VIDA’s Post

🚦 🌡️ Are Eurozone banks starting to price climate risk in to their lending? A new ECB study says yes. Euro area banks charge a higher interest rate to firms with higher current carbon emissions and a lower rate to those that commit to reducing their emissions in the future, according to new research from the European Central Bank. Additionally, banks publicly committed to low-carbon targets consistently charge a higher climate risk premium to high-emission firms and give a larger discount to firms that commit to lowering their future emissions. High-emission companies receive interest rates up to 0.14% higher than their greener counterparts, the report says. Although that figure is small, the trend towards factoring in climate risk is likely to accelerate as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) with its extensive and detailed climate disclosure requirements takes effect from this year. ➡️ At VIDA we support infrastructure investors and financial institutions to access the latest, high-quality and location-specific data on climate and ESG risks for their assets. This supports new compliance measures (we cover all EU Taxonomy listed climate hazards) and proactively helps protect long-term financial health. Read the ECB research here → https://lnkd.in/e9mWK6fF

Huge kudos to PriVida Power Limited today 👏 One of our most valued private mini-grid development partners, they’ve just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria to develop 200MW of decentralised renewable energy solutions under The World Bank DARES programme. PriVida use VIDA to identify and evaluate potential locations for clean electrification infrastructure quickly and cost-effectively. We are proud to support PriVida's mission to achieve energy inclusion in underserved areas. Together, we’re making strides towards a brighter, more sustainable future.

🐝 Biodiversity is fast becoming a buzzword as new sustainability regulations take effect around the world, requiring businesses to disclose impacts on nature and ecosystems. But we’re not there yet, a new study shows. A survey of 816 leading companies across more than 20 industries found that just 5% of companies have assessed the impact of their operations on nature. Less than 1% of companies have carried out an assessment of their dependencies on nature. The World Benchmarking Alliance tracks and measures how companies are reducing their negative impacts on nature and contributing to the protection and restoration of ecosystems. Underperforming industries include Construction Materials & Supplies, Construction & Engineering, and Freight & Logistics. ☘️ At VIDA, we help infrastructure investors and asset managers assess their basic biodiversity footprint in just one simple step. You can access high quality data such as proximity to protected areas, presence of any endangered species and land use in seconds. This is foundational information for ESRS E4, the biodiversity standard that governs the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that requires many large businesses to disclose material sustainability impacts and dependencies from 2025.

👶 🇰🇪 It’s always heartening to see geospatial analysis used for good! Children and their location-based exposure to climate hazards are at the heart of a new online geospatial platform developed by UNICEF and Kenya’s government. An estimated 2.4 million Kenyan children reside in counties facing very high-risk levels of climate and disasters, according to the new Children’s Climate and Disaster Risk Model (CCDRM). Kenya has been battered by climate change impacts in recent years. Five failed rainy seasons resulted in a drought -the worst in 40 years- that was followed by months of heavy rain this spring which led to riverine and flash flooding in which some 58,000 families were displaced. Below is a visual of Nairobi’s climate risk landscape as seen on our platform VIDA. Children are often the most affected by climate change exposure, according to UNICEF, because their fundamental rights to education, water, good health, and quality nutrition are so adversely impacted. Take a look at the UNICEF platform here: https://lnkd.in/dm3WTei7

📢 Electrification access infrastructure developers, this one’s for you! We’ve just published a raft of new tutorials and videos to help make it easier than ever for you to find and optimize sites. 🔍 Significance: Our detailed guides support you to easily navigate VIDA. You can identify optimal mini-grid locations and even incorporate ground-level data to maximize the impact of your projects. 🚨 Platform enhancements: We continuously update our tutorials to reflect the latest changes and innovative features on the platform. These include advanced filtering, grouping, and analytics tools—designed specifically for the unique needs of mini-grid developers. 🌍 Global accessibility: Inclusivity matters to us. Instructions are available in multiple languages, including French and Portuguese. This makes our platform accessible to developers worldwide. 📈 Our commitment: Our dedicated customer space is one key way we strive to build trust and long-term partnerships with the electrification access community. We support you to harness the full potential of our platform for electrification success. Any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

📊 ⏰ Today’s the day! Preparing for reporting on new sustainability requirements (EU Taxonomy, CSRD, TCFD) can be complex and challenging. Tune in to our webinar this afternoon (3pm BST / 4pm CET) for an overview of the new regulatory landscape that’s reshaping the global business world. PS Have you downloaded our (free) publication on this subject? https://lnkd.in/e-bjHFEJ ➡️ To sign up for the event → https://lnkd.in/dzy2rpWr

📣 🔍 New FAQ out on the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)! As companies prepare for the first year of reporting under the CSRD, the EU Commission has issued a handy additional resource to clarify sweeping new environmental and social impact disclosure requirements. The FAQ is intended as a guide for companies on questions such as the scope of the new rules, how they apply to different kinds and sizes of companies, approval requirements for assurance or auditing, value chain information gathering and reporting formats. Under the CSRD, some 50,000 companies will provide more detailed reporting on environmental impact, climate, social and sustainability-related risks. At VIDA, we help infrastructure investors and asset managers to successfully adapt and thrive in this new era. Our location-specific climate and ESG risk data is accessible, affordable and used by some of the world’s largest funds and institutions. We see the CSRD as an opportunity to lead not just in compliance, but also to create long-term benefits by building more climate intelligent infrastructure. PS To hear more about the new regulatory landscape and what it means, log in to our webinar next week - https://lnkd.in/dSKPyCTw ➡️ To read the FAQ:  https://lnkd.in/du_Y7dFX

👏 We’re thrilled to have our work highlighted in the State of the Global Mini-Grids Market Report 2024, a landmark publication developed by the Mini-Grids Partnership and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). The report outlines several benefits of using affordable and accessible geospatial tools such as VIDA. These include: • Enabling developers to assess a variety of factors that impact a project’s long-term economics, including accessibility-related risks and climate-related risks. • Reducing the time and costs involved in site selection, paving the way for scalability in the sector. • Avoiding the selection of sub-optimal sites. Get in touch with us to learn more on how you can integrate VIDA into your work and streamline your mini-grid development process.

🌍 📊 It’s a brave new era for climate risk reporting - how prepared are you? As Europe’s #CSRD takes effect, thousands of companies are currently preparing to report climate and environmental impact. This new standard for sustainable business is just one of several key regulations changing climate and ESG risk reporting globally. Join VIDA’s strategy & business development team Sascha and Aylin for an overview of the global landscape for climate and related disclosure regulations - specifically, how these impact infrastructure investors and asset managers. ➡️ Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/dTbmcwwa