The IPCC Sixth Synthesis Report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all. It demonstrates a clear recognition of the interconnection between nature and climate. A number of intertwined factors need to be addressed by policymakers alongside climate change. This includes nature and its ecosystems.

Decarbonisation is a business imperative for companies looking to remain competitive in the long term. As such, organisations must develop a clear understanding of their current carbon footprint and devise strategies for reducing and ultimately eliminating their emissions. According to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) this ‘climate transition process’ has set over 1,600 companies on a 30-year journey to Net Zero. Planet Tracker, has developed a disclosure assessment template which can be used by investors and lenders to determine the credibility of a company’s climate transition plan.

The United Nations (UN) 2023 Water Conference in New York from 22 to 24 March 2023 will be the first UN Conference to focus strictly on water since 1977. It builds on the momentum generated by frameworks such as the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework. Commonly traded food products consume vastly different amounts of water. This blog examines how much water major food products require and exposes this hidden trade network. For example, cocoa beans consume 100 times as much total water as sugar crops. Beef, the most water-intensive animal derived product, consumes about 3 to 4 times more than chicken or pork.

Perhaps the most discussed fashion event of the year will be the Oscars – the Academy Awards - red carpet parade on 12 March 2023, with live streamed blogs of the fashion choices on show and much discussion in subsequent press coverage. But one of the biggest challenges facing the fashion industry in its move towards greater sustainability is changing the way we consume fashion and a red carpet outfit is often the antithesis of a sustainable fashion choice.

In the Planet Tracker Valuing the Food system dashboard, the user is able to adjust various valuation variables. We provide two main valuation approaches: Scenario 1 (S1) based on the number of businesses and Scenario 2 (S2) based on the protein price (both discussed in more detail in ‘How much is your food worth?').

Deforestation regulation in the EU is likely to be adopted in the next 12 months requiring EU importers to confirm that cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, wood and derived products are deforestation-free. This Regulation asks a major question of importing corporates as to whether they have traceability within their supply chains and has the potential to disrupt corporates which do not have traceability and responsible sourcing embedded within their supply chain.

One indicator of the importance of a topic to investment managers is whether it features on the agenda at annual shareholder meetings. So where does biodiversity rank? How does it compare with the climate agenda? This blog shows that biodiversity is rarely discussed – although there are signs this will change.

Valuing the global food system is challenging. Planet Tracker has set out to do this by analysing 400,000 companies connected to food. We estimate the asset value of the system is c. USD 14 trillion, with revenues in the region of USD 15 to 19 trillion (equivalent to c. 20% of global GDP). This is how we did it.

Recently concerns have been raised that corporates are ‘greenhushing’, when organisations deliberately choose to hide their green or ESG credentials from public view. Is this an indication that civil society or investors have gone too far in their demands for sustainability metrics, leaving management teams cautious about declaring their progress on green or sustainability issues, or the next step in the evolvement of increasingly sophisticated greenwashing?

Next month, formal negotiations will start on a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. Although there appears to be little disagreement about the pervasiveness of plastic pollution, how to resolve this will prove problematic. Who should take responsibility for the present situation and how should this influence future responsibilities?

Proponents of digital fashion suggest that it offers one potential answer to how to move the fashion industry to a more sustainable footing. This blog considers what digital fashion means and why we do not expect it to reduce the need for the industry to make significant structural changes if it is to move to a sustainable footing.

Food supply chains are coming under heavy stress due to the conflict in Ukraine building on an already high inflation environment. This has pushed food security to the top of national agendas, alongside energy. This blog explores whether this will result in a food supply chain decoupling and a shift towards shorter supply chains and ‘friendly’ jurisdictions (‘friend-shoring’).

Just as sustainability standard setters are consolidating into the more powerful International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), an influential participant, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), has recommended improved disclosures for plastics risks and opportunities.

Food and politics remain closely connected. Non-democratic countries are more likely to impose food export restrictions while the leading nature dependent exporters are resisting trade controls.

Celebrating World Biodiversity Day on 22 May,, we imagine how time and money spent on the creation of the much-hyped metaverse – persistent virtual worlds that combine aspects of the digital and physical worlds – could be used to build the ‘natureverse’, a perfect mirroring of the physical world (nature) by persistent digital worlds (financial markets).

What could happen if next generation materials replace animal-sourced materials. Can the cow actually be disrupted by these next generation leathers? What are the unintended consequences if this happens faster than expected? And what are the systemic implications?

The invasion of Ukraine has pushed sovereign states to reflect on the types of governments with which they trade. Recently, many democratic governments have been assessing their sources of non-renewable natural capital trade – notably oil & gas as well as metals & ores. In this blog, Planet Tracker focuses on the trade of key renewable agricultural exports such as cereals, meat, dairy and seafood and maps their sources by political systems.

Companies that do not have full visibility over their supply chains cannot fully control or mitigate the environmental and reputational risks they face. However, buying soy that has been certified as deforestation-free by an independent certifier is a simple step for companies to take.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are the world’s top plastic polluting brands and therefore their recycling targets deserve scrutiny. We believe that investors should have little confidence in these goals and financial institutions should share the blame for this.

Supporters of deep-sea mining promise to provide the materials needed for a decarbonised future by extracting key metals from the seabed. However, the environmental effects of deep-sea mining have shown catastrophic and irreversible implications for biodiversity.