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ISSB a step closer to becoming Global Standard for Sustainability Reporting

by Ideal Interface, posted in ESG, Standards

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has endorsed the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) Standards, a set of global sustainability disclosure standards for use by companies in capital markets. The endorsement is a significant milestone for the ISSB, which was established in 2021 to develop a global baseline for sustainability reporting.

The ISSB Standards are designed to provide investors with consistent, comparable, and decision-useful information about the sustainability-related risks and opportunities faced by companies. The Standards cover a wide range of topics, including climate change, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters, and human capital.

IOSCO’s endorsement is a strong endorsement of the ISSB Standards and their relevance to capital markets. It is expected to encourage more jurisdictions to adopt the Standards and to make them mandatory for companies. The endorsement is also a positive step towards the development of a global standard for sustainability reporting.

Here are some of the key benefits of the ISSB Standards:

  • They provide a consistent and comparable framework for sustainability reporting, which will help investors to make informed decisions about where to invest their money.
  • They will help to reduce the risk of greenwashing, as companies will be required to disclose more information about their sustainability performance.
  • They will help to improve the efficiency of capital markets, as investors will have better information about the sustainability risks and opportunities faced by companies.

The endorsement of the ISSB Standards by IOSCO is a major step forward in the development of a global standard for sustainability reporting. It is a positive development for investors, companies, and the environment.

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, the ISSB Standards are also expected to:

  • Promote transparency and accountability of companies to their stakeholders.
  • Facilitate the flow of capital to sustainable businesses.
  • Help to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The endorsement of the ISSB Standards by IOSCO is a significant milestone in the journey towards a more sustainable future. It is a clear signal that the world is moving towards a more integrated approach to financial and sustainability reporting.

UK Plans new Sustainability Disclosure Standards

by Ideal Interface, posted in ESG, Standards

The UK government today announced plans to create UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards (SDS) for companies to use to report on sustainability and climate-related risks. The SDS will form the basis for any future UK sustainability reporting legislation or regulation.

Currently, most large and listed UK companies are required to make disclosures aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. The new SDS will be based on the recently published sustainability and climate-related reporting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). This will ensure that sustainability disclosures by UK companies are globally comparable and decision-useful for investors.

The SDS will include two standards:

  • S1 – General disclosure standard: This standard will set out the general requirements for sustainability disclosures, including information on a company’s governance, risk management, and performance in relation to sustainability.
  • S2 – Climate disclosure standard: This standard will set out the specific requirements for climate-related disclosures, including information on a company’s greenhouse gas emissions, climate-related risks, and climate-related opportunities.

The UK government will now consult on the SDS and update them to reflect the ISSB standards S1 and S2. The SDS are expected to be implemented from 2024.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-sustainability-disclosure-standards

Is your Net Zero Data Strategy FAIR?

by Ideal Interface, posted in FAIR Data, Greenhouse Gases

The effort of reaching Net Zero by 2050 will need a combination of global investment and innovation on a scale never seen before.

Many business sectors and countries are already developing their plans to achieve this target, by significantly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and even looking at ways to reverse the effects. But these efforts need to be accurately measured, not only to assess their impact but also to provide proof that individuals, organisations and nations are indeed doing what they say they are doing. In short there is no decarbonisation without data.

Therefore we need new ways to make data related to Net Zero F.A.I.R. .. Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. This means that every organisation’s data strategy now needs to explain, not only how it can collect and analyse data to achieve its targets, but also how it will allow its Net Zero data to be discoverable and sharable.

But what is F.A.I.R. Net Zero data?

Findable
Data that can be discovered can be more easily used. Therefore data providers should present their Net Zero Data sources in a searchable and browsable catalogue, categorising each with the relevant meta data, to explain what they contain.

Accessible
Providing data sources just using propriety approaches makes them harder to share with consumers. Therefore, Net Zero data must be made available via commonly used and open / free technologies such as: http(s), REST, JSON, XML, etc.
Note: Even providing a simple CSV file of carbon emission data can be more useful than providing it in a bespoke file type that only users of a specific application can utilise.

Interoperable
Data saved and made available in such a way that is it compatible both with other similar sources and future versions is usually much easier to work with. When Net Zero data is shared, it should therefore be done using an open standard, so that others can use it and do the same.
Note: If such a specific standard does not exist, different representatives from across a sector can work together to create such an open standard. But wherever possible, this should use or align with existing data standards (e.g. common date & time, geospatial, language or financial specifications).

