EMIA Notes - January 16, 2023

EMIA is delighted to announce that we are expanding our coverage and launching a new program called “Materials.” The program will cover those industries that are included in the corresponding GICS sector (except the mining sub-industries that are now included in our Extractives Program). The ultimate goal of the program is to help investors engage effectively with EM companies in the Materials sector.
 

We present our first webinar of the program on Wednesday, February 8 at 9 am EST / 2 pm GMT. Please see below for details.

In the meantime, please contact Pavel Laberko (plaberko@eminvestorsalliance.org) if you would like to join the MP Working Group or if you have any questions.

1. Chemicals in Food Packaging - Implications for Health and the Circular Economy (Agriculture Program Webinar) Friday, January 20, 2023, 10 am EST / 3 pm GMT

2. Pandemic Preparedness and Health Security in Emerging Markets - An Introduction to the GHS Index (Health, Education and Human Rights Program Webinar) Wednesday, January 25, 2023, 10 am EST / 3 pm GMT

3. Governance Challenges in Transition Minerals Supply Chains (Extractive Industries Program Webinar) Thursday, January, 26, 2023, 10 am EST / 3 pm GMT

4. SBTi Guidelines for Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) – A New Framework to Align with the 1.5C Pathway (Agriculture Program Webinar) Friday, February 3, 2023, 10 am EST/ 3 pm GMT

5. Hazardous Chemicals – What Is the Problem and What Can Investors and Governments Do About It? (Materials Program Webinar) Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 9 am EST / 2 pm GMT

1. Relationship Manager - Asset Management

2. Relationship Manager - Stock Exchanges

3. Volunteer Opportunities

In today’s global economy, food packaging is highly essential for protecting and handling food from farm to fork. However, the hundreds of toxic chemicals used in packaging make it a source of chemical contamination of food, leading to health, environmental, and financial risks.

The webinar will cover how the 8,000 known and unknown “non-intentionally added substances” used in packaging migrate into food, the challenges presented by type of packaging, and the disconnect between chemical safety and recycling. The inadequate regulatory environment and the ongoing revision of food contact material regulations in the EU will also be addressed.

Speakers:

Jane Muncke, Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer at the charitable Food Packaging Forum Foundation (FPF)

Nadine Cavusoglu, Director of the Agriculture Program, EMIA (moderator)

The webinar is open to EMIA members, partners, and affiliates; financial professionals; civil society and multilateral ESG experts; and national governments and publicly listed companies’ staff.

How can investors identify countries’ vulnerabilities to infectious diseases and help them become more resistant?

The Global Health Security (GHS) Index is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmark of health security and related capabilities across 195 countries. The GHS Index is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and was developed with Economist Impact. The Index aims to spur measurable changes in national health security and improve international capability to address one of the world’s most omnipresent risks: infectious disease outbreaks that can lead to international epidemics and pandemics.

Many emerging markets countries were especially hard hit by COVID. They remain vulnerable and unprepared for infectious disease outbreaks.

EMIA will host a webinar to help investors understand and use the GHS index. It can help identify specific countries’ vulnerabilities and suggest corrective measures to reduce these vulnerabilities.

The webinar is open to EMIA members, partners, and affiliates; financial professionals; civil society and multilateral ESG experts; and national governments and publicly listed companies’ staff.

Speakers:

Jaime Yassif, Vice President, Global Biological Policy & Programs, Nuclear Threat Initiative

Jennifer Nuzzo, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Pandemic Center, Brown University’s School of Public Health

Shreya Mukarji, Manager, Policy & Insights, Economist Impact

Uwe Schillhorn, Director of the Health, Education and Human Rights Program, EMIA (moderator)

How can companies, governments and investors act together to avoid growing risks in the value chains of transition minerals?

The global transition to fossil-free sources of energy will lead to accelerating demand for a number of minerals that are essential components of batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, grids, and other equipment, and infrastructure. The critical role of the mining industry in supplying these minerals highlights a number of important ESG issues, of which governance is crucial.  

For our next Extractive Industries Program webinar we invite an expert from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to discuss these issues and offer a few recommendations for investors and policy makers. EITI, in partnership with the University of Queensland, has recently issued a comprehensive report covering governance challenges in supply chains of transition minerals, and Bady Baldé will share its findings with our audience and answer any questions you may have.

