The Environmental Change Institute’s Dr Nicola Ranger reports a sea change in financial institutions’ attitude towards adaptation, which is helping to mobilise investment. Financial institutions’ understanding of climate adaptation has accelerated over the past three years, according to Dr Nicola Ranger, Director of the Global Finance and Economy Group and the Resilient Planet Finance Lab at the Environmental Change Institute…
Saint-Gobain, Boralex Sign 20-Year PPA Enabling Development of Three New Renewable Energy Projects in France
Construction materials and services company Saint-Gobain announced today that it has signed a 20-year renewable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Quebec-based clean energy company Boralex, to provide wind and solar-based energy for Saint-Gobain’s industrial operations in France from three new renewable energy projects. According to the company’s the new agreement will enable two solar power plants and one wind farm…
NatureFinance Launches Tool Enabling Investors, Banks to Assess Portfolio Nature Impact
Green finance-focused not-for-profit organization NatureFinance announced today the launch of NatureAlign, a new tool designed to help financial institutions assess and progress on their alignment with nature-positive outcomes through the lens of the Biodiversity Plan (formerly the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)). The first module of NatureAlign will help private financial institutions, from asset managers to banks, assess their baseline…
FREYR Acquires 5GW Solar Module Plant from Trina Solar for $340 Million
Norway-based FREYR Battery announced an agreement to acquire the U.S. solar manufacturing assets of China-based Trina Solar, and with it Trina’s new 5 GW, 1.35 million square foot solar module manufacturing plant in Texas, for total consideration of $340 million. FREYR, which manufactures batteries for green energy storage, said that it was seeking, through the acquisition, to establish a vertically…
EU Insurance Regulator Calls for Higher Capital Requirements for Fossil Fuel Assets Due to Transition Risk
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), the EU’s insurance and pension-focused financial regulator, announced the release of a new report, recommending to the European Commission to implement additional capital requirements for fossil fuel assets on European insurers’ balance sheets, to address the asset’s high exposure to transition risks. The release of the new report follows a mandate given…
California Climate Disclosure Regulation Passes Major Legal Hurdle
A new California law that will effectively require most large U.S. companies to disclose their value chain emissions and report on climate-related financial risks survived a major legal challenge brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with a California judge refusing a request to immediately disallow the law on constitutional grounds. While ruling that the court did not have sufficient…
UK Regulator Drops Green Claims Investigation into Unilever Following Changes by Company
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it has closed an investigation into environmental claims made by Unilever over concerns that the global consumer brand giant had been overstating the environmental attributes of some of its products, after changes made by Unilever and broad green claims improvements noted by the regulator in the consumer goods segment more broadly….
H&M Signs Solar PPA Enabling New Renewable Energy Construction in Texas
H&M Group announced that it has signed a new virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with solar project developer and operator Lightsource bp, supporting the fashion and design brands company’s climate and clean energy goals, and enabling construction of new renewable energy infrastructure in Texas. The agreement follows the launch of a partnership between H&M and Lightsource bp in 2021, including…