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BlackRock Launches First Fund Using FCA’s “Sustainability Improvers” Label Targeting Brown-to-Green Materials Opportunities

BlackRock Launches First Fund Using FCA’s “Sustainability Improvers” Label Targeting Brown-to-Green Materials Opportunities

Investment giant BlackRock announced the launch of the BlackRock BFM Brown to Green Materials Fund for UK investors, a new fund aimed at targeting overlooked opportunities stemming from the transition to a low carbon economy in the materials sector. The launch marks the first UK domiciled mutual fund to use the new “Sustainability Improvers” label introduced by the UK Financial…

ACT Corporate Culture Standard signatories grow by over 50%

Signatories to the ACT disclosure framework grew by over 50% over the last year, with a further 10 firms joining in 2024. The ACT Corporate Culture Standard is a framework for investment firms to understand and progress cultural change in a standardised way. In 2024, the firms that signed up to the ACT List were: Evenlode, Findlay Park, First Sentier…

Moody’s Predicts $1 Trillion Sustainable Bond Market in 2025 Despite Political Headwinds

Moody’s Predicts $1 Trillion Sustainable Bond Market in 2025 Despite Political Headwinds

Global issuance of labelled sustainable bonds – including green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked, and transition bonds – is anticipated to again reach around $1 trillion in 2025, according to a new forecast released by Moody’s Ratings, as headwinds including political changes from the new U.S. administration are expected to be offset by a continued focus on sustainable development across many regions,…

ESG Today: Week in Review

ESG Today: Week in Review

This week in ESG news: Trump exits the Paris Agreement; 24 states commit to Paris Agreement goals, Bloomberg pledges to cover U.S. obligations after Trump exit; France, Germany push to delay, ease EU sustainability reporting and due diligence legislation; EU companies warn against watering down green laws; Microsoft signs carbon removal megadeal; more than 10,000 companies commit to science based…

Bloomberg Pledges to Cover U.S. Paris Agreement Obligations After Trump Exits Deal

Bloomberg Pledges to Cover U.S. Paris Agreement Obligations After Trump Exits Deal

Bloomberg LP founder, UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that Bloomberg Philanthropies, alongside other climate funder, will cover some of the U.S.’ key Paris Agreement obligations, including its funding for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the U.S.’ reporting commitments, following President Trump’s exit from the…

Move on From All the Noise

Stewardship should be about supporting companies to enhance value and manage risk through active ownership, says Leon Kamhi, Head of Responsibility and EOS, Federated Hermes Limited. For the best part of the last two decades, investor stewardship became largely conflated with ESG, as if investors only had a responsibility to look after their investments with regards to environmental, social and…

Trump’s Return Presents Opportunities as Well as Risks

Andy Garraway, Head of Climate Policy at Risilience, considers what Donald Trump’s second stint in the White House means for global sustainability efforts.   Week one of Donald Trump’s second stint as US President sees the world of climate diplomacy on tenterhooks. Will Trump derail hard-won progress that seeks to align global finance with net zero?   While sustainability is…

France Calls on EU to Delay, Water Down Sustainability Reporting and Due Diligence Requirements

France Calls on EU to Delay, Water Down Sustainability Reporting and Due Diligence Requirements

The government of France has called for a significant implementation delay and major amendments to some of the key European sustainability reporting and environmental due diligence regulations introduced over the past few years, in a bid to help reduce bureaucratic burdens and simplify compliance obligations for companies, and for small and medium-sized businesses in particular. In a submission sent to…

Scaling Cleantech Requires EU Capital Market Rethink

Victor van Hoorn, newly-appointed Director of Cleantech for Europe, says that “targeted regulatory intervention” may be needed to integrate cleantech into Europe’s competitiveness agenda. Last September former European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi presented a report entitled ‘The Future of European Competitiveness’.  In the report, Draghi placed green technology squarely at the centre of European competitiveness. He emphasised that…

AllianzGI, EIB Raise €450 Million for Emerging Markets-Focused Climate Fund

AllianzGI, EIB Raise €450 Million for Emerging Markets-Focused Climate Fund

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced today that they have raised €450 million (USD$468 million) for their joint Emerging Markets Climate Action Fund (EMCAF), aimed at mobilizing financing for climate-focused projects in emerging and developing countries. The final close of the fund comes following a €20 million top- up from Germany’s KfW, on behalf of the…