Insights - MioTech

Positive Environment EventsFTI Consulting faces client backlash over oil industry work

Some of the largest players in the sustainable investing market are reviewing their relationships with FTI Consulting, a business advisory and public relations firm, after a US media report highlighted controversial work it has done on behalf of the oil industry.

Positive Environment EventsBiden faces surge in US coal use and carbon emissions in first year

The first year of a Joe Biden administration is likely to be marked by a rebound in the burning of coal and a record increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the US, providing a sharp — if fleeting — contrast to the president-elect’s agenda for cleaning up the power sector.

Positive Environment EventsBarclays under fire over fossil fuel financing

Barclays is facing the ire of climate campaigners after increasing its support for fossil fuel companies this year, despite announcing in March it would target net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Actual Controller ChangeSEC chair Jay Clayton to step down by end of year

Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said on Monday he would depart the US securities regulator at the end of the year. Mr Clayton, a veteran Wall Street lawyer before his appointment by Donald Trump in 2017, has overseen a deregulatory push designed to make it easier for companies to raise capital.

Dishonest persons subject to EnforcementFormer Wells Fargo chief John Stumpf pays $2.5m in SEC settlement

Former Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf has agreed to pay $2.5m to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he misled investors about the bank’s retail operations, which were at the centre of a fake accounts scandal.

Positive Environmental EventsSSE to triple renewable electricity output by 2030

SSE plans to triple its renewable electricity output by 2030 as it struck a confident tone, despite a hit to company results in the wake of a plunge in energy demand in Britain because of the coronavirus crisis.

Corruption & BriberyFormer Vice Governor of Hebei Accused of Taking $7.6 Million in Bribes

A former deputy governor of China’s northern Hebei province was accused of taking more than 50 million yuan ($7.6 million) in bribes between 2006 and 2013 in exchange for business favors to others.

Negative Environmental EventsDozens of Cities Issue Smog Warnings as Winter Haze Descends

A total of 54 cities issued air pollution warnings Sunday, as smog descended across swathes of northern China.Most of the cities – which are in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region or the Fenwei Plain which includes parts of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces — have enforced orange alerts, which are the second-most severe warnings on a tiered scale. Seven of the cities, including the province-level municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, have issued yellow alerts, one notch below orange. The alerts coincide with the beginning of the winter heating season in the country’s north, as well as an industrial comeback in the wake of suspended work earlier this year amid the domestic Covid-19 epidemic.

Corruption & BriberyAnother Former Moutai Executive Placed Under Graft Probe

An anti-corruption storm continued rocking China’s national liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co. Ltd. as another former senior executive was placed under investigation. Zhang Jiaqi, a former deputy general manager of Moutai, has been investigated for serious violations of law and principle, the Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog in Guizhou province, where Moutai is based, said Wednesday.

Market TrendsDefault by Henan Coal Mining Company Sends Tremors Across China

The abrupt 1 billion yuan ($151 million) bond default of a state-owned coal mining company in Central China’s Henan province set off reverberations across China affecting its parent company, industry peers and other state-owned bond issuers and triggered an investigation by the interbank bond market regulator.

ESG Trends

Leveraging Satellite Remote Sensing to Show Flood Damage in China

Summer flooding has been one of the most frequent and economically devastating natural disasters for China and we saw historic levels of flooding in the summer of 2020. MioTech leverages satellite remote sensing data and techniques for flood damage mapping and analysis.

MioTech ESG Research Team

ESG Trends

Leveraging Satellite Remote Sensing to Show Flood Damage in China

MioTech ESG Research Team

SELECTED ARTICLES

ESG Leaders

Yaozhi International: ESG Investing for Asset Managers in China

MioTech speaks with Agnes K Y Tai, Senior Partner at Yaozhi Asset Management International and ESG thought leader, to uncover the rapidly evolving ESG landscape in China. We discuss how Chinese asset managers are positioning their organizations for this opportunity, and what makes Chinese ESG adoption different from that in other financial markets.

MioTech ESG Team2020-08-28

ESG Trends

COVID-19: Rethinking Resilient and Sustainable Development

The sudden disruption to the global economy and people’s normal life resulting from the global spread of COVID-19 will have far-reaching economic and social effects.

Tracey Xiang2020-05-18

ESG Leader

Evidence from A-Shares: Higher Employee Satisfaction Makes Stock Prices More Shock-Resistant Amid COVID-19

Dragon Tang, Chenyu Shan, MioTech ESG Team, The University of Hong Kong, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics2020-04-28

ESG Trends

Chinese Companies Innovating CSR Initiatives during the Coronavirus Outbreak

During the recent coronavirus outbreak in China, Chinese companies not only initiated conventional CSR campaigns to help businesses and people affected but also rolled out a wide range of innovative products or services, many of which are technology-driven, and aligned with their own core competencies and business strategy.

Tracey Xiang2020-04-16

ESG Trends

How China Leverages Technology to Mitigate the Economic Impact of Coronavirus

To mitigate the economic impacts brought about by the latest coronavirus outbreak, China bets on the information technology to help businesses partly resume operations and weather the temporary disruption.

Tracey Xiang2020-03-24

ESG Trends

MioTech Joins UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment

MioTech Team2020-03-20

ESG Trends

Measuring Coronavirus Impact in China from the Sky

Jason Tu, Gingery Jin, Maya Li, MioTech ESG Research Team2020-03-13

ESG Trends

Small Businesses a Big Problem for China

China’s small to medium sized businesses are under tremendous pressure to survive since the outbreak of the coronavirus. As the contagion spreads and these businesses suffer, it could leave lasting impacts on the country’s economy.

Mandy Chong, MioTech Team2020-03-07

ESG Trends