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2024 Asia-Pacific Sustainability Report Analysis Released: Northeast Asian Enterprises take Top 3

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Asia-Pacific Disclosure Performance Lowers Compared to Previous Year

SDGs Midterm Roundup, Enterprises May Face SDG Washing Crisis

[Five Key Findings]*please refer to complete report for detailed research findings

[Overall Performance] Northeast Asian enterprises take Top 3 of the Top 10 Regional Sustainability Results. Asia-Pacific ESG standards reach over 550, but overall disclosure performance average decreases by 6.9%[Value Chain, Net-Zer] Value chain decarbonization era is here. 56.2% of Asia-Pacific enterprises have not included Scope 3 in their net-zero targets[Biodiversity] T-x-FD multiverse. 12.5% of enterprise management expands vision to “natural capital” and sets biodiversity targets[Social Rights] “DEI+J” shifts sustainability perspective from Environment to Social, up to 92.7% of enterprises publicly explains their “social justice and human rights”[Greenwashing Issues] SDGs washing becoming a trend. Singapore highest level of management activeness while China and Hong Kong have high responses but less capable to take action

TAIPEI, June 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — CSRone Intelligence Platform (CSRone), leading sustainability brand in Taiwan, officially publishes the 2024 Asia-Pacific Sustainability Report Current Status and Trend on 10 Countries. The report studied 10 Asia-Pacific countries/regions and the Top 10 enterprises based on market value shared by Forbes. The overall performance ranking placed Taiwan as first place again, with South Korea and Japan taking second and third place, respectively. However, the overall performance average for Asia-Pacific enterprise sustainability disclosure dropped compared to the previous year. The research further discovered that there is a gap between corporate promises and their actual outcomes, causing the “sustainability promise bubble” to become more apparent.

The Asia-Pacific spans across the Pacific region including parts of Asia, America, and Oceania. Accounting for 60% of the world’s population and over 50% of global economic trade, Asia-Pacific plays a significant role in the transformation of the world’s economic growth and sustainability development. The 2024 Asia-Pacific Sustainability Report Current Status and Trend on 10 Countries published by CSRone is based on the disclosure transparency and management activeness gap, relative laws, and enterprise and industry relationship analyzation on the gathered sustainability performance, net-zero strategy, regulation standard, and industry data.

Overall Asia-Pacific enterprise sustainability disclosure performance drops, 56.2% have not included Scope 3 in their net-zero target

Based on cross-research on the ESG regulation development and enterprise disclosure activeness relationship, Europe announced a total of 776 policies from 1990 until 2020, becoming the most active policy announcement region. Asia-Pacific follows closely by announcing 556 ESG-related policies, but the overall Asia-Pacific disclosure performance did not rise according to the disclosure performance policies. This year’s study shows that the best performance countries/regions are Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, demonstrating a comprehensive ESG issue management and communication. A closure analyzation discovers that the Top 10 Asia-Pacific rating lowered by 6.9% which is due to enterprises’ detailed description on ESG behavior and performance but disclosure on target and validation being conservative or nonexistent. Enterprises’ decarbonization value chain action is closely linked to their accomplishment of their net-zero target; the greenhouse gas emissions management of Scope 1 to Scope 3 of is top priority. 70.8% of the enterprises have already set net-zero goals, but up to 56.2% have not included Scope 3 in their goal setting and disclosure range. Enterprises must management their up- and down-value chain quickly in order to reach their net-zero goals.

Sustainability vision expands continuously, attention on natural capital and social rights increases
Throughout the sustainability framework integration progress, TCFD have expanded to TNFD. The environmental aspect have shifted from the highly attentive climate change and carbon issues towards biodiversity and ecosystem operation including soil and water resource utilization. Up to 95.8% of Asia-Pacific enterprises have mentioned ecosystem balance and biodiversity, with 12.5% setting goals regarding this topic. However, only 2.1% of the enterprises have a validation mechanism, meaning that enterprises need a more comprehensive evaluation regarding core operations and natural capital management.

In addition, the Social aspect of ESG have always had a slower progress compared to the Environment aspect. According to research, 97.9% of the enterprises stress DEI as one of their corporate sustainability development issues by mentioning the value of talent diversity during recruitment and retainment. In recent years, international conflicts continue to occur due to gender and racial confrontations. As a result, countries/regions and enterprises are including Justice in their DEI management. Up to 92.7% of the enterprises have publicly shared their “Social Justice and Human Rights” issue. Although there is high attention for natural capital and social rights, the implementation of these management goals and validation mechanism have greatly lowered.

Most enterprises only disclose SDGs but rarely accomplish goals
Over half of the time has passed since the SDGs’ introduction in 2015 until now; now is the time to start assessing progress and outcomes. Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan are leading when it comes to pushing the SDGs goals, with Singapore positioned as first place for overall SDGs operation integration. What’s worth noticing is that up to 89.6% of the countries/regions “mention” SDGs but only 32.3% set goals and carry out their promises and only 5.2% establish a validation mechanism. Research shows that China and Hong Kong enterprises remain in the stage where they discuss the connection between SDGs and their corporate development direction but do not have specific SDGs programs for improvement.

