Finance & professional services

Sustainability experts for the financial and professional services

Environmental social and governance forces make it an imperative for the financial and professional services to transform

The financial industry is one of the UK’s largest contributors to the climate crisis, if the City were its own country, it would outrank Germany as the ninth largest emitter of CO2 in the world. The calls for sustainability action from within the financial and professional services sector, from both internal and external stakeholders, as well as regulators, are understandably getting louder. Organisations must act now or risk becoming an outlier.

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Latest Sustainabilty News For
Finance and professional services

The increasing importance of financial industry bodies towards climate change

“Paris aligned” – Is your bank truly doing its bit?

TCFD – Mandatory disclosures for financial services

Grappling with complex sustainability issues in the financial and professional services sector

Integrating environmental social and governance (ESG) strategies – specifically climate change risk – have risen to the top of the agenda for the financial sector – with even more heightened urgency due to mandatory disclosure, in the form of TCFD and government legalisation.

Investment professionals, asset managers, c-suite business leaders, treasurers, investor relations and finance teams are grappling with many complex sustainability issues, from climate change risk and disclosure to green finance opportunities.

Some will choose to lead on ESG issues and try to stay ahead of competitors and regulators, and some will choose to be fast followers, but it’s critical that each organisation develops a coherent long-term strategy to meet its goals. The goalposts are constantly moving, what was market leading in your long term planning a few years ago may now only be enough to comply with new and emerging regulation.

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Sustainability Issues

Sustainability strategy

Financial companies and professional services are increasingly responding to stakeholder demands to drive a more sustainable economy by articulating a corporate purpose and explaining how that purpose will drive towards sustainable investment decisions. Executing on this is not easy for large, complex organizations. To succeed in delivering a sustainable future, senior leaders must embrace corporate purpose and make sure their financial and professional institutions follow through on purpose statements with concrete actions. Speak to a sustainability expert

Disclosure and reporting

Financial firms must prepare for the new climate of scrutiny. Regulatory and policy pressures are growing, from the EU taxonomy, TCFD, SFDR and emerging pressures for credible transition and net zero plans.

Regulators increasingly see climate change as a systemic risk to the global financial system, and most central banks have taken steps to measure their exposure to it. Government penalties for not complying with climate regulations are therefore becoming more common, as we are seeing with the upcoming mandatory climate-related disclosure in the UK, in the form of TCFD. Speak to a sustainability expert

Responsible Sourcing

Many companies will measure and target reductions to Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Measuring and reporting on Scope 3 emissions, however, is far more complex. Scope 3 emissions include a corporate's upstream and downstream value chain (e.g. suppliers and distributors), as well as business travel leased assets, and even bank lending exposure in the case of the financial sector.

Scope 3 and will often represent 50% or more of a company’s true impact.

Measuring and reporting on Scope 3 emissions allows financial institutions to make more sustainable decisions. The exercise allows companies to better understand which partners and vendors take sustainability seriously. This transparency and decision making will be vital for corporates as global climate regulation continues to rise. Many investors already expect corporates to outline reduction targets. This pressure will only increase as sustainable investing strategies continue to represent institutional and retail inflows.
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Client success Stories

Bunzl, the leading FTSE 100 company and global distributor defines its strategic sustainability framework for action.

We have been working with a leading bank based in the heart of London on ISO 14001 compliance and waste management support for the past 6 years.

Global staffing business SThree have set out on a sustainability journey to truly understand how climate change would affect their business and the STEM markets in which they operate.

UNRAVELLING THE ESG ECOSYSTEM

ESG principles are rapidly moving from simple compliance requirements to legal standards, and are now a vital tool for every business, investor, asset manager and insurer uses to drive performance.

Our ESG guide aims to shine a light on this ecosystem - who is who, and exactly what companies should prioritise as they navigate the ESG reporting requirements.

Download our guide for expert insights on ESG disclosure.

Download our expert guide to ESG disclosure

TCFD RECOMMENDATIONS

In November 2020, the UK announced that reporting in line with the recommendations of the TCFD will become mandatory by 2025 across the economy, with premium listed companies expected to comply by the end of this year.

Download our guide for expert insights on TCFD disclosure.

Download our expert guide to TCFD

Finance and Professional Services
Sustainability Consultants

With a financial and professional specialist sustainability team, Avieco is well placed to support your business, your impact, and your sustainability challenges, to help you identify what really matters to you in your journey to becoming sustainable.

Find out how we can help