Reusable
Data limited in its use by the owner, such as it is not allowed to be subsequently enriched or combined with other sources, can have less value that truly Open Data – that which is entirely free, perhaps with just the condition that the owner / source is credited somehow.
But if this cannot be the case (e.g. the Net Zero data has to be restricted in some way), then the license conditions for usage and re-sharing must be clearly documented and can only place the minimum level of restrictions possible on the data.

How can Open Data help The World Decarbonize?

by Ideal Interface, posted in Energy, Open Data

Open data is data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share alike.
https://opendatahandbook.org/guide/en/what-is-open-data/

Open Data can help in the effort to decarbonize the world in several ways. For one, Open Data can help increase transparency and accountability in the energy sector, which can in-turn help to drive the adoption of clean energy technologies. By making data about energy production and consumption publicly available, governments, businesses, and individuals can make more informed decisions about how to reduce their carbon emissions.

Additionally, Open Data can facilitate the development of new technologies and innovations that can help to reduce carbon emissions. By making different data sets available to researchers, scientists, and engineers, Open Data can then help to drive the development of new clean energy technologies and approaches. This can include everything from new renewable energy sources to energy efficiency technologies, and therefore accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Finally, Open Data can help to build support for decarbonization efforts by providing individuals and organisations with the information they need to understand the benefits of reducing carbon emissions. By making data on the impacts of climate change and the potential benefits of clean energy technologies easily accessible, Open Data can help to build public support for decarbonization efforts and encourage individuals to take action to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@jeisblack

New branding. Same Net Zero data principles

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, branding

Today we have launched our new logo and colour palette, which we have already applied to our website.

This new brand has been created to reflect our corporate approach with our environmental sustainability aims, along with our technical drive to make Net Zero data far more discoverable and shareable.

Net Zero Data Marketplace brand guidelines

It therefore helps to communicate two key principles essential for any data marketplace:

Trustworthy
A place where authoritative data about Net Zero can be found, shared and even purchased

Easy to use
Even though there’s lots of data to be found & used, searching for it and getting to view & access it shouldn’t be difficult

Who would use a Net Zero Data Marketplace?

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM

Our aim is to create a single platform for finding, sharing and (when required) monetising relevant Net Zero data sources across all sectors.

But it is important for us to provide a user-centred data marketplace that makes it easy to discover and share Net Zero sources of data. Therefore we need to be clear about who our users are and what they need from the platform.

Note: The Net Zero Data Marketplace is primarily a business-to-business data sharing platform. This means that we expect individuals acting on behalf of their company or organisation to be our main users. However, we will not exclude users acting on behalf of themselves (e.g. interested citizens or those who have not yet formed a legal entity for their work).

There are typically two main sorts of business users:

Data Publishers

These are users who are responsible for publishing data sources into the Marketplace. They can be anyone from an individual who processes & transforms Net Zero Open Data sources (and hopes to make a few $$$ in the process) through to a large company (that has to or wants to monetise their Net Zero data assets)… and even a public sector body that has one or more Open Data sources to share for free and then wants to make available to a wider audience of potential consumers.

Data Publishers

Data Consumers

These are anyone who wants to use the data shared on the Net Zero Data Marketplace. Again they can range on size and purpose they want to put the data to, from simple analysis through to integration into enterprise systems or applications.

Data Consumers

Note: Some publishers may limit their data by how it can be shared (restricted purpose – e.g. no further monetization) or by who can use it (e.g. restricted to non-competitive organisations or academia). These limitations are an important function of the Net Zero Data Marketplace in its role in acting as a trusted intermediary of data.

Sharing not storing Net Zero Data

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM

Data Marketplaces are online platforms that enable the easier discovery, sharing and (when required) selling of data between data publishers and data consumers. They therefore act as brokers and intermediaries, ensuring the latest versions of data sources are available and consumable.

So it is important that these marketplaces do not themselves become bottlenecks (e.g. preventing easy and regular access) or just another repository of out-of-date files.

In short, a Net Zero Data Marketplace should facilitate the sharing not storing of data, ideally connecting to a live source from each data publisher.

A Net Zero Data Marketplace for discovering and sharing GHG data from any source

The usual way of providing real-time access to a data source is to use an Application Programming Interface (API), a technology that exposes a specific amount of data from back-end systems defined using a specification – typically using an open standard. APIs are now the default way of providing integration and data sharing services between systems (based on many different technologies) in a consistent way.

The use of APIs as sources in a Net Zero Data Marketplace therefore enables emissions-related data to reside in the publisher’s original host system and to be shared by any number of consumers… without them knowing who each other are.

