The Future of ESG Data America 2023

Chair's opening remarks

Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

Fireside chat – industry responses to the new SEC disclosure regulations

Standards keynote – how far we are from a standardized framework for ESG reporting, in the U.S. and globally?

Neil Stewart, Director of Corporate Outreach, ISSB/IFRS Foundation

Panel – discussing the current political and legal landscape for ESG in the US: how does it impact ESG data and the wider ESG market?

• Discussing the regulatory environment and politicization of ESG investing in the US – how might this play out in the run-up to elections in 2024?
• Rebublican vs. Democrat movements and proposed bills for divestments of ESG assets vs. divestments of fossil fuels
• Industry implications: how could the political divide over ESG affect flows of funds into ESG assets, and disclosure of data relating to ESG investments?
• Litigation issues and their impact on ESG adoption and disclosure in the US

Panellists:
Alice Hill, Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment, Council on Foreign Relations
Steven M. Rothstein, Managing Director, Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, Ceres

Panel: Emerging developments in measuring the “S” pillar of ESG

• What data can be defined as “social”, and to what extent can the social component of an investment be quantified?
• What advances are being made in measuring DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion)?
• Examining models being developed by ratings providers to measure social materiality – what criteria is used?
• Striking the balance between disclosure and privacy:  Understanding legal risks and civil liberty issues when collating social data

Panellists:
Jonathon Smith, Associate Director, Sustainable Fitch
Nick Sapirie, Vice President, Single-Family Capital Markets, Fannie Mae
Ruthann Bartello, CFA, Director, Client Relations, Morningstar Sustainalytics

Panel: What ESG data do investors want? How are they using the data for investment decisions?

• Prioritising data needs and aligning them with the ESG investment strategy
• Investor insights on emerging disclosure regulations and standards
• Investor perspectives on ESG ratings providers: discussing the limitations of using proprietary data sets
• Using third-party data vs. developing in-house tools and methodologies
• What data do investors want from issuers, and why?

Moderator:
Elizabeth King, President, Sustainable Finance & Chief Regulatory Officer, Intercontinental Exchange

Panellists:
Dave Stangis, Chief Sustainability Officer, Apollo Global Management
Laurel Peacock, Head of ESG, NGP
Yovanka Bylander, Senior Vice President & Head of Sustainability, TimesSquare Capital Management

Panel: How are corporates building ESG reporting strategies? Advances made and lessons learned

• Bridging the data knowledge gap between investors and issuers
• Corporate insights on the SEC’s new regulations and ISSB standards
• Aligning with TCFD and SASB (IFRS)
• Ensuring clear, accurate and consistent data
• Selecting and working with ESG data providers
• Using cloud-based solutions
• Ensuring cross-company engagement between all departments (sustainability, finance, compliance etc) and senior management

Moderator:
Beth Byington, Global Head of Corporate ESG and Climate Solutions, MSCI

Panellist:
Dawn Emling, Head of Sustainability Initiatives, Lincoln Financial Group

Panel: Metrics for measuring natural capital: achieving speed, scale and integrity in natural capital MRV (monitoring, reporting, verification)

• The current state of the natural capital market:  What are the barriers to achieving scalability and credibility? 
• Recent initiatives in developing nature-related and biodiversity investment data – what sources and mapping tools are available?
• Forest carbon and natural capital
• Update and insights from the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures)
• Looking ahead - future potential innovations and drivers for growth in natural capital and biodiversity data

Panellists:
Alessandro Baccini, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Chloris Geospatial
James d'Ath, Data and Analytics Technical Lead, TNFD
Jennifer Jenkins, Chief Sustainability Officer, Rubicon Carbon

Keynote Presentation/Interview - Pension fund perspectives on ESG and ESG data

Panel: The role of ESG data in the transition to net zero

• What tools are available for measuring your net zero commitments, and how reliable are they?
• Emerging standards and best practices for measuring transition
• The role of ESG ratings

Panellists:
Paulina Tarrant, Net-Zero Engagement Manager, Science Based Targets Initiative
Robert White, Co-Chair, Climate Transition Finance Working Group, ICMA & Managing Director, Head of Green & Sustainable Hub, Americas, Natixis
Sam Schrager, Head of US Climate Analytics, ISS ESG

ESG data in private markets – the transparency tipping point

Andrea Ramirez, AVP, Head of ESG Client Strategy, Preqin

Chair’s closing remarks