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Clean Energy Provider GeoPura Raises $70 Million to Accelerate Green Hydrogen Buildout

Clean Energy Provider GeoPura Raises $70 Million to Accelerate Green Hydrogen Buildout

Clean energy provider GeoPura announced today that it has raised £56 million (USD$70 million) in an investment round aimed at accelerating the adoption of green hydrogen in the UK, with expanded production and increased deployment of the company’s power generation technology. Founded in 2019, GeoPura supplies clean energy to users that require power at temporary sites, long-term backup, off-grid power, and…

Guest Post: Leveraging ESG to Future-Proof Corporate Performance

Guest Post: Leveraging ESG to Future-Proof Corporate Performance

By: Karen Abramson, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Corporate Performance & ESG Sustainability considerations are now at the top of the corporate agenda for organizations of all sizes – as strong ESG performance is increasingly linked as a key performance indicator of a healthy, thriving business. A recent KPMG study showed that while 47% of businesses use spreadsheets to manage ESG…

Walmart Hits Goal to Reduce 1 Billion Tons of Supply Chain Emissions 6 Years Ahead of 2030 Target

Walmart Hits Goal to Reduce 1 Billion Tons of Supply Chain Emissions 6 Years Ahead of 2030 Target

Retail giant Walmart announced today that it has achieved its goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion metric tons across its product supply chain, hitting the milestone accomplishment 6 years ahead of its 2030 target. The target was initially set by Walmart in 2017, at the launch of the company’s Project Gigaton, its initiative to engage suppliers, as…

AkademikerPension Holds Tech Firms to Account

Amazon and Meta are among the companies targeted by 14 recent shareholder proposals by IAHR members, citing social harms including misinformation risks.  Investors have heightened their focus on tech companies’ failure to address human rights risks inherent to their business models, with as many as 14 shareholder proposals filed ahead of the 2024 proxy season.  Among these was Danish pension…

Microsoft Signs 350,000 Tonne Nature-Based Carbon Removal Deal with Catona Climate

Microsoft Signs 350,000 Tonne Nature-Based Carbon Removal Deal with Catona Climate

Microsoft and climate finance company Catona Climate announced today that they have signed a new 6-year offtake agreement, with Microsoft purchasing 350,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits generated through agroforestry projects in Kenya, and marking the latest in a series of large-scale nature-based carbon removal deals for the tech giant. The carbon removal credits for the new agreement stem from…

Fair Tax Foundation Consults on Responsible Tax KPIs 

Investor input sought as countries start to demand greater tax transparency from corporates.  UK-based campaign group the Fair Tax Foundation is seeking feedback from investors on the development of responsible tax conduct key performance indicators (KPIs) for companies.   It follows increasing interest from asset managers and institutional investors on how to assess responsible tax conduct among portfolio companies, said…

Sustainable bond issuance nears $1trn but avoided CO2 drops

Sustainable bond issuance nears $1trn but avoided CO2 drops

Steady growth in the green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked bond (GSSSB) market could see assets surpass the $1trn mark in 2024, however levels of avoided carbon from the products were down in 2023 compared to the previous year. According to the S&P Global Ratings report Sustainability Insights | Research: Sustainable Bond Issuance To Approach $1 Trillion In 2024, GSSSB issuance…

Inflation, the climate crisis and the role of investors  

Inflation, the climate crisis and the role of investors  

In 2023, our ongoing relationship with higher inflation defined the economic landscape. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK faced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1% in October 2022. Notably, food prices increased by 17.3% in June 2023, while housing and energy rose by 12%. The last time overall inflation rose comparably was in 1992, when…

UK SDR “Double-edged Sword” for Real Estate

Ongoing uncertainty is limiting decarbonisation progress, investors say, as the clock ticks down to new labelling and disclosure rules.  UK investors have warned about teething issues for real estate fund managers looking to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) labelling regime.  The FCA finalised the four new labels – focus, improvers, impact and mixed goals…

Medtronic Appoints its First Chief Sustainability Officer

Medtronic Appoints its First Chief Sustainability Officer

Medical device company Medtronic announced the appointment of Raman Venkatesh as its first Chief Sustainability Officer, with responsibilty for leading the development and execution of the company’s environmental sustainability strategy. Venkatesh joins Medtronic from Danish sustainability technology company Aquaporin, where he served as Executive Vice President, responsible for global market solutions, including commercial activities. He has also been serving for Tau…