The release of novel entities — artificial chemicals and other human-made pollutants — into the biosphere, has accelerated to a point that they have exceeded their planetary boundary, threatening the Earth operating system, along with humanity. Planet Tracker’s latest report, ‘Novel Entities – A Financial Time Bomb’, presents a detailed analysis of the risks of one of Earth’s nine boundaries, novel entities. The report highlights their risk to both human and planetary health and warns investors of the significant financial risk they face from not considering their potential impact.

Meet the Planet Tracker team at COP16, 21 October – 1 November, 2024.

Our paper ‘Exposing Water Risk’ has won the Best Sustainable Investment Thought Leadership Paper at the Investment Week 2024 Sustainable Investment Awards.

On 9 September, in Brussels, former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi presented his report on the “The future of European competitiveness”. The document outlines the challenges that EU businesses face in being both productive and environmentally friendly. The Draghi report had been much anticipated and, following its launch, has generated intense debate among the range of stakeholders – especially on whether Europe’s ambitious climate targets and related policies are hindering EU economic growth. Planet Tracker and Carbon Tracker have identified four major points of discussion.

LyondellBasell could be aligned with a 1.5 °C warming scenario by 2030. LyondellBasell aims to achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2050, targeting a 42% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a 30% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030, from a 2020 baseline. While Planet Tracker believes LYB is likely to meet its 2030 targets, the company could strengthen its position by enhancing its transparency, especially on financial disclosures related to climate-related risks and the expected impact of its investments on emissions reductions.

This document supports investors wishing to engage with petrochemical companies on the role these companies play in addressing plastic pollution. It provides a guide to advance the five asks investors outlined in the petrochemical investor statement.

SABIC is expected to be on a 2°C pathway by 2030 according to analysis by Planet Tracker. The company aims for carbon neutrality by 2050, targeting a 20% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2030 from a 2018 baseline. However, Planet Tracker’s analysis shows that SABIC lacks a specific Scope 3 emissions target, which accounts for 70% of its footprint, and therefore the company will miss the alignment with the latest Paris Agreement ambition.

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to attract considerable attention in financial markets. While much of the spotlight is on the competitive opportunities offered by AI strategies, soaring demand has caused supply chain challenges. However, water resources are rarely viewed as an important constraint. If the water consumption of data centres is not dramatically reduced, it will be an increasingly important factor in their location.

In March 2024, Planet Tracker released the Nature Scorecard which identified those companies which are perceived by financial institutions as influential in terms of nature and biodiversity. This update incorporates significant changes and provides developments from the past few months.

中国,作为世界上最大的海洋捕捞国,其远洋捕捞船队在过去三十年间的迅猛增长,对海洋生态环境和社会产生了深远的影响。