Member states in the European Council voted today to approve the long-contested Nature Restoration Law, a key piece of legislation aimed at protecting and restoring natural ecosystems, and creating a mandated target for EU countries implement measures to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, after a last-minute decision by Austria to drop its…

This week in ESG news: 100% of large companies expect to be required to report on sustainability, but less than a third are ready for ESG data assurance, KPMG finds; Microsoft buys nearly 1 million tons of nature-based carbon removal credits; BlackRock launches new suite of low carbon transition ETFs; GRI launches standards to report on company impact on workers;…

Australia-based telecommunications and information services company Telstra announced today that it will no longer be using carbon credits to offset its operational carbon emissions, shifting focus instead to investments in decarbonization projects to reduce its direct emissions footprint. In addition to moving away from offsetting, Telstra also announced an increase in its decarbonization goals, raising its scope 1 and 2…

Carbon removal solutions provider Carbonfuture and Swiss Re announced today that they have signed a new biochar carbon removal (BCR) agreement, with Swiss Re purchasing at least 70,000 tonnes of BCR credits, sourced from Carbonfuture partner Exomad Green’s new Riberalta facility in Bolivia. Biochar, or biological charcoal, is produced by heating biomass, such as forest residue, wood or crop waste,…

ISS ESG, the sustainable investment arm of ISS STOXX, announced today the launch of its enhanced Modern Slavery solution, aimed at helping investors monitor and report their risks around modern slavery in their portfolios. According to ISS ESG, the launch comes as investors face ongoing scrutiny regarding portfolio holdings involved in controversies such as forced and child labor and human…

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) and UAE-backed climate investment platform ALTÉRRA announced the launch of the Catalytic Transition Fund, aimed at directing capital into clean energy and transition assets in underserved emerging economies. The new fund, to be managed by Brookfield, is being launched with a $1 billion anchor commitment from ALTÉRRA, with a target to catalyze up to $5 billion…