The webinar is open to EMIA members, partners, and affiliates; financial professionals; civil society and multilateral ESG experts; and national governments and publicly listed companies’ staff.

Speakers:

Bady Baldé, Deputy Executive Director, EITI International Secretariat

Pavel Laberko, Director of the Extractive Industries Program EMIA (moderator)

The Forest, Land and Agriculture sector represents 22 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions making it the largest emitter after the energy sector. Deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems is responsible for about 50% of these emissions. But due to the absence of frameworks and guidelines, most of these emissions were unaddressed in corporate inventories. The Science Based Targets initiative’s FLAG Guidance, released in September 2022, provides the world’s first standard method for companies in land-intensive sectors to set science-based targets that include land-based emission reductions and removals.

The webinar will introduce the SBTi FLAG guidance and requirements and provide an overview of the integrated approach companies should be taking to achieve deforestation and conversion free supply chains, emission targeting setting, accounting, and reporting.

The webinar is open to EMIA members, partners, and affiliates; financial professionals; civil society and multilateral ESG experts; and national governments and publicly listed companies’ staff.

Speakers:

Luiz Fernando do Amaral, Chief Executive Officer, Science Based Target Initiative

Frederico Machado, Zero Conversion Strategy Leader, WWF 

Guillaume Tessier, Soy Lead, WWF

Nadine Cavusoglu, Director of the Agriculture Program, EMIA (moderator)

EMIA and its newly launched Materials Program are delighted to announce the first webinar dedicated to this sector. It will be focused on the chemicals industry, specifically on hazardous chemicals, their effects on health, and the environment. We will look at best practice examples in policy making, company practices, and recommendations for governments and investors. 

We have invited Sonja Haider and Patrik Witkowsky from ChemSec, an independent not-for-profit organization working to push governments and businesses to transition from toxic chemicals to safer alternatives. This NGO unites a team of chemists, political scientists and business experts, so the webinar participants will have a unique opportunity to ask questions to experts. Sonja and Patrik will also present ChemScore, which is a useful tool that investors can use to screen and assess chemical producers.

The webinar is open to EMIA members, partners, and affiliates; financial professionals; civil society and multilateral ESG experts; and national governments and publicly listed companies staff.

Speakers:

Sonja Haider, Senior Business and Investors Advisor at ChemSec

Patrick Witkowsky, Sustainable Finance Advisor at ChemSec

Pavel Laberko, Director of the Materials Program, EMIA (moderator)

The Emerging Markets Investors Alliance seeks relationship managers with at least 10 years of experience in emerging market sales (debt or equity) or relationship management to engage asset managers in our initiatives.

Successful candidates will have a commitment to advancing responsible investing/ESG and a strong client book in their region(s) of focus. The position is remote and candidates may be based anywhere.

Interested candidates should send an email including their resume and/or LinkedIn profile mentioning “Relationship Manager - Asset Management” in the subject line to applicants@eminvestorsalliance.org.

The Emerging Markets Investors Alliance seeks relationship managers with at least 10 years of experience in emerging markets finance to engage stock exchanges in our initiatives.

The ideal candidate will have a commitment to advancing responsible investing/ESG, and a strong understanding of emerging and frontier equity markets, and relationships with stock exchanges. The position is remote and candidates may be based anywhere.

Interested candidates should send an email including their resume and/or LinkedIn profile mentioning “Relationship Manager - Stock Exchanges” in the subject line to applicants@eminvestorsalliance.org. 

The Emerging Markets Investors Alliance seeks volunteers to serve in a range of roles. We welcome interest from those with a range of skilled backgrounds including research and writing, editing, survey design, graphic design, and Drupal web development.

Interested candidates should send an email including your resume and/or Linkedin profile mentioning “Volunteer Opportunities” in the subject to applicants@eminvestorsalliance.org.

The Emerging Markets Investors Alliance (EMIA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to enable institutional investors to use the power of their collective capital and voices to advocate for a more sustainable future. EMIA "Programs" are activities that bring together investors, policy experts, and governments or companies for the purpose of improving ESG best practice adoption. EMIA Programs focus on sovereigns (e.g., Government Debt and Fiscal Governance Program, Sovereign Decarbonization) and on sectors (e.g., Agricultural Program, Extractive Industries, Financials Program and Telecom, Media, and Technology Program).