The ten Asia-Pacific countries play a significant role in economic, trade, and sustainability transition. The main point is to close the gap between national policies and enterprises’ progress. If there are not any concrete commitments or implementation, SDGs goals are merely words. Enterprises must contemplate more on the materiality between SDGs and their operations to prevent SDG washing and its negative impact and operational shock.

[News Material]

News Material Download: https://reurl.cc/LWQd8yFull Report Download: https://csrone.com/reports/6806

[About the Beyond Sustainability! Trends of Sustainability in Asia-Pacific]

CSRone Intelligence Platform has conducted an annual survey and analysis of sustainability information disclosure in Taiwan since 2013, with results regularly published in March. Starting in 2018, the database for the report expanded its collection to include the sustainability reports of the top 10 companies from 10 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific, including China, Japan, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia.

The research led by senior consultants Richard Chen, Alice Chang, and Tracy Ni with a research team, sets out six major research hypotheses and uses 185 indicators, sets out six major research hypotheses and uses 185 analysis indicators. It deeply deconstructs the differences between “disclosure transparency” and “management proactiveness” while examining the relationships among national regulations and between companies/industries. The report analyzes information on sustainability performance, net-zero strategies, SDGs, DEI, legal regulations, and industry trends. This report enables stakeholders to understand how companies in the Asia-Pacific region practice sustainable development, making it one of the best guides for understanding sustainability trends in this region.

[Research Sample and Period]

Sample Collection: A total of 96 sustainability reports from 10 Asia-Pacific countries/regions were collected.Research Subjects: The 10 Asia-Pacific countries/regions include Taiwan, Japan, China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, South Korea. The Top 10 enterprises selected are based on the disclosed sustainability report/data based on the Forbes global 2,000 enterprises.Research Period: Publicly published 2023 sustainability reports, with disclosure period being 2022/1/1 until 2022/12/31; parts of disclosed information of the sustainability report may differ due to enterprise disclosure difference.

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SOURCE CSRone

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Earth’s pulse monitored: a review highlights remote sensing time series progress

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As urbanization accelerates and environmental dynamics shift, the need for accurate and timely terrestrial monitoring has never been more urgent. A review has introduced a novel approach to remote sensing time series analysis, integrating multi-source data to enable near real-time monitoring. This innovative methodology promises to transform environmental conservation and urban planning by providing unprecedented insights into terrestrial changes and offering a more precise understanding of environmental dynamics.

GUANGZHOU, China, Dec. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — An international team of researchers from South China Normal University, the University of Connecticut, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has made a significant breakthrough in remote sensing. Their review, published (DOI: 10.34133/remotesensing.0285) in the Journal of Remote Sensing on December 11, 2024, addresses key challenges in remote sensing, such as incomplete data and noise interference. The team’s new time series analysis technique leverages advanced data reconstruction and fusion methods, significantly enhancing the precision and efficiency of remote sensing for monitoring environmental changes.

The research team has developed an advanced time series analysis technique that combines deep learning algorithms with traditional remote sensing methods to integrate data from various remote sensing sources. This innovative approach allows for the extraction of subtle patterns from large, complex datasets, which is crucial for monitoring critical environmental parameters such as land use and vegetation health. Unlike conventional techniques that struggle with incomplete or noisy data, this new methodology offers enhanced accuracy and more reliable insights into terrestrial dynamics, paving the way for more effective environmental monitoring.

Central to the study’s success is the integration of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) to address the challenges posed by missing or noisy data. The LSTM networks capture temporal trends over time, while the GANs generate synthetic data that mimics real-world observations to fill gaps and correct for atmospheric distortions. This dual approach has resulted in a cleaner, more accurate time series dataset, which was validated against independent ground truth measurements. The researchers demonstrated significant improvements in key vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), setting a new benchmark in the field of remote sensing.

Experts in the field have lauded the study’s potential to revolutionize remote sensing applications. They see the method as a transformative tool for enhancing high-resolution monitoring and extending its coverage, particularly in agricultural surveillance, urban planning, and environmental management. “This method represents a crucial advancement in our ability to monitor environmental changes,” says Professor Fu. “As it evolves, it could play a key role in addressing climate change and other global challenges.”

The methodology’s future applications are vast, especially in global environmental monitoring and supporting sustainable development goals. By integrating multi-temporal data from Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellites, the team has created a framework for accurate and continuous terrestrial analysis. As computational power advances and algorithms improve, this technology is expected to become a vital tool for natural resource management, disaster response, and climate change mitigation. In the years to come, it could provide critical data to help policymakers address pressing environmental issues on a global scale.

References

DOI

10.34133/remotesensing.0285

Oiginal Source URL

https://doi.org/10.34133/remotesensing.0285

Funding information

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 42425001 and 42071399).

About Journal of Remote Sensing

The Journal of Remote Sensing, an online-only Open Access journal published in association with AIR-CAS, promotes the theory, science, and technology of remote sensing, as well as interdisciplinary research within earth and information science.

