Structured data for credible climate action

🔥 💾 New Open Source Dataset on Firm-level Climate Change Adaptation Corresponding to my new working paper, I am releasing a new dataset covering over 13,500 public US firms from 2003 to 2025. This dataset analyzes firms according to three hierarchical layers: Layer 1: Climate Change Adaptation 🟢 Actions or solutions that reduce exposure or vulnerability to physical climate risks. Layer 2: Adaptation Actions & Solutions 🔵 Adaptation Actions: Measures firms take to protect their own operations, assets, or supply chains from climate risks. 🔵 Adaptation Solutions: Products or services that help others adapt to climate risks. Layer 3: Adaptation Action Categories 🟡 Physical Protection: Strengthening assets and infrastructure against climate hazards. 🟡 Adaptive Operations: Adjusting operations or supply chains to maintain resilience during disruptions. 🟡 Risk Transfer: Shifting climate-related financial risks through contractual or financial mechanisms (e.g., insurance). 🟡 Financial Reserves: Setting aside internal capital for climate-related recovery costs (e.g., self-insurance). 🟡 Risk Assessment: Identifying and evaluating exposure to physical climate risks. This rich dataset is constructed from large-scale SEC filing analysis using large language models and enables firm-level research of climate adaptation activities at an unprecedented scale. 🔗 All data and models are open-source! Link to the data: https://lnkd.in/ePvy4n3e UZH Department of Finance | University of Zurich | ETH Zürich

Climate-related Financial Disclosures Maturity Map 🌎 Climate-related disclosure is becoming a core expectation in corporate reporting. IFRS S2 introduces a clear structure for reporting climate-related risks, opportunities, and financial impacts, setting a new benchmark for transparency and accountability. The Maturity Map offers a structured view of the required disclosures across governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics. It supports organizations in identifying current gaps and planning the necessary improvements to align with regulatory expectations. In governance, disclosures must define the roles and responsibilities of both the board and management. This includes oversight of climate-related targets, integration into decision-making, and alignment with internal control frameworks and remuneration structures. Strategy disclosures should address how climate risks and opportunities affect business models, financial planning, and strategic direction. A credible transition plan, informed scenario analysis, and clarity on time horizons are essential elements. Risk management requires a clear explanation of how climate risks are identified, assessed, and prioritized. This process must be embedded within the broader enterprise risk framework and supported by appropriate data sources and criteria. Metrics and targets must include comprehensive data on greenhouse gas emissions across scopes, methodologies used, and progress toward defined goals. Disclosures should also reference internal carbon pricing, capital allocation, and external validation of targets. The Maturity Map is designed to guide finance and sustainability teams through the organizational shifts required to deliver complete and decision-useful reporting in alignment with IFRS S2. This tool complements the IFRS S2 standard and supports alignment with cross-industry and sector-specific metrics. Effective use of the Maturity Map can accelerate preparedness and improve the quality of climate-related financial disclosures. Source: Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) #sustainability #sustainable #esg #business #reporting

🛑BREAKING: Brazil Calls for a Global Public Digital Infrastructure to Speed Up Climate Action🛑 💠At the request of COP30 President, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, the Instituto de Tecnologia e Sociedade (ITS Rio) and Ronaldo Lemos formulated Brazil's call for a Global Public Digital Infrastructure for Climate (Climate DPI), a proposal that positions data, finance, and intelligence as the missing layer of the Paris Agreement’s implementation. 💠The green transition lacks a shared digital backbone. Climate action today is fragmented across nations, funds, and data silos. Climate DPI aims to correct this by functioning as an “operating system for climate action”, where digital identity, interoperable payments, and open environmental data converge into a single ecosystem. 💠Its architecture, ClimateStack, links five layers: 🟢 Identity - unique digital records for individuals, organizations, and climate assets. 🟢 Finance - smart contracts enabling transparent flows, compensation, and carbon credits. 🟢 Open data - integration of satellite and sensor networks (GEOSS, Copernicus, INPE/PRODES). 🟢 Applications - public digital services for deforestation alerts, risk forecasting, and climate markets. 🟢 Access - multi-interface delivery (web, SMS, radio) to ensure inclusion. 💠By connecting existing but isolated technologies, the project envisions real-time emissions tracking, faster disaster response (up to 40%), and universal climate alerts by 2035. 💠Strategically, Brazil frames Climate DPI as COP30’s digital legacy, a move that links digital public goods and climate governance. A project that can redefine how the world measures, finances, and enforces its climate commitments. 🔗 Read the full proposal on the official COP30 website. https://lnkd.in/dTUXJFw6

