Farrer & Co Senior Associate Rebecca Standing considers the options for investors and developers facing the UK’s biodiversity net gain rules. The requirement to provide 10% biodiversity net gain (BNG) became mandatory in England when Part 6 of the Environment Act 2021 (2021 Act) came into force on 12 February 2024, or 2 April 2024 for small sites – developments…

Nicole Yeomans, Offshore Industrials Lead and Marine Ecology Expert at NatureMetrics, says technology can future-proof floating offshore wind investments against nature risks. In 1991, ten years after the construction of the first wind turbine, the world’s first offshore wind farm was built in Denmark. Since then, much research has been conducted to better utilise the ocean’s wind power, making offshore wind…

Bert Kramer, Head of Climate Research at Ortec Finance, says we cannot discount the possibility of a transition-related financial crisis. As the clock ticks down from the 2015 Paris Agreement, there is growing uncertainty that on our current trajectory the world is going to meet the stated goal to be net zero by 2050. As this target approaches and governments…

Approaching his 20th anniversary in responsible investing, Rathbones Stewardship Director Matt Crossman reflects on the evolution of stewardship and highlights the power of collective action. “Responsible investing can mean so much more than voting, but it can’t ever be less than that,” Matt Crossman, Stewardship Director at Rathbones Group, told ESG Investor as part of a conversation during which he…

Consultation results reveal investors and industry networks undecided on whether to leave Articles 8 and 9 behind.   The European Commission has published a summary report outlining feedback to its consultation on the future of its flagship sustainable finance disclosure regime, having found no clear consensus on how to improve the framework.  The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) first came…

The Supreme Court of New Zealand recently overturned strike-out decisions to allow climate change claims (involving a new climate tort) to proceed to trial. Background In 2022, Michael Smith, a Māori tribal elder and the climate change spokesman for the Iwi Chairs Forum, a national forum of tribal leaders, brought proceedings against seven corporate defendants, alleging that they were collectively…