The Ethical Tech Project Launches With Privacy Advisory Board

February 2, 2022

(Business Wire) Today, The Ethical Tech Project, a multidisciplinary coalition that builds standards for an ethical internet with privacy at its core, announced the launch of its Privacy Advisory Board. In response to growing concerns about the ways in which Big Tech manages user data and privacy, the Board will outline the privacy steps every…

Climate targets oversight group under scrutiny over its own governance

February 1, 2022

(The Financial Times) The independent oversight group that has become the arbiter of corporate climate action is reviewing its own governance practices, after coming under pressure as companies rush to develop net zero emission plans. The Science Based Targets initiative has fast become one of the most influential and trusted advisers on climate change to…

A “techlash” is coming this year

January 30, 2022

(GZERO) After years of uninhibited expansion into nearly all corners of modern life, consumer internet companies could this year face meaningful action to curb their activities from governments around the world. From Delhi to Dublin, Beijing to Brussels, and Washington to Warsaw, there is real momentum behind unprecedented legislation and stepped-up regulatory enforcement against big…

Calif. Senate passes bill requiring large companies to report Scope 3 emissions

January 27, 2022

(S&P Global) Corporations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue would be required to disclose all scopes of their greenhouse gas emissions to the California Secretary of State’s office under a first-of-its-kind bill the state Senate passed Jan. 26. The Climate Corporate Accountability Act now goes to the lower legislative chamber, known in California…

Latino Founders Have a Hard Time Raising Money From VCs

January 26, 2022

(Wired) A few years ago, Rocío van Nierop visited the tech accelerator Y Combinator. Nierop is the cofounder and executive director of the advocacy group Latinas in Tech. As she walked through the building, she passed by photo after photo of the teams that Y Combinator had funded. Nierop noticed they were all white men.…

SEC Proposes Disclosure Mandates for Private Equity, Hedge Funds

January 26, 2022

(Wall Street Journal) Federal regulators proposed measures that would significantly increase their visibility into private-equity funds and some hedge funds, the first in a range of plans to expand oversight of private markets. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-1 to issue a proposal Wednesday that would increase the amount and timeliness of confidential information…

Bolt CEO called Y Combinator and Stripe ‘the Mob’ in a fiery Twitter thread

January 25, 2022

(Protocol) Twitter was abuzz Tuesday over a long thread written on Monday by Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow, who claimed that Stripe and Y Combinator are “mob bosses,” using “every power move imaginable” to block competitors from becoming successful. In other words: Silicon Valley is cutthroat. Who knew? Or at least, that summarizes most of the…

How Leaders Can Move Beyond Greenwashing Toward Real Change

January 25, 2022

(Harvard Business Review) Businesses should be ready to defend what they’re doing about the climate crisis and how they’re taking meaningful action. If they don’t, they could face challenges from many directions, from the SEC to activists to litigators. This is more important than ever, especially when there’s a growing and justified anger directed at…

Venture capital firms lack ability to focus on ESG – report

January 24, 2022

(Pensions & Investments) Some venture capital managers may be interested in considering ESG factors in investments, but many lack adequate resources to apply those considerations and influence over portfolio companies and do not consider ESG to be material to the asset class, according to a report released Monday by the Principles for Responsible Investment, a…

Investors grapple with physical climate risks, long-term impacts

January 14, 2022

(Pensions & Investments) Investors are stepping up efforts to understand and better manage the impact of climate change on their physical investments in real assets, including private equity, from farmlands to urban office buildings. It is an increasingly urgent mission as the transition to a net-zero economy ramps up. “Physical climate-risk scenario analysis is particularly…