The ISO Ecosystem For Climate Action - Stronger Together. ISO standards for climate action are often viewed in isolation. But in reality, they form a connected system. A system that connects measurement, action, and disclosure into one coherent approach. --- 🔷 THE FOUNDATION: START WITH A SYSTEM At the core sits ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) This is not a climate standard per se — it’s the operating system. It embeds: • Governance • Continuous improvement • Integration into decision-making Without this foundation, climate efforts remain fragmented. --- 🔷 THREE CORE FUNCTIONS OF CLIMATE MANAGEMENT Once the system is in place, climate action breaks down into three pillars: --- 1️⃣ MEASURE → You can’t manage what you don’t measure ISO 14064 (Greenhouse Gas Management) enables: • Emissions quantification • Structured inventories • Verified, credible data Covers: • Organizational emissions • Project-level reductions • Validation & verification 👉 Turns ambition into data you can trust --- 2️⃣ REDUCE → From insight to action ISO 14006 (Ecodesign) focuses on: • Embedding sustainability into design • Reducing lifecycle impacts early 👉 Moves climate from reporting → real change --- 3️⃣ DISCLOSE / ADAPT → Climate = resilience ISO 14090 (Adaptation to Climate Change) enables: • Risk & opportunity assessment • Climate-resilient strategy 👉 Climate is not just emissions It’s business survival and adaptation --- 🔷 THE ENABLERS: WHAT MAKES THE SYSTEM WORK Supporting standards add depth and precision: • ISO 14040/44 (LCA) → Full value chain impact • ISO 14083 → Product carbon footprints • ISO 14068 → Carbon neutrality claims • ISO 14091 → Climate vulnerability 👉 They don’t replace the system — they strengthen it --- 🔷 WHY THIS SYSTEM MATTERS Together, these standards help organizations: ✔ Strengthen resilience ✔ Reduce emissions structurally ✔ Build credibility & trust ✔ Create long-term value --- 🔄 THE BIGGER PICTURE Climate action is not one standard. It’s a connected architecture: • ISO 14001 → system • ISO 14064 → measurement • ISO 14006 → reduction • ISO 14090 → resilience • Others → depth & rigor --- If you’re only using one piece, you’re not using the system. And in climate, the system is where the real value is. --- #ClimateAction #Sustainability #ESG #ISOStandards #NetZero #ClimateStrategy #Decarbonization #SustainableBusiness #GHG #CarbonManagement #ClimateRisk #Resilience #LCA #CarbonNeutral #CorporateSustainability

🌍 Taking Climate Action: Implementing 𝗜𝗦𝗢 𝟭𝟰𝟬𝟲𝟰-𝟭 for Transparent 𝗚𝗛𝗚 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 🌱 As organizations worldwide face increasing pressure to address climate change, understanding and managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has never been more critical. ISO 14064-1 provides a robust framework for quantifying and reporting GHG emissions, helping organizations demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and transparency. Here’s a step-by-step guide to implementing ISO 14064-1 effectively: 1. Define the Purpose and Scope Why are you doing this? Whether it’s regulatory compliance, stakeholder communication, or internal carbon reduction goals, clarity on purpose is key. Set boundaries: Decide which parts of your organization to include and identify operational boundaries (Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions). 2. Develop a GHG Inventory Plan Identify emissions sources: From fuel combustion to employee commuting, map out all activities contributing to GHG emissions. Choose methodologies: Select the right tools and emission factors to calculate your carbon footprint accurately. 3. Collect and Manage Data Gather activity data: Collect data on energy use, transportation, waste, and more. Ensure data quality: Accuracy and consistency are non-negotiable for credible reporting. 4. Calculate GHG Emissions Apply emission factors: Convert activity data into GHG emissions using standardized factors. Account for all scopes: Don’t forget Scope 3 emissions—they often represent the largest portion of your footprint! 5. Establish a GHG Inventory Management System Create policies and procedures: Build a system to manage your GHG data effectively. Train your team: Ensure everyone involved understands their role in the process. 6. Prepare the GHG Report Document your inventory: Summarize your findings and include all necessary details for transparency. Highlight key insights: Use the report to identify reduction opportunities and set actionable goals. 7. Conduct Internal Audits and Reviews Verify accuracy: Double-check your data and calculations to ensure compliance with ISO 14064-1. Address gaps: Correct any errors or inconsistencies before finalizing the report. 8. Seek External Verification (Optional but Recommended) Engage a third-party verifier: Independent verification adds credibility to your GHG report. Obtain a verification statement: This formal acknowledgment can boost stakeholder trust. 9. Communicate the Results Share your report: Publish your findings to demonstrate transparency and accountability. Use insights for action: Leverage the data to drive sustainability initiatives and engage stakeholders. 10. Continuously Improve Monitor progress: Track your performance against reduction targets. Stay updated: Keep up with evolving methodologies, regulations, and best practices. #Sustainability #ClimateAction #GHGEmissions #ISO14064 #CarbonFootprint #ESG #NetZero #GreenFuture

