EMIA Notes - March 20, 2023

1. ESG Data for Sovereign Bonds: The What, The Why, and The How (Debt and Fiscal Governance Program in conjunction with the PRI) Wednesday, March 22, 9 am EDT / 1 pm GMT

2. Sustainability Challenges: Pulp and Paper Industries (Materials Program Webinar), Friday, March 24, 11 am EDT/ 3 pm GMT

3. Tax Transparency Issues and Their Impact on Extractive Companies (Extractive Industries Program Webinar) Tuesday, March 28, 10 am EDT / 3 pm BST

4. Decarbonisation of Steel and Cement: Challenges and the Way Forward (Carbon Transition Initiative Program Webinar) Thursday, March 30, 10 am EDT / 3 pm BST

1. Relationship Manager - Asset Management

2. Relationship Manager - Stock Exchanges

3. Volunteer Opportunities

This session, co-hosted by EMIA and the PRI, will help investors and other market participants understand where to find countries’ ESG data, what it shows, and how to use it. The World Bank will also present the new version of its Sovereign ESG Data Portal, which has many potential applications for government bond investors.
 
Introduction:

Carmen Nuzzo, Head of Fixed Income, PRI

Claire Meier Underhill, Head, Memberships & Partnerships, EMIA

 
Speakers:

Julien Moussavi, Ph.D., Senior Research Lead in Sovereign ESG at London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)

Dieter Wang, Sustainable Finance Specialist, World Bank

Ann Frank Andresen, Head of Research, EM Debt, Nordea Asset Management 


Moderator: 

Jasper Cox, Investment Practices Analyst, Fixed Income, PRI


Register here on the BrightTalk platform. .

EMIA and its newly launched Materials Program are happy to announce its second webinar dedicated to this sector. It will be focused on the paper and forest products industry, specifically on deforestation, relevant risks and opportunities for investors, and the regulatory environment. 

At our webinar, Tim Steinweg from Rainforest Foundation Norway and Ann Meoni from abrdn will discuss the causes and effects of deforestation. Implications for investors will be highlighted using a case study based on Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry. They will also use the example of recent EU legislation to explore the regulatory developments that are likely to evolve across the world.


Introduction:

Pavel Laberko, Director of the Extractive Industries Program, EMIA


Speakers:

Ann Meoni, Senior Sustainability Analyst – Natural capital, abrdn

Tim Steinweg, Senior Responsible Finance Adviser, Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN)

Samuel Bevan, Investment Director – EMD, abrdn (moderator)

Profit shifting and tax avoidance schemes carry significant legal, regulatory, and public image risks for companies and investors. It is often not easy to get a full picture based on aggregate taxes paid as shown in financial reports, even if a company reports its payments to governments (which only some businesses do comprehensively). Public country-by-country reporting would require companies to publicly list information on business activities, employees, revenues, profits, and tax on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis. Do you think this breakdown would be useful to analysts and investment managers?

The Extractive Industries Program is maintaining its focus on corporate governance with our next webinar on transparency of taxes. Oxfam and the FACT Coalition are engaging with companies in the oil & gas sector and beyond to urge them to publish a GRI-aligned tax transparency report with public country-by-country reporting (PCbCR). They have had some success with large multinational players, and engagement with EM companies and banks is also on the rise. 

Daniel Mulé from Oxfam America and Ian Gary from the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition will discuss the importance of this aspect of corporate governance, share details on the evolving landscape of regulation and tax transparency disclosures, and offer some valuable investor recommendations and calls for action. They will be joined by Kiran Aziz from KLP, the largest pension company in Norway, who will reflect on the role of investors and their experience with PCbCR.
 

Speakers:

Daniel Mulé, Policy Lead, Extractive Industries Tax and Transparency, Oxfam America

John Keenan, Corporate Governance Analyst for Capital Strategies for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Kiran Aziz, Head of Responsible Investments, KLP

Veronica Ayzaguer, Director of the Extractive Industries Program, EMIA (moderator)

The Carbon Transition Initiative invites you to our next event dedicated to decarbonisation of the steel and cement industries. Experts from the Climate Bonds Initiative will talk about the challenges and opportunities that are specific to the production of these materials, and about the parameters of these companies’ transition plans that investors should pay attention to.


Steel and cement have a number of similarities. Making both of these materials requires large amounts of energy. Most methods used in their production processes emit significant volumes of CO2. The situation is exacerbated by expected growth in demand for these materials for decades to come because they are used in infrastructure and residential construction. This construction is likely to take place in developing countries on a large scale and over a long-term horizon. Our speakers will provide an overview of the most crucial aspects of decarbonisation of steel and cement and answer any questions you may have.




Introduction:

Pavel Laberko, CFA, Director, Carbon Transition Initiative, EMIA

Speakers:

Fabio Passaro, Transition Policy Analyst, Climate Bonds Initiative

Fabiana Contreras, Senior Sustainability Analyst, Climate Bonds Initiative

Paul Vermaak, Head of Standards, Climate Bonds Initiative

Fabrizio Palmucci, Senior Advisor, Climate Bonds Initiative

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).