Seeking a mandate for climate-related financial disclosures by corporations to investors

In January 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) required corporations to disclose the effects of climate change on corporations and their investors and for this purpose issued guidance and requirements for disclosures related to business and legal developments on climate change. The SEC guidance required to disclose to its business and subsidiaries, information relating to its products and services, environmental information, form of organization and other factors. The SEC, further required registrants to provide information on “significant factors” that make an investment in the registrant speculative or risky or the substantial effects of environmental legislation on the registrant’s  financial condition or operations. With regard to disclosures relating to the effects of climate change on the business itself, the guiding regulations lacked clarity and failed to call for specific details in their publicly filed disclosure documents that could be treated as actionable. Subsequently, the SEC has not taken forward the mandate for climate related financial disclosures intended to protect the interests of investors.

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The choice to resolve environmental disputes through investment arbitration

With growing number of  investment treaties, claims and counterclaims by investors and host states issues of public policy and public interest that include pollution control and natural resources management are also on the rise. As the world witnesses increasing number of incidents of natural disasters affecting climate-vulnerable and poor nations it is imperative that environmental issues take precedence over commercial exploitation of natural resources.    There is no gainsaying that the environmental integrity of a nation is intrinsically linked to economic development of a nation in more ways than what is actually debated on academic platforms.

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Preserving the natural heritage of India's Coastline

The term "Sustainable heritage"was fairly new to me when i started my research on ways and means to preserving the natural heritage of our coastline. I encountered the term for the first time when it appeared as  a part of the title for a conference that was to be held at Graz, Austria. When my abstract was accepted for presentation, I started my online research that helped me obtain deep insight into various aspects of preserving coastlines as natural heritage. I was initially overwhelmed by the detailed concepts etched out in the legislation passed by the Irish Parliament on coastal zone management. I had in fact sought the help of a few climate scientists at the Anna University, Chennai to understand the "how"and "why"of preserving our coastline and they were quite helpful enough in guiding me on the topic over phone. 

The conference organizers expressed their interest in the contents of my paper. It was after a few  months that I received a call from them asking me to proof-read my paper and make it ready for publication. Finally, after a considerable delay, it appears that the paper was indeed chosen for publication and I am hoping the inputs are useful to those in the field of regulating coastal management. I had presented an argument against regulating our coastline through a secondary legislation, even as I was aware of my incomplete  research on the merits and demerits of secondary legislation. Recently, I discovered  Hansard Society's paper on delegated legislation and the debate on its  veracity as a policy making tool.  The argument attempts to differentiate between the policy making powers of the executive  and its actual role in regulating technical aspects of coastal zone governance. It is my opinion that India needs a statutory mandate to govern its extensive coastline considering the variants  in the landscape, flora and fauna of the east and western coastal zones, a mandate that provides a clear and globally accepted policy on coastal zone management that eventually addresses climate change. 

Publication of paper on preserving the natural heritage of India's coastline.

Academic Pilgrimages

 Academic conferences help doctoral students find new lines of inquiry and methodologies that may be relevant and useful to their research. My initial foray into international conferences was based on what internet provided me on google searches. I chose to attend these conferences to gain extensive knowledge on international aspects of climate change and sustainable development.  I believed conferences could be an opportunity to meet experts, academics and professors who have the innate ability to shed light, providing wealth of information and updates on topics of interest. After having participated in six international conferences, I must say I have gained meaningful insight into the world of academics, understanding the intricacies involved in research and scholarly writing. I am hoping this post motivates and inspires students to take up research and further their quest for knowledge with an intent to gain expertise.

   

My first academic pilgrimage was to Lausanne, Switzerland in the year 2012.  The Cooperation & Development Center (CODEV) had organized its second major international event after being recognized as a UNESCO Chair in Technologies for Development in 2007. The conference was held at EPFL in Switzerland, aimed to highlight ‘science and technology’ as an agent of change in societies that were impacted by climate change. The presenters either invented gadgets or came up with theories on use of technology for sustainable development and to eradicate poverty. The idea of discussing sustainable development, which is currently evolving as a major discourse under international law, at a science and technology conference seemed interesting enough to register.   The Conference was held at École Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne (EPFL) that housed ‘The Rolex Learning Center’ a modern marvel of architecture. Lausanne, itself is a historic city where the Treaty of Lausanne, a peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied Forces   was signed in the year 1923 after World War I. The city had for one of its attractions, the Olympic Museum and a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. During my first visit to Lausanne, the Museum was closed for renovation and it was during my second visit the following year that I visited the Museum. Tourists who visit Geneva, should be able to travel by train to Lausanne and visit the Museum that takes visitors through the origins of Olympics in Athens into its evolution as a modern international event.  

  

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Writing for better times.

After a lapse of almost five years, I managed to revive this blog. The discourse on environment and climate change has evolved substantially and I am hoping to continue updating this blog regularly for the readers who may be following this blog.

Smart grid is the future....

Inputs for this post derived from this journal.


Smart grid is the future. Reforms in the electricity industry can be achieved with better technology, increased investments on transmission and distribution lines even as it remains supported by a new regulatory compact that helps inter-state power transactions


Smart grid is a computerized system that can schedule energy transmission and distribution, correcting load imbalances even as it permits electricity to run both ways even on distribution lines. Smart grids enhance distributed generation by incorporating net metering capacity and providing real-time information on demand, supply and consumption. Smart grid improves economic and energy efficiency for the benefit of developing nations.

Smart grid will facilitate “demand response programming”, fine-tune price signals, especially so with renewable energy, and offer real-time accurate pricing for end-users. It enables energy producers and consumers to capture more surpluses and connect renewable energy sources to the traditional system. Smart grid forces utilities to expand their businesses to include energy efficiency. Smart grid investments could garner higher returns for those utilities that are also engaged in the business of sale of energy efficiency and relevant technologies.

Energy policies should “internalize the costs of the externalities” by addressing the social costs of pollution into the price of electricity. China has surged ahead in building smart grid technology and while India in collaboration with IBM has just begun to conduct cost-benefit analysis of smart grid initiatives and determine India's readiness to deploy smart energy technologies.

A step towards smart grid will be to infuse more investments into renewable energy projects and evolve a rate formula that discourages consumption, reduces the demand and promotes conservation. Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and Renewable energy credits (RECs) are some of the obligations placed on the utilities to meet their commitment to generate power through renewable energy sources with disclosure requirements.

What seems equally important at this point in time is the development of a regulatory framework to make smart grid work effectively. Renewable energy obligations need to be imposed upon utilities through an appropriate regulatory and legal framework which can eventually tie itself up to the smart grid framework and enable purchase of power from other states with better enforcement of the renewable energy obligations on utilities. 

IEA on Smart Grids

CSR in a global perspective...

Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR is a voluntary approach by a company striving to achieve sustainability through its commitment towards its employees, products, processes and policies. Corporate social responsibility reports describe the nature of environmental, ethical and social values that a company endorses. CSR reports change the way investors view future investments in keeping with sustainable development. There is an ongoing debate as to whether CSR reports should continue to be generated on a voluntary basis or made mandatory under corporate laws. A statutory mandate on CSR reporting for certain industries can promote the kind of accountability that suits globalization.


The changing rules in corporate investments and changing face of investing community.

Sustainability Reporting Guidelines