30% of top global companies lack structured climate data, and for most, the costs of manual data structuring remain prohibitively high. The market needs innovation, especially as climate reporting becomes mandatory. BlackRock's latest research paper introduces an AI system for extracting climate commitments from corporate documents, achieving 95-100% accuracy. The technical approach is elegant in its simplicity, breaking documents into 80-word chunks, using RoBERTa to identify relevant sections, and leveraging LLMs for precise data extraction. An important addition is their multi-stage validation system that includes hallucination checks and semantic deduplication - essential features for production-grade AI systems. While initially tested with Google's PaLM2, the researchers demonstrate comparable performance with GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, suggesting a robust, platform-agnostic solution. However, some limitations: the validation dataset, comprising only 46 companies, is relatively small, and the system's performance on non-standard reporting formats remains untested. As reporting requirements evolve globally, maintaining the system's accuracy will require ongoing refinement. With over 30% of the top 1,000 firms lacking structured climate data, automating climate commitment analysis should improve market transparency while reducing costs, and reducing the barrier to entry. Excellent (and practical) work by Aditya Dave, Mengchen Z., Dapeng Hu, and Sachin Tiwari from BlackRock. PS: HAPPY NEW YEAR! ❤️

For years, climate action in business was defined by commitments, pledges, and ambition statements. That era is ending. We're entering the age of climate performance accountability — where GHG emissions, supply chain impacts, and operational footprints are becoming subject to the same rigor as financial reporting. On February 10, the New York State Senate passed the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (#S9072A). The bill requires companies with over $1B in annual revenue doing business in NY to publicly disclose Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The first report — covering 2026 emissions data — is due June 2027, with third-party verification required by December 2027. Here’s what leaders need to understand: • Entities operating in NY that meet reporting thresholds — including fuel and energy suppliers, electricity generators and importers, waste haulers, fertilizer suppliers, and facilities emitting ≥10,000 metric tons CO₂e annually — must report emissions data. • Larger emitters must obtain DEC-accredited third-party verification. This is not a niche environmental rule. It is a signal that climate performance is becoming a core business metric, alongside financial risk, supply-chain resilience, and regulatory compliance. Mandated disclosure with verification isn’t just transparency. It’s credibility. At the Global Network for Zero (GNFZ), we’ve been preparing organizations for this shift — because disclosure without integrity doesn’t reduce risk or unlock capital. Verified climate performance does. The era of reporting because it’s voluntary is over. The era of reporting because it matters — and can be trusted — has begun. The question for leaders is no longer, “What are we reporting?” It’s: “Can we prove that it’s driving real performance?” That is the work ahead. Reach out to GNFZ to see how we can help: https://lnkd.in/e_XjfYY9

