Dated: 24 / 2 / 2017
xxxx xxxxx,
Non-Executive Director,
Address of certain bank, grocery supplier, brown coal asset manager etc. (via email), often in written letter signed with real ink.
(You get the drift, nearly every director on the ASX has either thrown my letter in the bin or said words to the affect, “This is not Egon Zhender, Spencer Stuart or Heidricks; why would we trust a decade experienced climate markets expert?”)
Dear Xxxxxx,
Re. Directors liable for Climate Change
Just like fintech is disrupting banking as we know it globally, Australia is now experiencing boardroom disruption. Stanford research suggests 92% of directors in the US are not equipped to deal with cybersecurity risk (Insert Australia’s Census here if you’d like to have a little giggle to yourself). When I asked the question to MC Alan Kohler at the Future Business Council “Directors’ duties & Climate Change” forum last week (months ago now),
‘So, how many directors in the ASX are equipped to deal with climate and associated social and reputational risks?’,
the room of 300+ executives and directors laughed nervously.
Chair of Hesta, Angela Emslie, said this will play out like OHS in the 1980s where directors were held to account for safety and catastrophic risk. With the APRA announcement on Friday from Executive Board Member, Geoff Summerhayes,
“The key point I want to make today, and that APRA wants to be explicit about, is that this is no longer the case. Some climate risks are distinctly ‘financial’ in nature. Many of these risks are foreseeable, material and actionable now. Climate risks also have potential system-wide implications that APRA and other regulators here and abroad are paying much closer attention to.”
The director challenges are simple when you understand these two facts; the cost of carbon emissions will continue to rise, and renewable energy & clean technology investment will become more cost effective and produce higher returns. With Co2e a global commodity, BHP Billiton estimates are that 37% of their revenue is at risk when China starts their carbon trading market this year (only a few months away now).
At Startup Boardroom, we build advisory boards and having met the likes of global heads of carbon for the investment banks, petrochemical & resources multinationals, global heads of responsible investment, impact investors and board members of sovereign wealth funds, we are well equipped to build a xxx Climate Advisory Board.
I spoke to (insert Global Climate Scientist) on Monday who was on the Global XXXX Sustainability Advisory Board, and for many years; they achieved multiple stakeholder outcomes for the organisation globally, in fact it launched their global “xxxx Future” business model. Is it time to consider a Futures Think-Tank?
I sit on multiple boards including the United Nations Association Australia (VIC), a global cleantech advisory board along with many startup advisory boards. Having been engaged by Federal Government to submit to the ChAFTA (China Australia Free Trade Agreement) hearing and as a supplier of fee-for-service advisory to some of Australia’s ASX200 listed companies and emerging startups, I am well positioned to lead and execute a strictly confidential search engagement for such a Climate Advisory Board. Any candidates would sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement of course.
I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Best regards,
Warwick Peel
Chief Executive Officer
P.S. *Please note: For confidentiality reasons, we would prefer not to mention if we sent multiple letters to board members of a major bank that used to send kids piggy bank boxes called Dollarmites.
P.P.S. I will not be available for comment because I am attending yet another pre-screening starring my mate Al Gore in an Inconvenient Sequel early this evening (Just to double check that the graphs are still Off The Charts!)