Month: February 2024

This is the first of our three-part series on Cisco Foundation grantees working in the Amazon and South America region. This series will introduce you to eight Cisco Foundation Climate Impact & Regeneration grantees working to support preservation and protection of the Amazon basin through three main avenues, all of which are deeply entangled and in tandem serve to promote enduring environmental protection and preservation: Prioritizing Indigenous Sovereignty, Promoting Sustainable Livelihood Opportunities, and Scaling Innovative Financing Opportunities.

This article was constructed in partnership with my colleagues at Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance: Atossa Soltani, Uyunkar Domingo Peas, Rafalea Iturralde; and Digital Democracy: Jen Castro, and Megan Barickman.

The Amazon is a vast tropical rainforest, spanning nine South American countries, and is known for its rich biodiversity and cultural vibrancy. Indeed, the numbers are breathtaking: the Amazon covers 6.7 million square kilometers, is home to over 47 million people, (about 2 million of whom are Indigenous), stores an estimated 200 billion tons of carbon, and is home to approximately 10% of the world’s remaining biodiversity (World Wildlife Fund: Living Amazon Report, 2022). Beyond these regional numbers, though, the Amazon is important at a wider scope: large swaths of water vapor known as “atmospheric rivers” above the Amazon help to stabilize global temperatures and rainfall patterns around the world.

And yet, the ecosystem is facing enormous pressure from extractive industrial practices such as gold mining, oil drilling, and deforestation for timber and agricultural land. The scientific community now warns that if such unchecked degradation continues, the Amazon could reach a “tipping point,” triggering a massive and irreversible ecological die-off within decades. While such headlines may be concerning, radiating out from within the region is a spirit of energy, hope, and opportunity that sparks optimism and weaves together a collective vision of a resilient and inclusive future.

Cisco’s Chief Sustainability Office and the Cisco Foundation’s Climate Commitment seek to build capacity for our social and environmental systems to heal and thrive by working toward an inclusive, resilient, and regenerative climate future. Our work in the Amazon seeks to uphold these values, and enthusiastically supports several partners operating from within the region.

Indigenous Lands of the Amazon

The ecological significance of the Amazon bioregion is clear, but what often takes a backseat in modern discourse is its immense biocultural vitality. We cannot discuss Amazon preservation without centering and prioritizing Indigenous voices and acknowledging the necessity for Indigenous peoples to exercise self-determination within the lands they steward. Around the globe, some of the best-preserved and most resilient bioregions are those areas inhabited by Indigenous peoples. For example, land stewarded by Indigenous communities holds 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Within the Amazon, there are over 500 Indigenous groups who have inhabited over 300 million hectares of land since before European recorded history; and satellite imagery from the rainforest does show that land fully managed by Indigenous nations is the most well preserved. The Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) is the preeminent leading organizational body acting on behalf of all 511 Indigenous groups in the Amazon (Please note: COICA’s primary language is Spanish).

Despite this data, very little funding for conservation and climate mitigation actually reaches Indigenous territories in regions across the globe. The Amazon is no exception. To effectively invest and support resilient ecosystems, it is crucial that we shift the main paradigm of ecosystem preservation and protection into the hands of the forest’s original stewards: Indigenous peoples. Two Cisco Foundation grantees are taking monumental strides to herald in that future by prioritizing Indigenous sovereignty through governance and digital access.

Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance: Indigenous Governance & Self-Determination

Cisco Foundation grantee Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance (ASHA) is an alliance founded in 2017 by Amazon Indigenous federations in Ecuador and Peru, including COICA with a goal to permanently protect and restore 86 million acres of rainforest within the Amazon headwaters, in the Napo, Pastaza, and Marañon basins. The alliance has now grown to include 24 Indigenous organizations and 3 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). According to Uyunkar Domingo Peas, the President of ASHA’s Board of Directors, these organizations are “joining together to mobilize significant financial and technical resources to ensure that our voices are heard, our rights are recognized, and our territories are protected.”

Domingo explains that comprehensive alliance is vital for the region, because “we all belong to the same interconnected web of rivers and forests. We are all kin, and when we unite, we can better protect our lands and our rights.” The guiding vision for ASHA, and many people within the region, is Buen Vivir, or the concept of collective well-being. To bring Buen Vivir to life, the Alliance co-created the Bioregional Plan 2030, which seeks to address five shared objectives: “improving living conditions, advancing Indigenous rights and territorial governance, stopping deforestation and degradation, conserving forests and restoring degraded areas, and stopping the advancement of extractive industries (ASHA).”

