Deforestation is now the second leading cause of climate change globally, after burning fossil fuels, and is responsible for around 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions. In the last 60 years more than half of tropical forests worldwide have been destroyed, reducing biodiversity and endangering rare species (see Fifth Special Report of Session – 2023-24: The UK’s contribution to tackling…
UK Government Appoints Chris Stark to Lead New Clean Energy Transition Team
UK’s newly appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, announced the launch of Mission Control for Clean Power 2030, a new initiative aimed at accelerating the UK transition away from fossil fuel and towards clean and locally generated energy. The government also announced the appointment of Climate Trust CEO and former Chief Executive of the…
Guest Post – When Companies Go Quiet: Exploring the rise of Greenhushing
By: Priyanka Bawa, Senior Analyst in the Verdantix ESG & Sustainability practice Despite more net zero targets being set than ever before, and more science-based targets being used to back them, 2022 research from South Pole shows that one in four businesses do not intend to talk about their science-aligned climate targets. In the world of sustainability communication, the following two points…
BlackRock Launches Decarbonization Voting and Engagement Policy for Climate-Focused Funds
Investment giant BlackRock unveiled its new “Climate and Decarbonization Stewardship Guidelines,” setting out separate engagement and voting policies for investors specifically focused on the low carbon transition. The launch of the new policy may help BlackRock to navigate the complex pressures facing asset managers to meet growing demand to account for climate-related risk and opportunities in clients’ investment portfolios, while…
China’s Emissions Trading Scheme at a Crossroads
The world’s biggest ETS is on track to expand, but will that be enough to give it real carbon-cutting teeth? Back in April, carbon market nerds around the world let out a collective cry of joy. The reason for their jubilation was that one tonne of carbon dioxide under China’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) had shot past the ¥100 (US$14)…
GRI Launches New Service to Help Reporting Companies Comply with CSRD Sustainability Reporting Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced today the launch of its new GRI-ESRS Linkage Service, aimed at enabling companies reporting under its disclosure standards to align with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) underlying the EU’s new Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD). GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards are one of the most commonly accepted global standards for sustainability reporting by companies,…
Microsoft Signs Largest-Ever DAC Carbon Credit Purchase Agreement with Oxy’s 1PointFive
1PointFive, the Direct Air Capture (DAC)-focused subsidiary of energy giant Occidental (Oxy), announced today that it has signed an agreement with Microsoft to deliver 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits over six years, marking the largest-ever DAC-based CDR credit purchase agreement. DAC technology, listed by the IEA as a key carbon removal option in the transition to…