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To Fill the Sustainability Talent Gap, Companies Can Look Within
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Welcome back. Companies increasingly are setting ambitious climate goals, but many are having trouble finding people to help them get there.
“People understand personal sustainability but not corporate sustainability,” said Chelsea Mozen, Etsy’s sustainability chief.
One answer could be to look within. Three out of five workers said they are eager to incorporate sustainability in their current job, and more than eight in 10 workers said they want to help their company run sustainably, according to a survey by tech company Salesforce of 1,297 workers across 11 countries, including Brazil, Australia, Japan, India, the U.K. and the U.S.
Spending money to train employees offers another route. Seven in 10 workers surveyed said they wish they had more sustainability-related credentials.
Still, many of these workers don’t know what their company is doing to tackle climate change. More than half of those surveyed weren’t aware of the net-zero plans of their employer.
“Any role can be a sustainability role; we don’t want to see silos,” Ms. Mozen said.
This week: Deep-sea mining moves closer to reality; green tax-credit market is taking shape; California faces offshore wind power logistical challenges
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Content from our Sponsor: DELOITTE
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Record Cash Flows for Oil & Gas Producers Could Spur Energy Transition
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An estimated $1.5 trillion surplus cash by 2030 positions global energy producers to fund both core capex priorities and investments that kickstart the low-carbon economy, according to a new report. Read More ›
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The Metals Company received permission to collect iron or manganese nodules from the sea floor in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. PHOTO: GSR/REUTERS
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Deep-sea mining took a big step forward this week. The Metals Company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, received permission from the International Seabed Authority to collect iron or manganese nodules from the sea floor between Hawaii and Mexico, testing if it is viable to extract battery metals from the ocean for commercial purposes. The approval comes on the heels of the ISA, a United Nations-appointed observer organization, indicating that it plans to complete regulations around such mining efforts within a year.
“It is getting closer [to reality] as we are just under a year away from when we anticipate when regulations will be in place,” said Gerard Baron, chief executive of TMC.
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Turbines in Mount Storm, W.Va. PHOTO: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
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Bankers and advisers are figuring out how to funnel tax breaks from energy companies that generate them to profitable corporations eager for smaller tax bills, as a market for green tax-credit sales forms following the passage of the U.S. climate bill. The tax-credit sales mark a shift in the U.S. strategy for attracting public and private capital to renewable-energy projects, and they will happen alongside existing climate-finance markets such as carbon-offset purchases.
The deals won’t start in earnest until 2023, but lawyers and financiers are already structuring transactions. They are discussing arrangements in which credits would be sold at discounts from face value, and they are determining how to cushion tax-credit buyers against potential risks. “The conversations are happening. The market making is happening right now,” said Nicholas Knapp, senior managing director at CohnReznick Capital in New York.
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Join us at the WSJ Pro Sustainable Business Forum on Oct. 13, where we will discuss the critical sustainability issues facing business executives. With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission due to introduce stringent reporting requirements, the forum will explore the practicalities of reporting and standards, and other topics. Register for tickets here.
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California’s Wind Headache
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Some wind-power companies interested in the Morro Bay region are urging federal regulators to fix logistical problems. PHOTO: RUBY WALLAU FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Fishing fleets and influential environmentalists are complicating California’s push for offshore wind power. Recent public comments submitted to U.S. officials who are organizing a wind project lease sale for two offshore regions laid bare the logistical challenges for wind turbines that will have to share California’s coast with commercial fishing boats, the shipping industry, marine researchers, tourists and the U.S. military. Those include everything from worries about sea turtles and other marine life to obstacles such as shipping routes and underwater telecommunication cables.
Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said offshore wind power projects threaten an industry that also must deal with depleted fish stocks and soaring coastal real-estate prices. “We’re struggling to make sure that people understand that, just because you can’t see it, that doesn’t mean it’s not having an impact,” she said.
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Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard is giving away the multibillion-dollar outdoor apparel business he founded nearly 50 years ago, with a goal of helping to tackle climate change.
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Mr. Chouinard and his family have transferred their ownership of Patagonia to a trust and a nonprofit organization as opposed to taking the privately held company public or selling it, the 83-year-old founder said in a letter Wednesday, titled “Earth is now our only shareholder.”
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Gun-Purchase Tracking Code Could Be Socially Positive for Visa, Mastercard, Amex
Visa, Mastercard and American Express said they would add an additional merchant-category code for the tracking and monitoring of gun sales. The move could prove socially positive for the card networks if they are seen as effectively tracking and flagging suspicious firearms sales and protecting the public and vulnerable groups from the threat of gun violence. The decision also comes amid pressure from gun-control advocates, who have long sought for banks and credit-card companies to adopt such action. Once implemented, retailers whose primary business is firearms sales will have their own MCC, having previously often been categorized as specialty retailers or durable-goods sellers. While it isn't clear how card networks will share information with law enforcement, the industry currently keeps tabs on a wide range of transactions to try to identify and prevent illegal activity such as
fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing. The card networks said they would work to implement the new code while supporting lawful purchases and protecting consumer privacy.
This is a sample of exclusive analysis of sustainability news from the Journal’s environment, social and governance (ESG) research analysts, whose work is primarily published by Dow Jones Newswires to help institutional investors and wealth managers integrate ESG factors into portfolio models, risk management programs and financial advice. The commentary by our research analysts is independent of the news coverage by reporters at the Journal. For more information about Dow Jones Newswires, click here.
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The future is being rewritten by historic green investment—and growing climate devastation. (Time)
France’s EDF takes $29 billion hit over shutdown of nuclear reactors. (WSJ)
Samsung plans to hit 100% clean energy, but not until 2050. (AP)
The first $900 million to improve the U.S.'s electric-vehicle charging network is on the way. (MarketWatch)
Yoga teachers are targeting Luluemon over coal. (The Guardian)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine knocked down wind power. (Bloomberg)
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