Earlier this year, The Circulate Initiative called for greater investment to tackle plastic pollution after new data revealed only $32bn (£24.6bn) a year of private investment went to plastics circularity between 2018 and 2023 – far below the $1trn (£770bn) needed. Meanwhile, earlier this month, international negotiations on a legally binding treaty addressing plastic pollution failed to reach an agreement. This…
Carbon Removal Coalition Frontier Facilitates $80 Million in New Offtake Agreements for Google, H&M, Stripe and Others
Carbon removal buyer coalition Frontier announced that it has facilitated $80 million in offtake agreements on behalf of buyers including Google, H&M, Stripe and Salesforce, among others, for the removal of nearly 300,000 tons of CO2 through technologies that integrate carbon removal into existing industrial processes. The offtake agreements were signed with CO280, a developer of Biomass Carbon Removal and…
Accenture Acquires IQT Group to Target Net Zero Infrastructure Opportunities
Global professional services firm Accenture announced today an agreement to acquire Italian engineering services provider IQT Group, in a move aimed at strengthening Accenture’s capabilities for net zero infrastructure projects. IQT Group, based in Rovigo, Italy, focuses on designing and supervising net-zero infrastructure projects for electricity generation and transmission. The company works closely with utility providers, helping both private and…
Trane Appoints Mauro Atalla as Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer
HVAC and climate control solutions company Trane Technologies announced today the appointment of Mauro Atalla as Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer. Atalla will report to Chair and CEO Dave Regnery as part of the executive leadership team and will lead the product development, innovation and sustainability strategies for Trane Technologies globally. In his new role, Atalla will be responsible for…
UK Regulator Bans Lloyds Ad Over Misleading Climate Claims
UK ad regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled today that an ad by Lloyds Bank highlighting the bank’s contributions to the low-carbon transition through its clean energy financing activity was misleading, due to its failure to provide information on Lloyd’s continued financing for carbon emitting activities, which it added “represented a large contribution to GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions.” The…
EFRAG Releases Sustainability Reporting Standard for Small Companies
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) announced the release of its voluntary sustainability reporting standard for non-listed SMEs (VSME), aimed at enabling micro-, small- and medium-sized companies to report on ESG issues in a simplified and consistent way. EFRAG, a private association majority financed by the EU, was mandated by the European Commission in June 2020 to prepare for…