The government of New Zealand announced plans to change its climate change laws to prevent civil lawsuits against companies for environmental harm caused by their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in a move described by Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith designed to “provide legal clarity and certainty” for businesses. The initiative comes as five of New Zealand’s largest corporate emitters, including diary…
Sustainability ratings and solutions provider EcoVadis and business data and reporting solutions provider Workiva announced today the launch of a new strategic partnership aimed at enabling companies to access and utilize supply chain carbon emissions data. According to EcoVadis, the new partnership forms part of its efforts to build its Carbon Data Network (CDN), a data exchange launched by the…
Retail giant Target Corporation announced a new agreement with Sweden-based circular materials startup Syre to source textile-to-textile recycled polyester, and accelerate the adoption of circular materials across the company’s apparel and home product categories. Founded in 2024, Syre was launched by fashion and design brands company H&M Group and impact-focused venture investor Vargas, to enable the mass production of textile-to-textile…
The European Commission announced the release of its proposed updated Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) benchmark values for 2026-2030, including measures to implement the system’s expanded free allocation of allowances to indirect emissions from electricity use, anticipated by the Commission to provide around €4 billion in additional value to industry through 2030. The Emissions Trading System (ETS) is the EU’s…
Japan-based SoftBank Group announced the launch of a new battery business aimed at producing advanced battery cells and energy storage systems to support data centers, addressing the rapidly increasing demand for electricity being driven by AI adoption. Through the initiative, SoftBank said that it aims to achieve mass production on a gigawatt-hour (GWh)-per-year scale by around FY2028, and to reach…
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced the release of its updated compendium of good practices for climate and nature-related risk management and stress testing, aimed at supporting banks in strengthening their risk management practices in challenging areas such as nature-related risks, transition planning and physical risks. In a blog post introducing the new publication, ECB Executive Board Member and Supervisory…
Google announced that it has signed a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with renewable energy developer and independent power producer Linea Energy for the production of 500 MW of energy from a new solar project in Texas, aimed at supporting the company’s data center operations in the state. The announcement marks the latest in a series of large-scale clean energy…
Guest post by: Dan Mistler, Partner, ESG Data and Analytics, ACA Group For many years, there has been a clear dividing line in sustainability data separating what can be reliably known about public markets investments and the far more limited visibility available in private markets. Public companies have long benefited from compulsory regulations and voluntary disclosures, creating a deep, well-established…
The gender pension gap in the UK begins as early as 28, new research shows, with pension contributions between men and women typically taking very different paths from this age onwards. Women in the UK currently retire with 48% less retirement savings than men, according to data from HMRC. But new research by AJ Bell has found the gap starts…