The Bioregional Plan emphasizes working closely with government leaders to promote a new economic paradigm, where extractive industries are foregone in favor of what Domingo describes as a “regenerative standing forest bioeconomy.” This future, according to Domingo, is not actually a sacrifice but instead a “Win-Win-Win: For Indigenous peoples, the Earth’s biosphere, and the nation’s long-term economic prosperity.” And how to practically bring Buen Vivir to life? Well, according to ASHA, it will take “significant levels of international funding, investments and financial mechanisms (e.g. debt forgiveness, climate and biodiversity adaptation and mitigation funds, philanthropy) can be mobilized and leveraged to incentivize the protection of the Sacred Headwaters region.”

Digital Democracy: Co-Building Indigenous Digital Futures

Another Cisco Foundation grantee, Digital Democracy, partners with remote front-line communities to help them address climate change and defend their rights through accessible technology. Crucial to Digital Democracy’s approach is “co-creation,” wherein product development is led largely by Indigenous partners and involves deep listening practices. In their own words: “Co-creating digital tools with Indigenous land defenders is critical because very little technology currently exists that meets their needs. Instead, technology is often used against Indigenous Peoples who are living in close relationship with nature and trying to protect vast, climate-sensitive ecosystems from destructive industries.”

According to Co-Director Jen Castro, at the organization’s inception in 2008, their partners needed technology that didn’t yet exist, such as “mapping tools that worked offline, allowed for offline collaboration amongst users, and supported data sovereignty, and tools that help them tell their own story in a digital world.” In practice, Indigenous earth defenders in the Amazon require tools to document threats such as oil spills or illegal logging. That data can then be used in legal cases or when seeking resources. Digital Democracy’s custom and flagship product Mapeo fills this gap: it is a free, open-source digital toolset that allows users to document, monitor, and map many types of data, completely offline. Digital Democracy’s work has contributed to 70 projects in nearly 40 countries with 7 million hectares of territory mapped and defended.

When asked about their current vision for the future, Digital Democracy painted a very clear picture: “The future we imagine is one of abundance and climate justice, in which Indigenous communities have sovereignty over their territories and their digital futures. We hope the tools we are co-building with our Indigenous partners will help lay the groundwork for this future.”

Uniting the Cisco Foundation, Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance, and Digital Democracy is a singular vision: one of a thriving, harmonious and resilient Amazon ecosystem, in which local Indigenous communities are active leaders, fully sovereign on their lands, leading the driving paradigm of preservation and protection.

The thread that weaves together three very different organizations is the pursuit of this vision — whether through Buen Vivir, Digital Sovereignty, or Resilient Ecosystems. If our goal is regeneration and a future where environmental systems are healthy and thrive, we get there by protecting human rights; facilitating diversity, inclusion, and equitable opportunity; and empowering local communities.

Stay tuned for the next article in our series about ecosystem restoration and regeneration through sustainable livelihood opportunities in the Amazon and South America.

View original content here.

Sara Rosner| Director of Environmental Research and Engagement—Responsibility

Patrick O’Connell, CFA| Director—Fixed Income Responsible Investing Research

David Tsoupros, CFA| Senior Research Analyst—Concentrated Growth

Investors face an urgent challenge in understanding, analyzing and managing biodiversity risks.

From South Africa’s endangered black rhinoceros to the shrinking Amazon rainforest, threats to the variability of life on Earth are mounting. Protecting biodiversity—animals, plants and other living organisms, and the ecosystems they are part of—is vital to maintaining the health of our planet and the products, services and economic activity that sustain our daily life. Yet until recently, biodiversity hasn’t ranked highly among investors’ priorities.

This may seem surprising, given biodiversity’s importance as the living component of the natural world. Together with abiotic resources—the nonliving components of the natural world, such as land, water, air and minerals—biodiversity comprises natural capital, the world’s stock of natural assets.

Natural capital provides the building blocks that enable ecosystem services—the positive benefits that societies and economies derive from nature—to sustain life and create wealth. That’s why biodiversity loss alone could cost the global economy trillions of dollars in the coming years, in addition to trillions more related to climate change.

Biodiversity is, quite simply, the world’s life support system, the foundation from which nearly all goods and services are produced.

Web of Life: Biodiversity Risks Are Highly Complex

For many years, governments and investors have focused on the material impacts of climate change, with little consideration for the role of the natural world. But today there is a growing recognition of the high degree of interconnectivity and myriad feedback loops between climate change and nature—and a greater appreciation of the risks associated with biodiversity.