We know A.I. and product-level data can be used to drive climate action. But what does that actually look like in practice? Here’s a great success story about Reckitt using CO2 AI to deliver on its scope 3 targets. Reckitt is a UK-based multinational that owns many household cleaning, health & hygiene brands including Dettol, Finish, Nurofen, Strepsils and Durex. The company has a science-based target to cut its scope 3 emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2040. (They already achieved their target for operational emissions and are now fully focused on their supply chain). Working with CO2 AI and Quantis, Reckitt obtained more granular data on its 25,000+ products, improving data accuracy by 75%. That’s impressive. But the beauty of product-level emissions data is not about complete data or even choosing green products — it’s about companies being able to pinpoint emissions hotspots and opportunities for action. And that’s exactly what happened… They identified a potential 1.4Mt of additional CO2e reductions in their value chain, which had previously been overlooked due to a lack of granular data. That’s a 60% increase!! They were even able to drill down to the substance level, identifying the top 25 substances for raw materials and packaging that contribute most of their scope 3 emissions. This allows for very targeted supplier engagement and decarbonisation initiatives. I particularly love this quote: “The focus is shifting activity from measuring for reporting, to measuring for decision-making.” That’s exactly it. We need to focus less on reporting and compliance and more on making good, climate-informed business decisions. Thank you David Croft for your leadership on this! #ClimateAction #ProductLevelData #PACT

The world isn’t ready for what’s coming next in sustainability data. We’re quietly living through the creation of a financial infrastructure for sustainability—and it’s happening faster than most realize. Over 2,000 sustainability regulations have emerged globally in the past decade, with a 155% surge in ESG-related rules since 2018. This isn’t just about compliance—it’s a fundamental shift in how we define value, risk, and performance. What’s driving it? • EU: CSRD & ESRS will impact over 50,000 companies, embedding double materiality. • India: BRSR Core is mandatory for top 1,000 listed firms. • China: CSDS expands carbon reporting in high-impact sectors. • California: SB 253/261 reshape U.S. climate disclosures. • Australia: AASB S2 aligns with IFRS S2, effective in 2025. • Brazil: CVM 193 adopts IFRS-aligned sustainability standards. • And more: Japan, Canada, Singapore, Nigeria, Turkey—all aligning with global standads. We’ve entered a phase where climate, nature, and transition risks are becoming embedded in financial decision-making—from underwriting and M&A to risk pricing and insurance modeling. In the real estate sector, GRESB has made third-party verified performance data (GHG, energy, water, waste) a best practice. ESG metrics are now more embedded in due diligence for loans, equity, and new acquisitions. Yes, today’s data is often backward-looking. And yes, we still need science-based thresholds and stronger assurance. But this foundational work is what allows us to get there. Without reliable, standardized, machine-readable data, we can’t scale action, track progress, or hold anyone accountable. Just as GAAP and IFRS created trust in financial markets, IFRS S1/S2, CSRD, and the GHG Protocol are setting the stage for credible, comparable sustainability data. It will not be a “parallel system.” in the future. We are building the groundwork for full integration into the global financial system. This shift will transform: • How we price risk • How capital is allocated • How resilient companies are rewarded • How we define long-term value creation It’s messy. It’s political. It’s imperfect. But it’s also historic. If you’re in this space, you’re not just reporting data—you’re helping build a new operating system for business and capital markets. One that rewards transparency, resilience, and climate alignment. Let’s keep building—with more rigor, more ambition, and more impact.

🌍 From Capacity to Credibility: Why Pakistan Needs a Data-Driven Climate Finance Dashboard Last night at #HumNews Every year, Pakistan faces the brunt of climate disasters — floods, droughts, cloudbursts. Yet when we enter global forums, we are forced to argue our case without a proper, integrated data dashboard that shows: ✔️ How many climate projects exist. ✔️ What our domestic resource capacity is. ✔️ Where the real investment potential lies. After the 2022 floods, Pakistan mobilized funds domestically — proof that we have internal capacity. But unless we document and present this transparently, the world keeps questioning our credibility while 8–10 countries continue to dominate and consume most of the climate finance flows. What we need is clear: 🔹 Ground-level data integration — real-time, project-linked, transparent. 🔹 Priority-setting in agriculture, water, and community-led adaptation. 🔹 Bankable, sustainable projects co-created with local financial institutions and private sector. 🔹 A bold narrative at COP and beyond — exposing the hypocrisy of climate finance where promises to vulnerable nations remain unfulfilled. Pakistan must lead the Global South in saying: enough rhetoric, let’s talk facts, data, and justice. 📊✊ #ClimateFinance #Pakistan #GlobalSouth #Adaptation #Transparency #DataDriven #COP30 #FloodAlert #flood2025 #HumNews