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Areim Raises Over $970 Million for Sustainable Data Center Fund

Areim Raises Over $970 Million for Sustainable Data Center Fund

Fund manager and property owner Areim announced it has a €450 million (USD$485 million) capital raise for its Areim DC Fund to support the development of sustainable data centers in Nordic countries, bringing the fund’s total raised capital to €900 million (USD $971 million). The capital will be used to expand its subsidiary, EcoDataCenter, which designs, builds and operates data…

Morningstar Sustainalytics Appoints David Pagliaro to Lead Global Product Strategy

Morningstar Sustainalytics Appoints David Pagliaro to Lead Global Product Strategy

ESG ratings, data, and research provider Morningstar Sustainalytics announced the appointment of David Pagliaro as Chief Strategy & Product Officer. In his new role, Pagliaro will be responsible for leading Sustainalytics’ global product strategy, including overseeing development, execution and, go-to-market plans. Pagliaro will report to Ron Bundy, CEO of Morningstar Indexes and Morningstar Sustainalytics, and join the Executive Leadership Team…

Microsoft Signs 30-Year Carbon Removal Afforestation Deal in India

Microsoft Signs 30-Year Carbon Removal Afforestation Deal in India

Microsoft, carbon markets solutions provider Climate Impact Partners, and climate-focused project finance business Terra Natural Capital announced today a new finance and carbon removal purchase agreement, aimed at supporting the development of a large-scale afforestation project in India. As part of the agreement, Microsoft will will purchase 1.5 million tonnes of verified carbon removal credits over 30 years, representing 50%…

Japan Releases Inaugural IFRS-Aligned Sustainability Reporting Standards

Japan Releases Inaugural IFRS-Aligned Sustainability Reporting Standards

The Sustainability Standards Board of Japan (SSBJ) announced the release of its finalized sustainability disclosure standards, based on the standards developed by the IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and anticipated to form the basis of mandatory reporting for listed Japanese companies of sustainability and climate-related information. The release forms a significant step towards internationally-aligned sustainability reporting requirements for companies…

Omnibus Intensifies Need for Voluntary SME Disclosures

New EFRAG working group member Martina Macpherson stresses need for alignment of forthcoming VSME reporting standard with SFDR and ESRS. The European Commission’s (EC) omnibus package proposal has heightened the importance and relevance of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s (EFRAG) Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (VSME). Published last week, the omnibus reduces the number…

Private market revenues could surpass traditional strategies by 2027

The asset management landscape is rapidly evolving, with private markets set to exceed the revenue generated by traditional investment strategies by 2027, according to Morningstar’s latest European Asset Manager Pulse. Private equity now accounts for 39% of private markets, with ongoing consolidation enabling leading private market players to scale further and access untapped opportunities, the report revealed. Meanwhile, stricter banking regulations…

Assent Launches Platform to Help Suppliers Manage Sustainability Data Requests

Assent Launches Platform to Help Suppliers Manage Sustainability Data Requests

Supply chain sustainability management solutions provider Assent announced the launch of the Assent Sustainability Platform (ASP), a new toolset aimed at enabling suppliers to manage high volumes of sustainability data request, in order to help streamline compliance reporting and declarations for across company value chains. Ottawa-based Assent provides systems to help manufacturers collect and manage the supply chain data needed…

Epoch Biodesign Raises $18.3 Million to Use Enzymes to Tackle Hard-to-Recycle Plastic

Epoch Biodesign Raises $18.3 Million to Use Enzymes to Tackle Hard-to-Recycle Plastic

Biorecycling startup Epoch Biodesign annouced that it has raised $18.3M in a Series A funding round, with proceeds to be used to scale its solution to use natural enzymes to break down difficult to recycle plastics . Founded in 2019, London-based Epoch utilizes AI, biochemistry, materials science and process engineering to develop enzymes that can break down materials such as…

M&G to Adopt “Sustainability Improvers” Label for Climate-Focused Fund Range

M&G to Adopt “Sustainability Improvers” Label for Climate-Focused Fund Range

International investment manager M&G Investments announced that it will adopt the new “Sustainability Improvers” label introduced by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) for its Sustain Paris Aligned range of climate mitigation-focused investment funds. The FCA’s SDR regulations were introduced by in November 2023, aimed at helping investors assess the sustainability attributes of investment products, and to avoid…

Sumitomo Mitsui Becomes First Japanese Bank to Exit Net Zero Banking Alliance

Sumitomo Mitsui Becomes First Japanese Bank to Exit Net Zero Banking Alliance

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Japan’s second largest bank, revealed that it has decided to exit the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), further expanding what had been a primarily North America-focused series of exits from the UN-backed coalition of banks dedicated to advancing global net zero goals through their financing activities. In statements to media outlets, SMFG said that its decision…