As organizations gear up for a fresh reporting year, regulators and standard-setting bodies are actively working to provide enhanced guidelines, with the aim of facilitating the disclosure of usable sustainability information. Early this year, the Global Reporting Iniative (GRI) announced a series of updates including a new Biodiversity Standard, Mining Sector Standard and interoperability considerations for GHG emissions for companies…
Gravis Q&A: The future of net zero in the UK
In this Q&A, Ed Simpson, head of energy and infrastructure at Gravis Capital Management, shares his thoughts on the economic considerations surrounding the future of net zero in the UK, exploring the costs of implementation, potential long-term consequences of inaction, and the crucial need for diversification in energy generation. Why is the UK spending so much money trying to achieve…
1.5C breach: We must lean further towards driving real world change
The world is on an “unsustainable path” and more needs to be done by investors to direct capital towards mitigating climate change investment, professionals said as they react to the news global temperatures breached 1.5C for a year for the first time. Monthly data released by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) last week showed temperatures have exceeded 1.5C for the…
Dow Issues Inaugural $1.25 Billion Green Bonds to Fund New Net Zero Chemical Plant
Chemicals and materials science giant Dow announced today the completion of its inaugural green bond offering, raising over $1.2 billion to support the company’s decarbonization and circular economy strategies, including the construction of a new net zero emissions chemical plant in Canada. The issuance follows the announcement by Dow in November of its final investment decision to move forward on…
Dutch Pension Giant PFZW Divests 98% of Oil and Gas Companies over Lack of Climate Action
Netherlands-based PFZW, one of the largest pension funds in Europe, announced that it has exited its investment in over 300 fossil fuel companies, including Shell, BP and TotalEnergies, over a lack of convincing decarbonization plans, with only seven remaining in its portfolio. The announcement marks the end of a 2-year engagement process by the pension fund, which included a series…
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Technology Company Velocys Raises $40 Million
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology company Velocys announced today that it has raised $40 million in growth capital, shortly after de-listing from the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market and indicating a need to raise capital to continue operating. The financing consortium included growth investors Carbon Direct Capital, Lightrock, GenZero and Kibo Investments. Kevin Bone, Partner at Lightrock, said: “We are…
China Stock Exchanges Announce Mandatory Sustainability Reporting Requirements for Companies
China’s three major stock markets, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), and Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), announced the publication of new sustainability reporting guidelines for listed companies, including a new requirement for hundreds of larger cap and dual-listed issuers to begin mandatory disclosure on a broad range of ESG topics in 2026. With the announcement, China joins…
Judge banks on what they do, not what they say
For responsible investors, banks pose a unique challenge. Whereas other companies provide plenty of information about themselves, an investment bank’s activities are so extensive (and its loan book so impenetrable) that investors can often have little idea of what exactly they are funding. Instead, they scrutinise a bank’s policies to see whether its activities align with their own values and…
Franklin Templeton Q&A: Emerging markets are under-owned, undervalued and underestimated
Investors are reducing their exposure to emerging markets (EMs) despite positive growth signals, leaving plenty of opportunity for those that can buy in to companies at discounted prices, said Andrew Ness, emerging market portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton. Here, Ness discusses how investment in EMs is changing on the back of the global transition towards a cleaner future, and in…