ESG Summit speech by Chair of Australia's ASIC

ASIC’s chair, Joe Longo, delivered this speech at the AFR ESG Summit on 5 June discussing ESG topics in detail including: 

• Governance;
• Green washing; and
• Carbon trading markets.

For those compliance professionals tracking ESG trends and those firms operating in Australia, the speech provides insights into ASIC’s views on ESG. We summarise key quotes from the speech below.

Governance.

• “Markets are now pushing into new areas of ESG. Areas like nature and biodiversity. We are seeing the Taskforce on Nature-Related Risks on a similar track to its precursor, the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).”
• “The Australian Government has also made clear its intention to mandate climate disclosures. The International Sustainability Standards Board has been working to finalise and issue its first two standards, by the end of this month. These will be standards on general sustainability requirements and climate-related financial disclosures.”
• “Companies need to be thinking about integrating these considerations into their own governance structures, and asking themselves three fundamental questions:

1. How can sustainability and financial reporting work together to function as an integrated whole?
2. How can we ensure that marketing and advertising teams work with the legal and risk teams to ensure cohesion around sustainability-related claims?
3. What assurances and processes can be put in place to ensure that the board is appropriately informed and confident about the information that is being put out?”

Greenwashing.

“Through the course of this work, we have come across four main categories of problematic behaviour that fall under the heading of ‘greenwashing’:

1. Net zero statements and targets without a reasonable basis or that are factually incorrect.
2. Terms like ‘carbon neutral’, ‘clean’ or ‘green’, that aren’t founded on reasonable grounds.
3. Overstatement or inconsistent application of sustainability-related investment screens.
4. The use of inaccurate labelling or vague terms in sustainability-related funds.”

Carbon markets and trading.

“ASIC recognises the role carbon markets play in supporting private sector action on emissions reduction. This means that when the Clean Energy Regulator appoints an operator, we will play our part in the development of a carbon market in Australia by ensuring standards of integrity and transparency, as we do in other Australian licensed markets.”