If you have found your head somewhat spinning when thinking about sustainable investment (and related) fund options recently you are not alone…  The following analysis highlights changes in UK the sustainable, responsible and ethical fund market during the first half of 2025, when the Sustainability Disclosure Regime (SDR)’s naming and marketing rules came into force. So far this year we…

Five years ago, the world was adjusting to remote working after being instructed to ‘stay at home, save lives’. The Covid 19 pandemic meant governments laid down rules encouraging workers to avoid travelling to the office where possible.  A new dawn emerged with many firms embracing flexible working practices even after social distancing rules were relaxed – businesses could adapt and cope…

Quilter Cheviot has renamed its Climate Assets fund range after securing a ‘Sustainability Focus’ label as part of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime. The range, which consists of Balance and Growth mandates, will be rebranded as Quilter Cheviot Sustainable Opportunities, from 8 September.  Claudia Quiroz, head of sustainable investment at Quilter Cheviot and lead manager of the funds,…

Singapore-based real estate investment manager CapitaLand Investment (CLI) announced the launch of its new “Return on Sustainability (RoS) framework,” aimed at quantifying the financial value of green capital expenditure. The new tool has been established at a time when expectations shift from climate pledges to demonstrable results. Featured in CLI’s latest Global Sustainability Report, the framework has been developed using…

EU markets regulator the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced the release of a new thematic note aimed at guiding market participants including issuers and fund managers on its expectations for sustainability-related claims, and avoiding greenwashing risks in investor communications. Marking the first in a series of thematic notes, the new publication focuses on ESG credentials, or claims made…

Snacking, food, and pet care products provider Mars announced the launch of the Mars Sustainability Investment Fund (MSIF), a new $250 million fund aimed at providing capital to companies developing solutions to address key industry sustainability challenges. According to Mars, the new fund will deploy capital across investment funds as well as through direct investments, targeting solutions to sustainability challenges…

The European Commission announced the adoption of a series of measures aimed at simplifying the application of the EU Taxonomy, and reducing the administrative burden on companies, including dramatically reducing the number of datapoints in the taxonomy’s reporting templates, and exempting companies from assessing taxonomy alignment for non-material activities. The simplification measures come amidst a major push by the EU Commission to…

This week in ESG news: European Commission proposes cutting emissions 90% by 2040, includes role for carbon credits in target; Microsoft signs new 1 million ton+ carbon removal deal; companies, investors campaign to keep EU sustainable reporting rules intact; JPMorgan tokenizes carbon credits; Nestlé scales program to boost cocoa supply chain sustainability; EU Commission confirms anti-greenwashing law has not been…

M&G has announced Nadia Nikolova (pictured) as the new CEO of its emerging markets impact division responsAbility.  Nikolova is replacing Rochus Mommartz who is retiring after 22 years at responsAbility having joined when it was founded in 2003. See also: M&G hires Jockers for ESG focus in real estate business responsAbility is part of M&G’s €90bn private markets business investing in…

Direct air capture (DAC) technology company Phlair and project developer Carbon Removal, via its subsidiary NorDAC Kollsnes AS, announced a new agreement to build Europe’s first large-scale DAC carbon removal and geological storage project in Øygarden, Norway. The plant will be located next to the Northern Lights carbon transportation and storage project in Norway, with the project initially targeting 60,000…