ESG Investor’s weekly round-up of news on technology and tools in the sustainable investing sector, including OS-Climate, CIPFA, Isio, ICE, Urgentum and Banca March.
OS-Climate (OS-C), a New York-based software development firm, has released three analytic tools to tackle the climate crisis, which were developed in collaboration with firms including BNP Paribas and Allianz. The three tools – Physical Risk & Resilience, Portfolio Alignment and Transition Analysis – were led by BNP Paribas, Allianz and Airbus respectively in cooperation with OS-C members. The Physical Risk & Resilience Tool aims to enable financial and non-financial stakeholders to identify and quantify risks related to climate resilience through asset vulnerability models that use probability and severity forecasting of extreme climate events. The Climate Portfolio Alignment Tool will aid stakeholders in aligning portfolios at individual holdings and loan levels with the Paris Agreement temperature increase. The Transitional Analysis Tool will allow corporations to model, test and conduct scenario analysis for strategic climate-aligned decisions. Truman Semans, OS-C’s CEO, said: “These tools will generate the refined data and actionable insights needed for pension funds, asset managers, and banks to rapidly align their investments and loans to net zero and resilience goals.”
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has partnered with UK pensions advisory firm Isio to help local government pension schemes (LGPS) assess and manage ESG risks. Through their partnership, CIPF and Isio have created the Investment Assessment Matrix, which uses five key assessment criteria to show LGPS funds managers how to identify, integrate and manage ESG risks and opportunities: investment approach and framework, risk management, voting and engagement, reporting, and collaboration. The matrix reports the overall ESG capabilities for each mandate, highlighting specific areas for improvement and proposing actions for targeted engagement with the underlying investment managers. It also provides a numerical score for each of the criteria, an overall ESG score and a separate climate rating score. Nicholas Harvey, CIPFA’s Pensions and Treasury Advisor, said: “LGPS funds having access to a truly independent assessment of investment managers’ ESG capabilities, that sets out tangible actions, can only lead to improvements that will add value and allow benchmarking across funds. We hope this drives positive change through the industry and wider society.”
The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), an Atlanta-based digital networks operator and developer, has acquired global corporate emissions and climate transition data provider Urgentem. Urgentem’s data and analytics will allow ICE to rapidly expand its climate risk offering, including coverage of global public and private companies across new regions, stress testing for fund managers and banks and scenario risk analysis. Urgentem provides Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions data, analytics and tools for more than 30,000 publicly listed and privately held securities. The data being harnessed will enhance ICE’s global sustainable finance offering. ICE has also launched the ICE Geo-Analyser, a platform which leverages ICE’s geospatial data modelling to provide climate risk and social impact data and analytics for properties and communities throughout the U.S. The platform uses location data, including street address, latitude / longitude, and zip codes to analyse the climate risks and social impact characteristics surrounding any location or portfolio of properties in the U.S. Elizabeth King, ICE’s Chief Risk Officer and President of Sustainable Finance, said: “The ESG Geo-Analyser provides innovative climate risk metrics on multiple types of hazards, including wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and floods. This data can provide more transparency into a property or group of properties to help inform risk assessments and decision-making.”
Mallorca-based private investment bank Banca March has selected GoldenSource ESG Impact to manage its data and analytics for its ESG-related investment and banking processes. The Spanish firm will use GoldenSource to manage its MiFID II sustainability preferences before extending it to cover its SFDR obligations. Banca March will manage ESG metrics including scores across all ESG pillars, as well as integrating securities-related data for the EU Taxonomy, greenhouse gas/carbon intensity, and ESG analytics. Banca March’s initial ESG data feeds will be powered by Clarity AI and Sustainalytics. Sonia Colino, Banca March’s People, Brand and Sustainability Director, said: “With granular data, plug and-play analytics and the ability to work on ESG investment processes at the instrument, entity or whole portfolio level, Banca March is set to offer customers the best sustainable and responsible investment services.”
