ESG Aus and NZ Update

Australian and New Zealand ESG Updates

Aus government to force Facebook and Google to pay to share news stories

In a global first, the Australian federal government has ordered the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to draw up an involuntary code of conduct that will force Facebook and Google to pay Australian media companies for their news content.

The new code is set to balance the scales of power between local media companies and global tech platforms after media complaints that Facebook and Google didn’t engage effectively during negotiations in 2019 to settle it voluntarily.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that it’s only fair that those that generate content should be the ones getting paid for it.

New ESG analytics tool launched

Northern Trust has launched a new service for institutional investors and their managers to analyse portfolios for ESG factors. The new service is available via the company’s Investment Risk & Analytical Services (IRAS) group.

The ESG analytics capacity includes negative screening of assets to ensure adherence to investing guidelines and tracking against the United Nations-affiliated Global Compact Network principles.

The service offers evidence of an investment scheme’s ESG scores and exposure, examines adherence to regulatory requirements, monitors a fund’s ESG profile over time, better manages stakeholder concerns and reputational risk, and helps facilitate discussions with investment managers.

NZ’s ACCs sells down A$47m in coal stocks

The A$45 billion Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) of New Zealand has sold down tens of millions in energy stocks after redrawing its exclusion list in late 2019. The divestments were made across 54 companies after the banned list was extended to include any company that derives over 30 per cent of its revenue from thermal coal. These 54 companies include many in Australia.

New Zealand passed its Zero Carbon Act in December 2019, which required a rejig in terms of aligning goals. Further analysis and cuts are expected relating to greenhouse gases and weighting towards renewable or ‘green’ companies. Across a short timeframe, the fund increased its renewables investments to over NZ$1 billion. The fund now has NZ$900 million in fossil fuel investments, compared with NZ$1.04 billion previously.