U.S. Climate Has Already Changed, Study Finds
The effects of human-induced climate change are being felt in every corner of the United States, scientists reported last week, with water growing scarcer in dry regions, torrential rains increasing in wet regions, heat waves becoming more common and more severe, wildfires growing worse, and forests dying under assault from heat-loving insects. Read more....

Mind the Gaps - Why QA/QC is an Important Step in Disclosures
As environmental professionals, we all know the importance of accuracy and completeness when it comes to finalizing documents for external release. Investor/stakeholder disclosures, such as CDP and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) questionnaires, offer opportunities for companies to tell their story regarding sustainability performance strategy and goals. But companies want to tell the right story. Read more... Read more....
This article is a benefit of Antea Group's sponsorship of the 2014 Metrics and Materiality for EHS and Sustainability Reporting conference.

SEC's Gallagher Rails on Third-Party Rule Makers
Third parties trying to set disclosure standards for public company financial reports are ruffling some feathers at the Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher recently singled out the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board as a group not authorized by the SEC to tell companies what they should disclose in their financial statements, even though SASB issues standards that it says tell companies what they should disclose related to various sustainability topics. Read more....

Lloyd's calls on insurers to take into account climate-change risk
Lloyd's of London, the world's oldest and biggest insurance market, has for the first time called on insurers to incorporate climate change into their models. Lloyd's says damage and weather-related losses around the world have increased from an annual average of $50bn in the 1980s to close to $200bn over the last 10 years. Read more....

Demystifying Process Safety Management for an Enabled Workforce
A rapidly aging workforce in developed economies, the lack of skilled workforces within process and extractive industries, increasingly stringent local employment requirements and an increased reliance on contractors to perform specialized tasks all are contributing factors to declining institutional knowledge among businesses. Read more....