Global professional services firm KPMG International announced the appointment of Gauthier Acket as Head of Global ESG. The new appointment follows the retirement of John McCalla-Leacy, who served in the role of Head of Global ESG since 2022, responsible for embedding ESG practices into the firm’s strategy. Acket has worked at KPMG for nearly three decades, most recently serving as…

An investor consortium led by BlackRock’s infrastructure investment unit Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and EQT announced Monday a definitive agreement to acquire U.S.-based energy company AES for an enterprise value of $33.4 billion, with the companies citing the need for major investment to address the growing demand for affordable and sustainable energy solutions. The announcement marks the latest in a…

Impact data company Upright announced the launch of its new AI-powered sustainability due diligence tool, aimed at enabling investors to model company sustainability, risks and opportunities, using just a company URL. According to Upright, the new solution aims to address key issues challenging the usefulness of sustainability due diligence for decision-making, which it said it typically based on reported information, while…

ESG-focused software analytics platform provider Datamaran announced today the launch of its new Regulatory Monitoring platform, aimed at enabling companies to track and assess global ESG and sustainability-related regulations across global markets. According to Datamaran, the new solution was designed to help companies address challenges related to the continuous evolution of regulatory requirements, by enabling companies to systematically monitor, discover,…

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced that it has approved the adoption of the California Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Climate Financial Risk Disclosure Initial Regulation, a new law requiring thousands of U.S. companies to disclose their value chain emissions and report on climate-related financial risks. As part of the adoption of the new regulation, CARB established August 10, 2026…

International banking group Standard Chartered announced that it generated $1.07 billion in income from sustainable finance activity in 2025, growing by 9% year-over-year, and surpassing its target its goal to reach $1 billion in annual income from sustainable finance by 2025. Announced with the release of the bank’s 2025 annual report, Standard Chartered also revealed that it has reached its goal…

Guest post by: Shameek Ghosh, Co-Founder and CEO of TrusTrace Brands that start preparing now will define the future of compliance and circularity. For several years, the concept of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) has hovered at the edges of the sustainability conversation; it’s a promising yet abstract idea about connecting data to every product’s life story. But DPPs are not…

This week in ESG news: UK releases finalized sustainability reporting standards; EU states approve Omnibus package to cut sustainability reporting, due diligence requirements; Vanguard pays $29.5 million to settle multi-state anti-ESG lawsuit; Net Zero Asset Managers initiative relaunches with more than 250 investors; 4 tech giant account for half of clean energy purchases in 2025; India to review ESG ratings…

The LEGO Group announced a series of carbon removal investments, expanding the company’s carbon portfolio with both nature-based and technology-based projects. The move builds on existing collaborations with climate solutions providers Climate Impact Partners and ClimeFi, which have included investments in a range of carbon removal technologies such as biochar, enhanced rock weathering, and reforestation projects. Under the new agreements,…

Investment manager Vanguard has agreed to pay $29.5 million, and to take a series of steps to avoid imposing ESG goals on portfolio companies, to settle a multi-state lawsuit that alleged that it conspired with BlackRock and State Street to use sustainable investment initiatives to manipulate coal markets. In a statement announcing the settlement, Texas Attorney Ken Paxton, who launched the…