The Future of ESG Data EMEA 2023

Opening remarks

Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

Keynote Fireside Chat: ISSB

Richard Barker, Board Member, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Keynote address: ESMA

Anna Sciortino, Senior Policy Officer, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

Keynote address: EFRAG

Patrick de Cambourg, Chair, EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board

Keynote address: European Commission

Andreas Rajchl, Policy Expert in Sustainable Finance, DG FISMA, European Commission

INVESTOR & CORPORATE PERSPECTIVES

PANEL: How are investors using ESG data in their investment decisions?

• What data do investors want, and why? How does the data inform investment strategies?
• Comparing concrete examples from different types of investors
• Regulations and standards: sharing investor experiences and challenges of meeting increasingly complex reporting requirements
• Investor perspectives on data suppliers: how useful are ratings providers, and how is externally purchased data and research used alongside internal methodologies?
• Sharing experiences of how asset owners are working with asset managers on ESG data, and challenges when using multiple asset managers
• To what extent are forward-looking metrics being used, and what new innovations are emerging? What are the challenges and lessons learned?

Moderator:
William Attwell, Director – Climate Research, Sustainable Fitch

Speakers:
Christopher Wright, Head, ESG Risk Monitoring, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM)
Estelle Beretta, Head of Responsible Investment Private Markets & Digital, APG Asset Management
Jan-Carl Plagge, Head of ESG Research - Investment Strategy Group, Vanguard Asset Management
Penny Apostolaki, Head of Net Zero Solutions, Global ESG, Aviva Investors

Presentation: BlackRock case study - generating sustainable alpha with unstructured ESG data and AI

• Exploring how sustainable and ESG data contain information for predicting returns and its unstructured nature lends itself to AI and machine learning
• Gathering ESG data from public sources with web scraping and other data collection techniques
• Using the" double bottom line" framework, for ESG signals or data to have a financial impact as well as measuring or contributing to a real-world sustainable outcome

Andrew Ang, PhD, Managing Director, BlackRock

PANEL: How are corporates meeting the challenges of CSRD and achieving robust, transparent and granular ESG reporting?

• Bridging the data gap between investors and corporates:
• How are issuers engaging with investors, and vice versa, to meet evolving data needs, and ensure that KPIs are strategically aligned? What more can be done?
• Issuer insights on emerging standards and regulations: how to keep up with the changes and meet the increased burden? What support do corporates need from data providers?
• Discussing the latest regulatory developments on determining materiality, and sharing the successes, pitfalls and challenges of conducting a materiality assessment with limited regulatory guidance
• Aligning financial reporting with non-financial reporting: will ESG eventually become integrated into the annual corporate report?
• Using AI and cloud-based solutions: what are the opportunities, challenges and limitations?
• Ensuring that the metrics you are using for reporting and disclosure are integral to the ESG strategy, and embedding the ESG reporting strategy across the organisation
• Meeting the growing need for data assurance and verification

Moderator:
Marina Petroleka, Global Head of Research, Sustainable Fitch

Speakers:
Claudia Hügel, Senior Director Corporate Responsibility – Head of ESG Rating & Reporting, Lufthansa Group
Gladys Naylor, Group Head of Sustainable Development, Mondi
Kateřina Bohuslavová, Chief Sustainability Officer, CEZ Group
Simon O'Brien, Senior Investor Sustainability Manager, BAT
Tjeerd Krumpelman, Global Head of Reporting, Regulations & Stakeholder Management, ABN Amro

PANEL: Exploring the data challenges associated with supply chains and scope 3 emissions

• Discussing the data gaps in supply chains: what tools and metrics are being developed to address these gaps, and what best efforts are being made in the meantime?
• How can supply chain monitoring be improved, to support data capture and ESG reporting?
• Sharing best practices and challenges in Scope 3 emissions disclosure reporting: what data is currently available, and what needs to happen for the quality and reliability of this data to improve?
• Examining the data challenges relating to human rights across supply chains, particularly in emerging markets
• As taxonomies take shape, which taxonomy should apply in global supply chains which span different jurisdictions?
• Understanding the European Commission's proposed CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive), what this means for supply chains, and the data implications for corporates and their investors: How can they start preparing?
• Examining proposals to cut deforestation from supply chains, and the associated data challenges

Moderator:

Ahren Lester, Assistant Editor, Environmental Finance

Speakers:
Catarina Barino, Senior Product Manager, Clarity AI
Ian Stannard, Manager, Climate Transition Finance, ICE
Lars Qvigstad Sørensen, Senior Portfolio Manager, Storebrand Asset Management
Lennart Hermans, Head of Environmental Research, Osmosis Investment Management

PANEL: Future potential gamechangers for ESG data – where are we heading, in the US, Europe and globally?

• Understanding the U.S. situation – what could the anti ESG rhetoric and politicisation of ESG mean for data disclosure, and what are the potential ramifications for global investors?
• Whilst the murkiness of ESG data continues worldwide, what solutions could appear for dealing with these imperfections and bounds of uncertainty? Will the demand for niche, specialised data providers increase?
• What is the future for ESG data providers, given their future likely regulation, and the emerging trend of asset owners/managers building their own data methodologies?
• Exploring the development of data lakes through ESAP/ NZSDPU, and the impact on the ESG industry
• Doing away with the "black box": once data become transparent, readily available and comparable through the ESAP, will proprietary data models become obsolete?
• Discussing the potential, and the limitations, of AI (NLP, LLM) and satellite technologies as game changers for ESG data

Moderator:

Peter Cripps, Editor, Environmental Finance

Speakers:
Brunno Maradei, Member of Consultative Working Group, ESMA Sustainability Coordination Network & Global Head of Responsible Investment, Aegon Asset Management
Carol Sirou, CEO, Ethifinance
Grégoire Hug, CEO - Founder, WeeFin
Karena Vaughan, ESG & Climate Risk, Fathom