Pinpointing the climate impact of cash and investments
Published: Sep 2026
Judges’ Choice
Overall Winner
Strategic Treasurers Alliance
Photo of Laetitia Moiron, BNP Paribas, Alex Ashby, Carol Thurnheer, Royston Da Costa and Martin Hoad, Strategic Treasurers Alliance.
Royston Da Costa
Carol Thurnheer
Martin Hoad
Alex Ashby
Warren Anadachee
Joanna Bonnett
Independent Treasury Advisors
United Kingdom
The Strategic Treasurers Alliance is a network of treasury leaders navigating the evolving intersection of finance, policy and corporate responsibility. This independent working group, which represents companies with a combined market capitalisation of over £630bn, is focused on exploring practical approaches for integrating climate risk and sustainability considerations into treasury management.
in partnership with
Unlike other categories in the Adam Smith Awards, Judges’ Choice is not open for nominations. Instead, the judges can select nominations that may not fit readily into the other categories, but that nevertheless demonstrate exceptional achievement.
This year’s Overall Winner, the Strategic Treasurers Alliance (STA), is not a single corporation but an independent working group of treasurers. The judges were impressed by the group’s proactive and collaborative approach to tackling an industry-wide problem – namely, a lack of transparency over the climate impact of cash and short-term investments.
Creating a cross-industry platform
While companies increasingly report greenhouse gas emissions and broader sustainability metrics, the carbon impact associated with cash holdings and money market fund investments has largely remained unquantified. As such, treasurers lack the tools and methodologies needed to assess the climate implications of their cash positions, or to integrate sustainability considerations into short-term investment decisions.
Meanwhile, rising expectations from regulators, auditors, boards and shareholders are making it more important for corporate finance teams to access reliable data and frameworks to support sustainability disclosures, particularly around Scope 3 emissions.
To address this gap, Warren Anadachee, Alex Ashby and Joanna Bonnett established the STA – a group that brings together around 20 treasury leaders from some of the world’s most prominent corporations, with a combined market capitalisation of over £630bn. Their goal: to bring transparency, clarity and credibility to the climate impact of cash and short-term investments.
In particular, the group is aiming to embed emissions transparency within the MMF industry by encouraging asset managers to disclose carbon data in a consistent way. By establishing emissions disclosure as a norm – similar to credit ratings – the STA hopes to improve the availability and reliability of sustainability data for treasurers.
Methodology and framework
In the first instance, STA members Royston Da Costa, Martin Hoad and Carol Thurnheer issued a ‘request for information’ and engaged three pilot financial institutions – Amundi, BNP Paribas and HSBC – to better understand environmental impact and disclosure practices. After reviewing the responses, they defined further questions for the banks and hosted presentations to the STA community by the three pilot asset managers.
Key to this initiative is the development of a treasury‑ specific methodology for measuring emissions linked to cash investments. This includes a framework for assessing the climate impact of MMFs, and a toolkit that enables companies to incorporate cash-related emissions into Scope 3 reporting.
The participating institutions are helping to refine the methodology and road-test the framework, before the group engages more broadly with over 20 banks and asset managers. Later this year, the STA plans to issue an industry-wide framework for all treasurers to better understand and assess their environmental emissions attached to investment partners.
The final framework is intended to be practical, robust and suitable for being adopted by treasurers across a wide range of organisations.
“Winning the Adam Smith Award this year is a proud and historic achievement for all of us in the Strategic Treasurers Alliance (STA). What makes this recognition particularly meaningful is that the STA is a voluntary coalition of treasury leaders, including FTSE 100 Group Treasurers, who have dedicated their time, expertise and collective experience to addressing an industry-wide challenge.
We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved together and of the impact this work will have on the future of treasury. This award marks a significant moment for the STA and demonstrates what can be achieved when treasury leaders unite behind a shared purpose: collaboration over competition, sharing knowledge for the benefit of the wider profession, and working collectively to drive meaningful and lasting change. We are especially honoured that Treasury Today selected the STA for the prestigious Judges’ Choice Award – a special category reserved for exceptionally unique and deserving achievements.”
Strategic Treasurers Alliance
New insights
During the pilot programme, participants have gained new insights into the emissions associated with their cash and cash equivalent positions.
When incorporating the carbon footprint of cash investments into reported emissions, pilot participants identified increases in reported emissions of 41%, 239% and 18% respectively – thereby highlighting the importance of addressing this previously unmeasured component of carbon emissions.
This work has also enabled treasurers to begin integrating sustainability considerations into treasury decision-making. For example, one participating organisation has updated its treasury policy to include the consideration of cash-related emissions when evaluating investment options, alongside traditional criteria such as yield and security.
Looking forward, the initiative seeks to equip the treasury community with greater transparency and understanding around the environmental implications of corporate cash management.
Through collaboration between treasurers, banks and asset managers, this innovative project is laying the groundwork for a consistent approach that will support more informed investment decisions and improve environmental reporting across the industry.
What the judges said:
“This initiative to quantify the climate impact of cash and short-term investments shows real innovation and leadership. A compelling example of treasurers across different organisations coming together to solve an industry problem.”
The Adam Smith Awards are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. The 2026 awards attracted 635 nominations. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards
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