This week in ESG news: Microsoft confirms largest global carbon removal purchase program “has not ended”; ISO launches new version of flagship environmental management standard; EBA proposes major simplification overhaul for ESG reporting requirements for banks; Stegra secures financing to rescue Europe’s largest green steel project; Henkel unveils new climate, supply chain sustainability goals; JPMorgan signs forest-based carbon removal deal;…
BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (BTG Pactual TIG) announced that it has raised $370 million in commitments for its newest core Latin America strategy, focused on large-scale, sustainably managed, core timberland assets across Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. The firm said that it is targeting investment of $1.5 billion for the new strategy over 5 years. BTG Pactual TIG was formed in…
Post-wildfire restoration company Mast Reforestation announced that it has sold 100% of the carbon removal credits from its new biomass burial project in Montana, with all 4,277 credits purchased less than six weeks after issuance. New buyers for the carbon credits included global management consulting firm Bain & Company and Canadian bank BMO, joining earlier participants including Royal Bank of…
Carbon removal provider Exomad Green and carbon removal marketplace Supercritical announced the signing of a three-year biochar carbon removal (BCR) agreement, under which Supercritical will purchase up to 500,000 tons of BCR credits sourced from Exomad Green’s facilities in Bolivia. The new agreement expands the collaboration between the two companies, with Supercritical having already facilitated the sale of more than…
Governance solutions and proxy voting services company Glass Lewis announced today the launch of Climate Intelligence, a new research product aimed at enabling investors to assess the quality and effectiveness of companies’ climate transition strategies. According to Glass Lewis, the launch of the new solution comes to address challenges facing investors as climate considerations become increasingly central to investment decision-making,…
Amazon announced that it has signed nine new power purchase agreements (PPAs) in Australia, marking its largest renewable energy investment in the country in a single year, and bringing its total renewables capacity in Australia to nearly 1 GW. The new agreements will provide the tech giant with 430 MW of energy from projects located across New South Wales and…
EU banking supervisor The European Banking Authority (EBA) announced the publication of a significant proposed update to its ESG supervisory reporting framework, aimed at simplifying ESG-related disclosure requirements for banks, and introducing proportionality measures to enable reduced reporting for smaller institutions. Among the key changes proposed by the EBA is the removal of several reporting EU Taxonomy-related reporting templates, including…
Guest post by: Aaron Saw, Head of Corporate Reporting Insights – Financial, ACCA As expectations around sustainability reporting continue to rise, many organisations are discovering a fundamental challenge: the data isn’t ready. Across complex value chains, sustainability information is often incomplete, uncertain, or simply unavailable. Yet the pressure to disclose continues to increase. Regulators, investors and stakeholders are demanding clear,…
London-based assurance services provider LRQA announced the acquisition of responsible business advisory organization Partner Africa, aimed at strengthening its responsible sourcing capabilities and expanding its initiatives across Africa. Founded in 2011, UK-based Partner Africa is a non-governmental organization focused on improving working conditions and livelihoods across Africa through audits, training and advisory services. The transaction is LRQA’s first in the…