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UK Regulator Drops Green Claims Investigation into Unilever Following Changes by Company

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….

MSCI Moves to Innovate ESG and Climate Offering

Data provider appoints former Trucost CEO Richard Mattison to accelerate initiatives and develop fresh strategies for sustainable investing. Faced with a toughening market environment, MSCI has doubled down on its ambitions to expand and enhance its sustainability-related product suite by bringing on additional experience to steer its effort. The data, indexes and analytics provider recently named Richard Mattison as Head…

H&M Signs Solar PPA Enabling New Renewable Energy Construction in Texas

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…

Los Angeles County Sues Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Over Plastic Pollution, Recyclability Claims

Los Angeles County Sues Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Over Plastic Pollution, Recyclability Claims

Los Angeles County announced that it has filed a lawsuit against beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, claiming that the companies play a significant role in plastic pollution’s negative impacts on the environment and public health; have misrepresented the recyclability of plastic beverage containers to the public; and have failed to disclose significant environmental and health harms associated with the use…

Electric Aircraft Company BETA Technologies Raises $318 Million

Electric Aircraft Company BETA Technologies Raises $318 Million

BETA Technologies, an electric aerospace company based in Vermont, announced that it has raised $318 million in Series C equity capital. The funding will enable the eight-year-old sustainable aviation company to support continued production, certification, and commercialization of its electric-powered aircraft, as well as of its charging systems and growing infrastructure network. BETA plans to use the funds to commercialize…

Solar and Storage Developer ZE Energy Raises €54 Million to Fund Expansion Across Europe

Solar and Storage Developer ZE Energy Raises €54 Million to Fund Expansion Across Europe

ZE Energy, a Paris-based developer of photovoltaic power plants and energy storage solutions, announced that it had raised €54 million (USD $57.8 million), with proceeds aimed at supporting the continued expansion of its products and services throughout Europe. Founded in 2019, ZE Energy develops, builds and operates hybrid photovoltaic power plants with energy storage, and also finances projects that provide…

Proposed EU Financial Services Commissioner to Push for Sustainable Investment Product Labels, Reduced Reporting Burdens

Proposed EU Financial Services Commissioner to Push for Sustainable Investment Product Labels, Reduced Reporting Burdens

The EU’s sustainable finance framework would benefit from new measures to help reduce greenwashing risk, such as green and transition labels for sustainable investment products, and from reduced reporting burdens for smaller market participants, according to European Commissioner-designate for Financial Services and the Savings and Investment Union Maria Luis Albuquerque. In her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Albuquerque expressed her position…

COP16: Finance Progress Thwarted by North-South Divide

Negotiations remain open-ended as investors and companies look to governments to provide greater leadership on nature action.  Although headway was made at COP16 on the mechanisms needed to realise the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), friction between industrialised and developing nations has thrown a spanner in the works.   Progress included the establishment of a permanent body to ensure…

Loud and Clear

Bondholders are increasingly engaging with both corporates and sovereigns to address systemic risks. Shareholders are often seen as having the upper hand in engagement and stewardship, but increasingly bondholders are finding their own voice. They are employing a different toolkit individually as well as collectively to change the direction of issuers should they veer off the sustainable course. With notable…