A Net Zero Data Marketplace is needed now

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has clearly stated the need for

“Greater investment in data infrastructure is needed to efficiently target investments now, anticipate future demands, avoid crises from descending into full-blown conflict and plan the urgent steps needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda.”

Data Marketplaces are Business-to-Business (B2B) online platforms where data is found, shared and traded between businesses and organizations. They are a relatively recent development of the digital economy, where the value of data is realised and released.

Net Zero Data Marketplace

But there is a very small window of opportunity to use Data Marketplaces for the discovery and sharing of Net Zero data that will make a difference to our planet.

This was best explained in a UK Government Crown Commercial Service post published just before COP26 in Glasgow during November 2021.
https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/news/the-countdown-to-cop26-and-beyond-is-data-the-golden-thread-to-decarbonisation

“Data is often hailed as one of the most valuable resources on earth. The role data plays to help combat climate change and cut carbon emissions cannot be underestimated.”

“Data is not just a set of numbers on a spreadsheet. It is the lifeblood of a decision. It is how fundamental long term changes can come about and help all of us hit the targets we have for making this a better, cleaner planet.”

In short, the time is now for the launch of a Data Marketplace as a piece of urgently needed data infrastructure for the discovery, sharing and monetization of Net Zero data.

A Data Marketplace for a Climate Tech ecosystem

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, Climate Tech

Climate Tech is a term used to collectively describe those technologies that are explicitly focused on reducing GHG emissions or addressing the impacts of global warming. It is a rapidly growing industry where data-driven products are developed to enable individuals, organisations and governments to understand their risks & exposure to the effects of climate change and ultimately to take action to reduce or reverse them.

Our vision is that eventually all Net Zero data will be F.A.I.R. (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and able to be shared via common standards and easy-to-use processes.
This will help to decarbonise industry and the world by:

  1. Reducing the complexity and friction around the discovery & access of data sources
  2. Supporting organisations in the publishing of standardised Net Zero data
  3. Enabling the creation of new Net Zero focused business models & services

The aim is that this will be done via a Net Zero Data Marketplace that will enable the discovery, sharing and monetisation of these Net Zero Data sets. Meaning it becomes a business-to-business (B2B) data platform that can be used by any organisation (either mandated by legislation, or voluntarily for innovation) to share their Net Zero data – regardless of sector (e.g. Transport & Mobility, Energy, Defence, Healthcare, Retail, Technology, Manufacturing or Construction).

A central Net Zero Data Marketplace for finding, using & buying data

And if this platform is adopted as expected… it could become the main centralised way for the entire Climate Tech sector to find, use and buy data for various purposes such as:

  • Targeting investments in decarbonisation more effectively
  • Modelling emissions and different future scenarios

Ultimately we plan to create a key piece of digital infrastructure needed to help solve the Net Zero challenge and address the need recently outlined by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

“Greater investment in data infrastructure is needed to efficiently target investments now, anticipate future demands, avoid crises from descending into full-blown conflict and plan the urgent steps needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda.”

Making Net Zero data from space findable & sharable

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, Space

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) are responsible for global warming. Their presence stops heat from escaping the atmosphere and therefore affecting the Earth’s ability to cool itself.

These GHGs can be detected from space using a technique called photo spectroscopy. This analysis creates a rich potential source of Net Zero data, typically about Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4) composition for a particular geographic area (e.g. a town or city region).

However this newer source of data is not standardised for consumers in the Net Zero market and therefore not easily or consistently shared with those who can use it for reporting purposes or for changing personal, organisational or global behaviours.
In short, this valuable data cannot yet be used effectively to help with decarbonisation efforts.

But what about if you could actually make space data findable, sharable & monetizable?

And what if you could take this incredibly useful (and potentially highly monetizable) source of GHG data from satellites, transform it into one or more suitable means of consumption by others and then publishing it, ideally alongside other relevant data sources, via a Net Zero Data Marketplace?

As shown in the diagram below:

  1. The raw data captured from satellites is transmitted back to base / HQ
  2. The space Net Zero data is transformed (converted, enriched or otherwise processed) into a usable data standard that can be easily shared
  3. The space Net Zero data is published via the Net Zero Data Marketplace and consumed by different parties (most likely for an agreed fee)
The cyclical sharing and further enrichment of space GHG data via a Net Zero Data Marketplace

The Net Zero Data Marketplace also makes the following additional steps possible too:

4. A Data Innovator takes the space Net Zero data and further enriches it (e.g. using an Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning process)

5. The Data Innovator then publishes this new and enriched data source via the Net Zero Data Marketplace (potentially for a slightly higher cost than the original space Net Zero data).