Sustainable investment assets hit $35 trillion — 36% of all managed assets Sustainable investment assets globally grew 15% in the past two years to reach $35 trillion, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Review 2020. With 36% of all professionally managed assets now sustainable assets, “sustainable investing has really become a major force across global capital markets,” said Simon O’Connor,…
Workers in California City must wear “Fully Vaccinated” stickers to avoid masks Montclair City Hall workers in California have been told to wear stickers proving that they are fully vaccinated if they want to work without wearing masks, in a move that’s sparked concerns about people’s rights and medical confidentiality. The measure followed a decision last month by the state’s…
OSHA heat protection rule lags while record temperatures rise Federal OSHA heat rule proposal not due until October Confronted by record-high temperatures stretching from the Pacific Northwest across the U.S., federal OSHA has been relying on a 51-year-old statute to compel employers to protect workers from being felled by the heat. OSHA hasn’t promulgated a heat standard, though a Heat…
At a marathon public meeting June 3rd, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board unanimously approved a revised Cal/OSHA proposal that allows workers to go maskless in only a few circumstances including: everyone in a room is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, or workers are outdoors and not within six feet of other people, according to an AP report. …
By Dave Johnson, Phylmar newsletter editor Four out of five leading companies worldwide now report on sustainability in regard to revenue, according to KPMG’s 2020 Survey of Sustainability Reporting. Sustainability reporting has been trending up for decades yet in 1993, KPMG’s first study found a paltry 12 percent of companies published sustainability reports. Now 98 percent of top revenue firms…
As part of its emerging role as a global regulatory watchdog, the European Commission has published a proposal for regulations to govern artificial intelligence use in the European Union. The proposal defines four tiers for AI-related activity and differing levels of oversight for each. The first tier is unacceptable risk: some AI uses would be banned outright in public spaces, with specific exceptions granted by national…
As companies find that customers and investors are looking for more and more disclosures of what they are doing about environmental issues, climate change risks, and diversity and racial justice, accounting firms are starting to provide assurance and attestation services around environmental, social and governance reporting to meet that growing demand, according to Accounting Today. While the Big Four have…
ECHA updating guidance concerning REACH information requirements for nanoforms The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is in the process of updating its guidance on the information requirements and chemical safety assessment (IR&CSA) for nanoforms under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. ECHA has developed three appendices concerning information requirements to provide advice to registrants for use when…
EPA faces more litigation on legacy asbestos The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization delivered on an earlier notice of intent to sue by filing an official complaint against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its ongoing risk evaluation of asbestos. ADAO, a leading nonprofit aimed at preventing asbestos exposure, was joined by five other organizations and several public health experts in asking the…
President Biden has ordered government agencies to prepare for climate-related shocks across the economy, as escalating disasters threaten home prices, the value of retirements funds and even the stability of the global financial system. The executive order is the latest indication of how climate change, once dismissed as a distant threat, is already complicating life for Americans. It follows a report from…
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