Most companies in Europe are not in favor of the European Commission’s “Omnibus” initiative to reduce the sustainability reporting requirements and the scope of companies covered under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), with a majority reporting being satisfied with the CSRD in its current form, although supportive of some improvements, according to a new survey released by professional…

Sustainable bond maturities are set to peak in 2026 at $389bn, with medium-term debt issued in and around 2019 coming due along with recently issued shorter-term debt. But this peak appears to be manageable, according to the latest analysis from S&P Global. The sustainable debt market has sufficient liquidity, in S&P Global’s view, to meet near-term refinancing needs, even if issuance slows…

Laurent Lavergne, global head of sustainability at AXA IM Alts, talks to Natalie Kenway about decarbonisation, fossil fuel usage and meeting net zero targets in the real estate and infrastructure space. What are the key challenges the real estate and infrastructure face when decarbonising?  There are three key challenges that we see across real estate and infrastructure assets. First, to…

The growing recognition of climate change and environmental issues has resulted in the ‘ESG-labelled’ bond market expanding to surge through the $1trn issuance threshold for the first time last year. This class of bond – green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked – was virtually non-existent as recently as 10 or 15 years ago. They provide investors a financial return as well…

The Revenues for Nature (R4N) project has announced support for an initial seven investment models designed to unlock up to $200m for nature restoration and conservation. Achieving global nature goals requires an additional $200bn to be mobilised annually, with the private sector expected to play a crucial role in closing this gap. Yet its contribution remains limited – most nature-related funding…

Climate solutions provider Watershed announced the launch of an open and free version of its global emissions database, in a move aimed at enabling organizations and companies to make more accurate decarbonization decisions. Founded in 2019, San Francisco-based Watershed provides an enterprise sustainability platform enabling companies to measure, report, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, to meet their climate goals…

Japanese conglomerate Hitachi announced a series of updates to its long-term environmental targets, including setting a new goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain by 2050. The new net zero goal represents a more ambitious target than the company’s prior goal to achieve carbon neutrality across the value chain by 2050, expanding its initiative…

Microsoft announced that it has signed an agreement with Sublime Systems to buy more than 600,000 tons of low-carbon cement, with the purchase agreement aimed at helping the technology giant address its carbon footprint, as well as to help advance the sustainable materials market. Cement production is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the more…

Energy and electrification advisory, services, and software solutions provider Schneider Electric announced the launch of a new multi-year initiative aimed at building an AI-powered ecosystem for sustainability and energy management. The company said that it has hired sustainability solutions veteran Julien Picaud as Head of Product Management to lead the new initiative According to Schneider Electric, the new initiative is…

The European Commission issued a new report today, assessing the energy and climate plans of EU member states, revealing that the EU is very nearly on track to hit its climate and energy targets, including its goal to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. According to the report, the Commission’s assessment of the…