CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project)
CDP is a not-for-profit charity that provides a platform for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to communicate voluntarily on their environmental impacts. Over the past 20 years CDP has created a system that has resulted in unparalleled engagement on environmental issues worldwide.
CO2e (carbon dioxide emissions)
CO2e is a standard unit for measuring carbon emissions. The idea is to express the impact of each different greenhouse gas in terms of the quantity of carbon dioxide that would contribute to the same amount of warming. As such, carbon emissions consisting of several different greenhouse gases can be expressed in a consolidated manner.
Code of Conduct & Ethics
GBL’s Code of Conduct & Ethics defines the values and principles that govern the management of the group’s activities and are established as rules of good conduct. These rules are accompanied by scenarios so that each employee can adopt the right behaviors when confronted by risks that may arise in the course of their activities.
www.gbl.com/en/corporate-governance
Code of Conduct for Suppliers
GBL’s Code of Conduct for Suppliers sets out the obligations of suppliers of products and services, intermediaries and independent contractors, as well as their employees and representatives, when dealing with GBL or its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Directors, employees and authorized representatives.
www.gbl.com/en/corporate-governance
D&I (Diversity & Inclusion)
D&I (or DE&I, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is a practice that recognizes and respects diversity (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, religion, ability, background) and values those differences to create an environment in which they feel accepted.
www.gbl.com/en/corporate-governance
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)
Factors that measure the sustainability characteristics of an investment (or potential investment), related risks & opportunities as well as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
GBL ACT
GBL ACT is GBL’s sponsorship program that actively supports a number of projects in Belgium in the fields of education, health and the environment so that the group can make an impact and help build a better world for future generations.
GHG (greenhouse gases)
Greenhouse gases refer to emissions responsible for climate change by preventing heat from escaping into space, thus creating a greenhouse effect on the Earth’s atmosphere. These emissions are primarily carbon dioxide, resulting from combustion of coal, petroleum and natural gas, methane or nitrous oxide.
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
GRI Standards create a common language for organizations – large or small, private or public – to report on their sustainability impacts in a consistent and credible way. This enhances global comparability and enables organizations to be transparent and accountable.
Materiality
The impact of certain factors on a company’s financial and operational performance. The number of material issues and their financial relevance vary across industries.
MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International)
MSCI is a provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 50 years of expertise in research, data and technology, it powers investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios.
PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment)
The PRI is a proponent of responsible investment. It works:
- to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors;
- to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions.
The PRI acts in the long term interests:
- of its signatories;
- of the financial markets and economies in which they operate and ultimately of the environment and society as a whole.
SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board)
SASB Standards guide the disclosure of companies’ financially material sustainability information to their investors. The Standards, available for 77 industries, identify the subset of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues most relevant to financial performance in each industry.
SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative)
Science Based Targets initiative drives climate action in the private sector by enabling companies to set science-based emissions reduction targets.
The SBTi:
- defines and promotes best practices in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science;
- brings together a team of experts to provide companies with independent assessment and validation of targets;
- provides technical assistance and expert resources to companies who set science-based targets in line with the latest climate science;
- acts as lead partner of the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign - an urgent call to action from a global coalition of United Nations agencies, business and industry leaders, mobilizing companies to set net-zero science-based targets in line with a 1.5°C future.
More than two thousand companies worldwide are leading the transition to a net-zero economy by setting emissions reduction targets grounded in climate science through the SBTi.
Sustainalytics
Sustainalytics is an independent ESG and corporate governance research, ratings and analytics firm that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies. For more than 25 years, the firm has been at the forefront of developing high-quality, innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of global investors.
TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures)
The Financial Stability Board established the TCFD to develop recommendations for more effective climate-related disclosures in order to promote better informed investment, credit, and insurance underwriting decisions and, in turn, enable stakeholders to understand better the concentrations of carbon-related assets in the financial sector and the financial system’s exposure to climate-related risks.
The TCFD is committed to market transparency and stability. Better information should allow companies to incorporate climate-related risks and opportunities into their risk management and strategic planning processes. As this occurs, companies’ and investors’ understanding of the financial implications associated with climate change will grow, empowering the markets to channel investment to sustainable and resilient solutions, opportunities, and business models.