This week in ESG news: Sustainable funds outperforming, reaching record AUM in 2026; Over 700 companies sign on to Climate Pledge to reach net zero by 2040; EU to enable integration of sustainability criteria in €2.5 trillion public procurement market; BlueOrchard raises $250 million for emerging markets climate finance fund; Trump administration repeals rules limiting GHG emissions from power plants;…

Geothermal energy developer Mazama Energy announced it has raised $135 million in a Series B funding round, with the proceeds aimed at accelerating the commercial development of its superhot rock geothermal technology. The funding comes capital is being increasingly driven towards geothermal energy companies, most notably Fervo Energy’s recent $1.9 billion IPO, as as utilities and grid planners look to…

Chemicals manufacturer Ineos announced the official opening of Project Greensand in the Danish North Sea, the first full-scale facility for the permanent storage of CO2 in the EU with initial capacity of 400,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, and the potential to scale to as much as 8 million tonnes in the future. The EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act has set…

Cloud infrastructure and software provider Oracle announced a series of investments in Texas-based wind energy generation projects anticipated to deliver more than 1.7 GW of electricity, advancing the company’s goal to match 100% of the electricity use at its AI data centers with carbon-free energy. The company said that the investments cover ten projects in Texas with suppliers including Clearway…

The Climate Pledge revealed an acceleration in the addition of new signatories, with more than 100 companies joining the Amazon-backed commitment in 2025 to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040, with the rate of new signatories jumping by 19% over the prior year. The growth in signatories was announced with the release of The Climate Pledge’s 2026 report, which…

Global wealth and asset manager Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) announced the expansion of its TargetNetZero (TNZ) platform of decarbonization-focused investment strategies, with the introduction of two new strategies, TNZ US Equity and TNZ Japan Equity. The new funds follow the initial launch of LOIM’s TNZ franchise in 2021, with the platform now reaching over $6.8 billion in AUM across…

Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi, announced a series of new climate targets, including a goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain by 2040. The company also announced that its near- and long-term emissions reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). According…

Google announced an agreement with green iron and steel maker Stegra for the purchase of environmental attribute certificates (EACs) connected to the production of near-zero emissions steel from Stegra’s upcoming plant in Sweden, with the deal aimed at helping Google to address emissions from its operations, and supporting Stegra in the development and early operation of the plant. Founded in…

Industrial energy developer Kanin Energy announced that it has raised up to $100 million in new equity financing, with the proceeds from the financing aimed at accelerating its deployment of projects turning waste heat into electricity for industrial facilities across North America. The industrial sector generates enormous amounts of waste heat as a byproduct of normal operations that is continuously…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Wednesday that it has proposed rescinding Rule 14a-8, the federal framework providing shareholders with a route to have proposals included in a company’s proxy statement for a shareholder vote, commonly used for proposals on sustainability, climate change, executive pay, and other issues. While the commission argued that it was proposing repealing the…