Media Contact

George Hua, Chuanlink Innovations, 1 8656606278, TranSpread1@gmail.com, http://chuanlink-innovations.com/

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ZINZINO AB (PUBL.): ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE DIP FINANCING TO ZURVITA INITIATING CHAPTER 11 PROCESS

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GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Dec. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Zinzino has in a press release dated 20240617 announced that a letter of intent to acquire 100% of the shares in the North American direct selling company Zurvita Inc. “Zurvita or the Company” was signed. Since then, Zinzino has negotiated with the owners of Zurvita Inc. and instead concluded that the purchase of Zurvita’s assets in a Chapter 11 proceeding for the Company is in Zinzino’s best interest.

Zinzino is providing a debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to Zurvita, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on the 20th December 2024. By entering as a financier in Zurvita’s Chapter 11 with loans totaling USD 4.5 million, Zinzino simultaneously makes an offer to acquire the company’s assets via a so-called stalking horse bid. If the bid is accepted, the DIP loan will be converted into part of a debt-settled purchase price, which will be determined after Zurvita has completed the sale process that is subject to higher and better offers in accordance with the applicable terms of Chapter 11. Other bidders have the right to submit bids for Zurvita during the process and if another bid is accepted, Zinzino’s loan will be repaid and certain of its costs associated with the process will be reimbursed. 

Zurvita is a direct selling health company with operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The brand portfolio offers a range of innovative health and wellness products. The business has total annual sales of approximately USD 30 million with good gross margins. A potential transaction with Zinzino is expected to add growth through the synergies arising from the joint networks, combined with Zinzino’s test-based product concept. The profitability of the Company will thus be able to develop well by utilizing Zinzino’s existing technical platform and organization.

A visionary mindset, tech first perspective, test-based nutrition at the cellular level and a strong position to capitalize on current trends will form the basis of the new partnership. Following the acquisitions of VMA Life in 2020, Enhanzz in 2022, the strategic partnership with ACN and the recently completed asset acquisition of Xelliss, Zinzino has been looking for further strong investments to maintain its sustainable, profitable growth, strengthen its distribution power, expand into new markets and leverage the product portfolio in new consumer areas.

– “Individualized advice and tailored solutions are the future, and not just in health and wellness,” says Dag Bergheim Pettersen, CEO of Zinzino. “Together, we have years of combined industry experience and everything it takes to drive the modern, personalized shopping experience through direct sales”. Jay Shafer, CEO and co-founder of Zurvita, states “After considering multiple options for the company and under the guidance of our attorneys and third-party advisors, we feel this presents the best opportunity to continue Zurvita’s mission, deliver the highest quality products, and provide continuity for our staff and consultants. We are excited to see what the future holds for Zurvita.” 

For more information:
Dag Bergheim Pettersen CEO Zinzino +47 (0) 932 25 700, www.zinzino.com

Pictures for publication free of charge:
marketing@zinzino.com

Certified Adviser:
Carnegie Investment Bank AB (publ.)

Zinzino AB (publ.) is obliged to publish this information in compliance with current EU regulations governing market abuse. The information was provided by the above contact person for publication at 20.00 on the 21st of December 2024.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/zinzino/r/zinzino-ab–publ–enters-into-agreement-to-provide-dip-financing-to-zurvita-initiating-chapter-11-pr,c4086040

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Meet With Culture: Exquisite Craftsmanship of Traditional Chinese Architecture

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BEIJING, Dec. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Temple of Agriculture in Beijing played a significant role during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Over nearly 600 years, 25 emperors personally visited or sent ministers to perform spring farming ceremonies and offer sacrifices to Shennong, the god of agriculture.

 

Built in 1420 during the Yongle reign, the temple’s predecessor was the Temple of Mountains and Rivers in Nanjing. When Emperor Zhu Di moved the Ming capital to Beijing, he constructed a larger temple inspired by the Nanjing temple, which gradually evolved into the Temple of Agriculture.

The Taisui Hall, the largest building complex in the temple, now serves as a major exhibition hall of the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum, showcasing models of classical Chinese buildings and demonstrating the solemnity of royal architecture.

Ancient Chinese architecture is predominantly wooden-structured, chosen for its availability, versatility, and earthquake resistance. Artisans developed sophisticated techniques in material selection and construction. The wooden framework consists of columns, beams, girders, and purlins, with innovative structural forms like lifting-beam and piercing-bracket structures.

A unique architectural element is the dougong (bracket sets), which supports weight and connects beam frames with column walls. Mortise-tenon joints were invented to create elastic frameworks by connecting different components.

While discussing the Temple of Agriculture, it’s worth noting another remarkable example of architectural hierarchy which could be found in the Temple of Heaven. The hierarchy of architectural designs reflected social stratification, with eave structures like the triple-layered eaves of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest representing the highest-level architectural design.

Over centuries, the Temple of Agriculture has transformed from an imperial garden to a public park and a museum for historical architecture, now standing as a significant cultural landmark that symbolizes China’s agricultural civilization and architectural heritage along Beijing’s Central Axis.

Quickly join Alexandre to study and explore the traditional Chinese architecture.
https://youtu.be/YpA03WiZ9Wc

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SOURCE China International Communications Group

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