The interconnectedness within and across ecosystems makes biodiversity risk especially complex. Ecosystem services can be grouped into four interconnected categories: the regulation of natural ecosystem processes, such as pollination; the provisioning of physical products, including food; the cultural or nonmaterial benefits that arise from a harmonious relationship between people and their environments; and, most importantly, the supportive infrastructure of oxygen production, water and nutrient cycles, and soil formation, which makes all other ecosystem services possible (Display).

The idea of interconnectedness is important when considering the drivers of biodiversity loss. Changing land use (such as deforestation) and sea use has been one of the largest threats to biodiversity. According to the World Wildlife Fund, land conversion is the main reason for a 69% decline in wildlife populations (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish) since 1970.

But deforestation not only affects wildlife; it also impinges on climate. The Amazon rainforest, for example, currently absorbs 30% less carbon dioxide than it did in the 1990s due to deforestation to make way for cattle farms. Deforestation reduces the forest’s capacity to store and release moisture into the atmosphere.

This reduction in moisture from the Amazon has major implications for the global hydrological cycle—the processes of rain, evaporation, freezing and melting around the world—which in turn negatively affects more species’ habitats and changes the global climate. Deforesting a further 20% of the Amazon could release more than 90 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere—2.5 times more than annual global fossil fuel emissions.

There is a silver lining, because interconnectedness works both ways: tackling climate change and biodiversity loss in tandem can lead to twin wins. Steps taken to reduce deforestation in the Amazon, for example, may help to mitigate the speed and severity of climate change by creating additional carbon sinks for growing carbon flows.

The National Academy of Sciences in the US underscored the connection between nature and climate when it estimated that, in a below-2-degrees Celsius warming scenario, nature-based solutions such as green infrastructure and carbon sequestration and storage could carry out 37% of necessary carbon mitigation between now and 2030, and 20% between now and 2050.

In other words, tackling biodiversity loss and climate change is one route to resolving two systemic issues (Display).

Similarly, in our view, awareness of the links between biodiversity and climate risks may help investors develop valuable insights and investable opportunities for their portfolios through carbon credits, agricultural solutions, ecotourism, water management, green infrastructure and other nature-based solutions, to name just a few.

The web of risks becomes even more complex when other causes of biodiversity loss are considered. Land- and sea-use change and climate change are only two of the worst drivers. Others include direct exploitation, pollution and invasive species.

While changing sea and land use are currently ranked as the most destructive causes, these rankings may vary over time, adding another layer of complexity. Failure to abate climate change, for example, may lead to climate becoming the leading cause of biodiversity loss.

Investors face an urgent challenge in analyzing and managing these risks and opportunities. As biodiversity loss continues, the risks to companies and investment portfolios increase. And, as governments and regulators respond to biodiversity loss, the pressure builds on businesses and investors to engage with these issues, generating opportunities.

Helping Investors Rise to the Challenge

The challenge of analyzing and managing nature-related risks and opportunities is not insurmountable. Investors can take practical steps to engage with biodiversity risk by understanding its place in the broad ecological structure, its role in underpinning ecosystem services and how those services interact with each other in supporting life and economic activity.

From there, they can develop a framework for assessing companies’ biodiversity exposures—not just physical and transition risks, but also the economic and investment opportunities that can arise from actions taken to mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change. And, by applying appropriately designed conceptual frameworks and specialist data, biodiversity risk and opportunities can be calibrated at the sector and individual issuer levels and mapped to investor portfolios with the goal of unlocking better returns.

By using these approaches in an active strategy that combines fundamental research, third-party specialist knowledge and issuer engagement* and stewardship, investors can aim for meaningful long-term performance while helping to mitigate nature-related business and investment risks.

These actions alone won’t solve the biodiversity crisis, but they may help to create a world in which, one day, economies will behave more like ecosystems and less like invasive species.

For a deeper dive into the risks and opportunities surrounding this topic, download our white paper, Biodiversity in the Balance: How Nature Poses Investment Risks and Opportunities.

*AB engages issuers where it believes the engagement is in the best interest of its clients. 

The authors wish to thank Max Lulavy, Environmental Research Associate, for his invaluable contribution to this research.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams. Views are subject to revision over time.

