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UK Sets Target to Reduce Carbon Emissions 87% by 2040

UK Sets Target to Reduce Carbon Emissions 87% by 2040

The UK government announced today the release of its proposed seventh carbon budget, including a target to reduce economy-wide emissions by 87% by 2040, on a 1990 basis. In his statement to Parliament introducing the new carbon budget, while noting the new target’s alignment with the UK’s goal to reach net zero by 2050, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband highlighted the…

TD Signs Long-Term Carbon Removal Agreement with Climeworks

TD Signs Long-Term Carbon Removal Agreement with Climeworks

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions provider Climeworks announced agreement to supply high-quality carbon removal credits, spanning a range of CDR technologies over a 10-year period to Canada-based financial services provider TD Bank. Founded in 2009, Zurich-based Climeworks provides carbon removal solutions for companies, including its own DAC technology, with the company operating the world’s first two DAC plants. In 2024,…

EU Commission Warns 20 Member States Over Failure to Implement Anti-Greenwashing Rules

EU Commission Warns 20 Member States Over Failure to Implement Anti-Greenwashing Rules

The European Commission announced that it has sent letters to 17 EU member states, opening infringement procedures over the states’ failure to communicate that they have transposed new anti-greenwashing legislation, the “Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition,” (ECGT) into their national laws. Adopted by European lawmakers in 2024, the ECGT was designed to protect consumers from misleading green…

Rabobank Appoints Dries Lagerberg as New Chief Sustainability Officer

Rabobank Appoints Dries Lagerberg as New Chief Sustainability Officer

Netherlands-based cooperative bank Rabobank announced the appointment of Dries Lagerberg as its new Chief Sustainability Officer. Lagerberg takes on the new role after more than 20 years at Rabobank, including serving for the past three year as Head Group Sustainability Regulations & Commitments, and as a member of Rabobank’s Group Sustainability Management Team, helping to shape and advance the bank’s…

Gigascale Capital Launches $250 Million Early-Stage Climate Tech Fund

Gigascale Capital Launches $250 Million Early-Stage Climate Tech Fund

Climate-focused VC investor Gigascale Capital announced the launch of Gigascale Capital Fund I, a new $250 million fund targeting early-stage companies that are “rebuilding the physical economy for climate impact.” Founded in 2023 by former Meta CTO Mike Schroepfer, Gigascale invests in companies developing technologies enabling energy, materials, and infrastructure systems to scale, be cheaper, more productive and cleaner, with…

Eurazeo’s Impact Buyout Fund Acquires Circular Economy Platform T1A

Eurazeo’s Impact Buyout Fund Acquires Circular Economy Platform T1A

France-based investment firm Eurazeo announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Denmark-based T1A Group through its impact buyout fund Eurazeo Planetary Boundaries Fund (EPBF), aimed at supporting the company’s expansion and accelerating the growth of its circular economy-focused IT refurbishment platform. Founded in 2001, Denmark-based T1A IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) provider built on a circular economy logic, providing…

It’s good to talk: Driving better standards in a risky world

Reading an article in the Financial Times recently, I was reminded of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster, where all seven astronauts died shortly after launch, and NASA’s response to the incident.  The cause was not a single catastrophic failure, but a culture of complacency. Engineers had long warned about the vulnerabilities, but because previous launches had succeeded despite similar…

Rio Tinto Commissions $1.5 Billion Low Carbon Aluminum Project in Canada

Rio Tinto Commissions $1.5 Billion Low Carbon Aluminum Project in Canada

Global mining and metals company Rio Tinto announced the start of commissioning of a $1.5 billion expansion project at its Complexe Arvida facility in Quebec, aimed at increasing the company’s production of low-carbon aluminum for use by customers across the transportation, construction, electrical applications and consumer goods sectors. The expansion project utilizes Rio Tinto’s proprietary AP60 smelting technology, which, when…

UBS Appoints Alexander Seidler as Head of Sustainability and Climate Risk

UBS Appoints Alexander Seidler as Head of Sustainability and Climate Risk

UBS has appointed as Alexander Seidler as Head Sustainability and Climate Risk, with responsibility for implementing the bank’s sustainability and climate risk (SCR) framework. Seidler initially joined UBS in 2006, holding a variety of environmental and social risk-related positions in Zurich, London and Singapore, and departing in 2022 to join Credit Suisse as Head of Sustainability Risk. He rejoined UBS…

Microsoft Signs 140 MW U.S. Solar Deal with Avangrid

Microsoft Signs 140 MW U.S. Solar Deal with Avangrid

Spanish multinational energy company Iberdrola’s U.S. subsidiary Avangrid announced that it has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Microsoft, to provide the tch giant with electricity from its new 140 MW solar project in Washington. The agreement marks the fourth U.S. renewable energy project under contract between Avangrid and Microsoft, which also include PPAs in Ohio and California, which…