Tag: Lawrence Heim

Categories
The ESG Report

Practical ESG with Lawrence Heim

What is the role of ESG in shaping a sustainable future? Tom Fox and his special guest, Lawrence Heim, take an insightful journey into the principles and practice of ESG in this week’s show. Lawrence is a true advocate for ESG and shares his unique perspective and deep understanding of ESG and its role in shaping a sustainable future. 

Lawrence Heim is the editor of Practical ESG. He is a seasoned professional in the field of environmental sustainability; with a background in environmental compliance, technical consulting, non-financial auditing, and risk management, Lawrence has been at the forefront of the industry for over 30 years. His expertise and dedication have earned him a reputation as a leading voice in the ESG community. 

 

You’ll hear Tom and Lawrence discuss:

  • Practical ESG is a resource for ESG practitioners and the corporate community, providing practical and candid content analysis, and helping them understand complex issues.
  • Contributions cover a range of ESG topics, including climate issues, investor perspectives, and corporate culture management.
  • Lawrence is working on a blog about the recent SEC proposed rules for climate disclosure risk.
  • The ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) just announced the creation of a working group with multiple regulatory agencies, including the SEC. The goal of the working group is to align ISSB standards with existing national frameworks.
  • Adoption of ISSB standards is not automatic; it must go through legal and administrative processes in each country. In the US, FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) is responsible for the convergence process.
  • The SEC proposed rules have received over 6000 public comments, most of which are form letters or from concerned citizens. Stakeholders are concerned about the complexity of the proposal and need more time to evaluate it.
  • There are three different categories in the proposed framework for measuring greenhouse gas emissions: Scope One (direct emissions from the company’s own equipment), Scope Two (emissions from energy purchased from third parties), and Scope Three (emissions embedded in the company’s supply chain).
  • The proposed SEC framework does not specify how to collect the data or interact with suppliers. Other established frameworks, such as Conflict Minerals, can be used as a reference to think about how to approach the collection of the data and interaction with suppliers.

 

KEY QUOTE:

“…just because IFRS adopts a standard or develops a standard, that doesn’t mean that it is automatically established as a regulatory standard. These countries, as with anything else, individual countries have got to go through their legal and administrative processes to implement them and make them enforceable within their own boundaries, their own jurisdiction.” – Lawrence Heim

 

Resources

Lawrence Heim on LinkedIn | Email

Practical ESG

Categories
The ESG Compliance Podcast

Practical ESG That Cuts Through The Fluff With Lawrence Heim


Lawrence Heim joins the podcast to discuss PracticalESG, the CCRcorp-run blog working to provide ESG information in bite-sized pieces, SEC’s proposed framework and its contents, the processes of regularizing standards, and what organizations must do to ensure accurate tracking and reporting.
▶️ Practical ESG with Lawrence Heim:
Key points discussed in the episode:
✔️ Practical ESG receives tons of positive feedback and aims to cut through the fluff and marketing.
✔️ With an expert advisory board, PracticalESG has had in-depth contributions on climate issues, investor perspectives, corporate culture, and how they all relate to a successful ESG program.
✔️ Just recently, the ISSB has made public a new multi-jurisdictional working group of regulatory agencies in the accounting and securities arenas for a number of countries.
✔️ Convergence is the process of establishing standards as regulatory. When IFRS adopts a standard, it isn’t automatically established as regulatory. Countries must go through legal and administrative processes to make them enforceable. FASB is responsible for this function in US jurisdiction.
✔️ The SEC’s proposed framework has three scopes: direct emissions, third-party emissions, and supply chain emissions.
✔️ Lawrence Heim notes a potential misunderstanding in the SEC proposal: CO2 emissions reporting by companies to EPA is limited to operations that emit 25,000 tons of CO2 annually – either directly from their locations or as a result of third-party combustion of the products manufactured (such as gasoline). EPA’s CO2 emissions reporting will not ease the proposed SEC emissions calculation burden for companies that are below the EPA threshold.
✔️ Manage and track responses to information requests in your organization. With receptionists, monitor how they reply to more technical questions and equip them with the right tools and know-how.
Lawrence Heim is the Editor of CCRCorp’s ESG platform, PracticalESG.com, where he shares insights based on over 35 years of supporting companies in environmental, health & safety compliance and management. He’s led various types of non-financial audits, designed corrective action programs and helped implement sustainability programs. He spent nearly a decade in-house at a Fortune 150 manufacturer and went on to help create the Global Environmental Risk Consulting Practice at Marsh USA. Later, Lawrence founded & led the Sustainability practice at Elm Consulting Group, and most recently, he led the development of supply chain due diligence standards at the Responsible Business Alliance/Responsible Minerals Initiative. When the SEC’s conflict minerals rules were under consideration, Lawrence was the only non-financial auditor selected to give testimony to the Commission. In 2018, he published the book “Killing Sustainability.” Lawrence also sits on the board of ASSET, a non-profit anti-slavery organization.