Newsletter: November
Welcome to Canbury’s November newsletter. This month, we bring you key takeaways from COP16 alongside our nature portfolio analysis, and we highlight our benchmarking solutions and use cases. We also discuss how our AI tools can help you with your due diligence questionnaires, and looking forward to COP29, we preview GSIA’s upcoming report on transforming global finance for climate action.
If you’d welcome a call on any of the content in our newsletter, please get in touch. Or if you find yourself in Central London, do call in.
- Many thanks,
- The Canbury Team
Nature portfolio analysis post-COP16
As the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) finishes in Cali, Colombia this week, biodiversity and nature are at the forefront of global discussions. This conference aims to review progress against the targets and commitments of the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in 2022.
With a limited number of countries submitting updated action plans to address biodiversity loss, COP16 is highlighting the increasing need to incorporate nature-related considerations into investment strategies. Both governments and businesses are already grappling with the impacts of biodiversity decline, and investors are beginning to recognise the importance of understanding how their portfolios intersect with natural ecosystems.
In light of these developments, nature portfolio analysis is more relevant than ever. Our analysis provides a materiality mapping of your portfolio’s impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services, covering land, freshwater and marine ecosystems, pollutants, biological interferences, and species abundance. We leverage ENCORE’s leading public data and established frameworks to deliver portfolio and company-level heat maps, detailed analyses, and bespoke training.
Our nature portfolio assessment provides a tailored solution for those looking to align their investments with priorities emerging from COP16. From high-level portfolio heat maps to deep-dive company analyses, we offer comprehensive insights that enable informed decision-making in an increasingly nature-conscious financial landscape.
If you would like to explore how our nature portfolio assessment can support your investment strategy post-COP16, please reach out to Ben (ben.wilmot@canbury.io).
Our benchmarking solutions
Our benchmarking solutions combine our sustainability expertise with AI tools to analyse companies across key ESG themes and metrics.We use the latest AI models, including Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro, to research and evaluate thousands of pages of public documentation for comprehensive assessments.
Our Modern Slavery Assessment demonstrates this approach, providing clear insights and engagement points to asset managers, investment managers and NGOs.
How we work:
- AI models process company documentation at scale
- We develop attribute lists based on client needs
- Results are delivered in your preferred format
- Our AI-driven approach enables efficient delivery.
If you’re interested in creating a benchmarking tool, or would like to learn more about our Modern Slavery Assessment, please get in touch with AJ (amiya.taggart@canbury.io).
Due diligence questionnaires: Pre-population
Asset managers now face more frequent and complex reporting requirements across multiple frameworks, from PRI reporting to periodic ESG questionnaires. Managing these increasing demands while maintaining accuracy and consistency across responses can be challenging.
Our pre-population service addresses this by processing your existing documentation – from policy documents and annual reports to investment guidelines and ESG statements – to automatically generate framework responses.
Our AI models:
- Read 100s of pages of your documentation
- Extract relevant information and source references with quotes
- Pre-populate frameworks, e.g. PRI’s Investor Reporting Frameworks
- All outputs are reviewed by our team of trained analysts
The AI models systematically work through your documentation to find relevant information, ensuring comprehensive coverage of each question.
For more information about our benchmarking or DDQ pre-population services, please contact Will (will.martindale@canbury.io).
Ahead of COP29: Transforming global finance for climate action
Ahead of COP29 in Baku, Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) is set to launch Transforming global finance for climate action: Addressing misaligned incentives and unlocking opportunities.
The report finds that, “policymakers have placed significant expectations on private capital to finance the transition … simultaneously, private capital has often responded with inflated promises.” This impasse between policymakers and investors is hindering effective climate action and preventing capital from flowing where it’s needed most.
The report puts forward a framework, PIVOT, to categorise barriers to effective climate action and proposed solution sets:
- Policy Vacuum
- (self-) Interest
- (mis-)Valuation
- (In)active Ownership
- Transition Misalignment
The report details that addressing these barriers requires coordinated action from both policymakers and investors. Key recommendations include developing comprehensive national transition plans, aligning incentives with long-term sustainability goals, improving climate risk valuation methods, and fostering deeper collaboration between investors and policymakers.
The report includes additional guides tailored for key stakeholders to drive targeted and practical implementation. These guides provide specific actions for investors, policymakers, and COP 29 negotiators, along with a primer explaining the fundamentals of sustainable and responsible investment for policymakers. Each guide offers concrete steps to help unlock capital flows needed for climate action.
The research emphasises that there are no quick fixes – meaningful change requires sustained effort across multiple fronts, with both public and private sectors working together to redirect capital toward climate solutions.
The full report and accompanying guides will be published shortly – follow GSIA on LinkedIn to stay updated on the launch.
Welcome to Alim!
Canbury is delighted to welcome Alim, who has joined as a Senior Analyst. Alim is working across our range of solutions, with particular focus on developing our AI-enabled sustainability and analysis research tools through his technical expertise and knowledge of Python. He brings valuable experience in advising defined benefit pension schemes, having previously worked as an investment consulting Senior Analyst at Redington.
Alim holds an MSc in Finance with Distinction from King’s College London and a First Class Honours in BSc Computer Science, also from King’s College London.
Get in touch with Alim (alim.aubakirov@canbury.io).
