french)! The link is in the comment section below. 😊 

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A couple of weeks is a long time when it comes to the new EU Deforresation Rule (#EUDR). After what looked like a doubling down in various forums around the world by the EU there has been a concerted effort by stakeholders and partners to delay. The commission has proposed a delay of 12 months. Some thoughts; 1. This does not guarantee a delay. This will be voted on mid-November. I do wonder about the mechanics of executing on this from a regulatory perspective and the time to do this - one for my EU connections. 2. From someone that has worked in the specific area of “where stuff comes from” I do get how challenging this new rule is. It is confronting to stakeholders when they realise that they do not actually know and how can they declare if they do not know. A little bit of transparency can go a long way within these, often opaque, often deliberately so, supply chains but there is no question that this will be confronting and given the size of some of these chains it will take time to do this. 3. This acknowledgment aside the rule sets about ensuring that the market and therefore the consumer is not unknowingly tearing down rainforests. If you consider some of the on pack claims around sustainabilty and reporting done more generally by brands and stakeholders against commitments and promises (ESG etc) it does raise the question; why do we need the rule at all? The status quo does is not working! 4. I have written here on LinkedIn and built an argument in many events that I have spoken at this last 2-3 years that the current instruments available to tackle greenwashing whilst they will have some impact are not really fit for purpose when you consider the scale of the issue. The EUDR which is a regulatory mediated transparency measure for supply chains, as blunt an instrument regulated transparency can be, is closer to being fit for purpose albeit not explicitly for this purpose. Greenwashing is hard to impossible when all the lights are on within these supply chains. What’s my point? How the EU handles this proposed delay will send a very important signal. The EC might be providing them with the the narrative to support this signal “phasing in”. It raises the question for me as to if a delay is the right approach or if there is a more nuanced approach possible though an approach to enforcement. Disclosure around origin maybe is needed but then provide some leniency for 12 months on the DD system and other requirements as stakeholders get on top of where their products are really come from and how they have been made?

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🌏 Global decarbonisation not happening quick enough, but we can fix that! 🛠 📊 The well recognised IPCC pathway to net zero emissions depicts an annual decrease of global emissions over time to get to a 90% reduction by 2050 in order to limit global average temperature increases to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. This will cause some additional negative externalities and tipping points to be crossed but has been globally accepted as the path we must follow. ⚖ This decarbonisation over time has allowed us to develop the concept of The Carbon Budget (currently this stands at 200 billion tonnes for a 50% chance of success). In 2020, our remaining carbon budget was 500 billion tonnes, so how have we used 60% in 4 years and how do we make sure we don't use the remaining 40% in the next 4 years? Surely, governments read this science and will sort it out? As you will have noticed, governmental timelines will not help us out here, we are accustomed to watching COPs come and go with little to no immediate course correction. So, It falls on the shoulders of the private sector. In general, voluntary decarbonisation for Net Zero is failing. In their 2023 Destination Net Zero report, Accenture declared that only 18% of the top 2000 businesses by revenue are decarbonising their scope 1 and 2 emissions fast enough. This needs to change fast otherwise we are creating excess emissions which have not been accounted for in global or corporate carbon budgets (e.g. Science Based Targets initiative validated targets). 🌳 💰 ⏳ The sooner we prevent excess emissions the sooner we start extending our budget, adding much needed time into the climates wallet. Time that allows nature based solutions to grow and engineered carbon removals to scale, the essential currency in further topping up our climate bank account and ultimately reversing average global temperatures, back to pre-industrial levels. 🚀 Now is the time to take our learnings of the past 10 or so years and innovate new ways to integrate climate into business models more effectively. 💡 Take inspiration from Success stories; 🔶 The EU ETS - perhaps unsurprisingly, decarbonisation actually works in a compliance regime, reach your targets or face the penalties, continue to fail = financial ruin (your business was not compatible with a net zero world) 🔶 Internal Carbon Pricing implementation - The Carbon Disclosure Project data of 500 U.S. publicly listed firms confirms that ICP reduces carbon emissions per employee and carbon emissions per revenue by 13.5% and 15.7%, respectively. 🔶 Electrification - Innovations have so far scaled renewable energy (enabling the UK to close all coal fired power stations)and electrification of vehicles. ❓ What innovative strategies do you think businesses can adopt to enhance their decarbonisation efforts? Share your thoughts below! #Decarbonisation #ClimateAction #NetZero #Sustainability

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We just launched a new report with our colleagues at Rainforest Foundation Norway called ⚡ “Short circuits: Exploring the broken links of mineral supply chain policies in the EV industry.” 🚨 The report finds a disturbing lack of commitments on deforestation, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights among EV battery producers and automakers. “Broken links” were identified between automakers' supply chain policies and the battery manufacturers' practises. Findings include.... 🌳 On deforestation: Out of the 19 companies, only seven automakers and one EV battery manufacturer commit to preventing deforestation from mineral supply chains. ✊ On Indigenous Rights: Only five companies incorporate Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) as a requirement for their suppliers: 4 EV automakers and 1 EV battery manufacturer. 🚘 Companies examined include: Tesla BMW Group Mercedes-Benz AG LG Energy Solution Volkswagen Ford Motor Company General Motors Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited BYD GEELY ----- Report results will be discussed further at this OECD - OCDE Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply chains TODAY. Join us for 🌳 "Forests and electric vehicles’ minerals: Addressing adverse environmental and human rights impacts using due diligence." ⏰ May 22, 2024 | 4:14-5:45 PM CEST More information here: https://lnkd.in/g5nmreK6

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