Pan-African banking group Ecobank announced the launch of a $450 million Nature Bond – the world’s first ICMA-aligned Nature Bond issued by a commercial bank – with proceeds aimed at supporting farmers, sustainable agriculture businesses and water systems in markets across Africa. According to Ecobank, the bond was designed to reach sectors often underserved by traditional conservation-focused financing mechanisms, including…

Nest, the largest workplace pension scheme in the UK by membership, announced a £200 million (USD$269 million) commitment to support next-generation climate solutions through a partnership with investment manager IFM Investors. IFM’s next generation infrastructure credit strategy focuses on international lending opportunities across developed markets, supported by a pipeline of opportunities in the U.K. The strategy targets growth-stage companies with…

Fusion energy company Helion announced that it has raised $465 million in a Series G funding round, with proceeds aimed at accelerating commercial deployment of fusion energy in the U.S. and expanding the company’s operations. The new financing round values Helion, which aims to build the world’s first fusion power plant, at $15.5 billion, nearly triple the valuation from its…

Climate solutions provider Charm Industrial announced a new carbon offtake removal deal with JPMorganChase, its second with the bank, with a new commitment to purchase 61,500 tons of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits, generated from Charm’s U.S.-based bio-oil projects. As part of the new agreement, JPMorganChase will also extend a $20 million venture debt facility to Charm, supporting the expansion…

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the investment manager for Norway’s $2 trillion oil fund issued a response to the European Commission’s consultation on the revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), including allowing companies to meet the requirements of both standards in a single report. According to NBIM, the closer alignment of the standards would enable investors to more easily compare…

Enterprise sustainability data management platform Sweep and product carbon footprint automation company HowGood announced the launch of a new partnership, providing solutions enabling food and agriculture companies to track and report product-level food emissions. According to Sweep and HowGood, the new partnership comes as food and agriculture companies face mounting pressure to report emissions with greater specificity, including through new…

Global consultancy Bain & Company announced the appointment of Harry Morrison as Head of Sustainability Practice in EMEA. Morrison takes on the new role after more than 5 years at Bain, joining the company in 2021 as a Partner with a focus on ESG strategy, carbon transition and circularity. He joined the firm from Accenture, where he served as Managing Director,…

A coalition of seven* state Attorneys General, led by New York AG Letitia James announced that they have launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration in a federal court, over a deal signed by the government with French energy giant TotalEnergies to stop the development of new offshore wind projects in the U.S., in exchange for reimbursement of nearly $1…

Google announced a new set of water stewardship commitments, including a goal to become water positive across its data center operations by 2030 by replenishing more water than it consumes. The new commitments also include investments in water infrastructure, watershed protection, alternative water sources, and transparency measures. As part of the program, Google committed $17 million to support new water…

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) announced the launch of “ISO 32212, Sustainable finance — Net zero transition planning for financial institutions,” a new standard aimed at enabling banks, insurers, and investors to develop, maintain and integrate climate transition plans into their activities. According to ISO, the new standard is designed to provide a common framework for transition planning across…