About the Authors

Sara Rosner

Sara Rosner is a Senior Vice President and AB’s Director of Environmental Research and Engagement on the Responsibility team. She leads AB’s collaboration with the Columbia Climate School, which focuses on enhancing investors’ ability to integrate climate change considerations into their decision-making and investment processes. Rosner is also developing and implementing AB’s Climate Transition Framework. She co-chairs the firm’s working groups on net zero and biodiversity and has managed firmwide initiatives on climate scenario analysis, carbon offsets, and ESG education and training. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Rosner performed research for the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, where she worked on projects related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and renewable energy alternatives in the extractive industry. She spent most of her early career as a journalist covering energy and infrastructure finance in the Americas for Euromoney Institutional Investor. Rosner holds a BS in international studies, magna cum laude, from Pepperdine University and an MS in sustainability management from Columbia University. She is a global member of 100 Women in Finance and a financial literacy volunteer with the High Water Women Foundation. Rosner was named one of Crain’s New York Business Notable Leaders in Sustainability 2023. Location: New York

Patrick O’Connell, CFA

Patrick O’Connell is a Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income Responsible Investing Research. In this role, he is part of the leadership team that develops responsible investment strategy across AB’s Fixed Income business, particularly related to integrating environmental, social and governance considerations throughout the team’s research and engagement. Previously, O’Connell served as a corporate credit research analyst, focusing on emerging-market corporates in Latin American and African countries. He joined the Emerging Markets research team in 2013 after working as a credit analyst covering US high-yield energy credits at AB. Prior to joining the firm in 2012, O’Connell was a desk analyst at UBS Investment Bank, where he helped to allocate capital on the trading desk. He holds a BS in accounting and finance (magna cum laude) from Villanova University and is a CFA charterholder. Location: New York

David Tsoupros, CFA

David Tsoupros is a Senior Research Analyst for Concentrated Growth. Before joining AB in 2013, he was an analyst on the US equity research and portfolio-management team at WPS Advisors. Prior to that, Tsoupros spent four years as a senior healthcare analyst at Roaring Brook Capital. He began his career with Merrill Lynch in 1998 and finished his tenure there as an equity research analyst specializing in the healthcare sector. Tsoupros holds a BA in history, with a minor in economics, from the University of Virginia. He is a CFA charterholder, a member of the CFA Institute and an SASB FSA (Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting) Credential holder. Location: New York

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here.

Rueil-Malmaison (France), February 15, 2024 /3BL/ – Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, announced today its 2023 sustainability impact performance as part of its full-year financial results. The Schneider Sustainability Impact score for the year exceeded expectations, reaching 6.13 out of 10, and surpassing the year-end target of 6 out of 10. Schneider Electric was also recognized as a top performer by independent environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings throughout the year.

Schneider Electric’s strong performance spans what was the hottest year on record – serving to highlight the importance of collective action to decarbonize business operations and value chains to avoid the worst effects of global warming and accelerate the transition to a cleaner, fairer world.

Three years into the Schneider Sustainability Impact (SSI) program, Schneider Electric solutions for electrification, digitalization, and automation continue to lower the carbon emissions of customers, with 112 million of tonnes saved and avoided in 2023 alone. Great strides have also been made in transforming Schneider Electric’s supply chain. Carbon emissions from Schneider Electric’s top 1,000 suppliers have fallen by 27% — significant progress compared to the 10% reduction achieved in 2022 — and 21% of the company’s most strategic supply chain partners have met Schneider Electric’s decent work standards.

Efforts across the company to act responsibly with resources mean 63% of Schneider Electric’s product packaging is now free of single-use plastic and made of recycled cardboard. The company’s long-standing commitment to close the energy access gap has also advanced at pace, with 46.5 million people now accessing clean and reliable electricity thanks to Schneider Electric initiatives around the world, and more than 578,000 people learning new skills to address the future energy needs of their communities.

“Schneider Electric’s holistic approach to sustainability ensures that environmental, social, and governance considerations are integral to our business strategy and operations,” said Agustin Lopez Diaz, Chief Sustainability and Customer Satisfaction & Quality Officer at Schneider Electric. “We care deeply about the impact we have throughout our ecosystem and the legacy we leave behind us. That’s why we’re determined to accelerate our sustainability program in its penultimate year and bring everyone along for lasting, positive impact.”

On the external ESG rating front, Schneider Electric has maintained its status as a sustainability leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and in Corporate Knights’ list of Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World for the 13th year running, and obtained high scores from Moody’s Analytics, CDP, and EcoVadis with a Platinum medal.

All of these achievements feed into the company’s short and long-term pay incentive plans, underlining the company’s commitment to sustainable performance.

More details on the 2023 SSI results and other highlights are available in the full-year sustainability impact report.

Related resources:

Sustainability ReportsESG Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)Schneider Electric’s recent awards and recognitions

About Schneider Electric 

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management, for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

www.se.com