A selection of the major stories impacting ESG investors, in five easy pieces.  Climate wasn’t high on the ballot in India’s election, but Modi must soon face uncomfortable truths on coal. Modi feels the heat – Conducted in record temperatures, the world’s biggest exercise in democracy dealt a blow to the ego of incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but it’s…

Lewis Saffin, Associate at Herbert Smith Freehills, highlights the key takeaways for asset managers from incoming ESG rating regulation in Europe. Having the support of the European Council and the responsible European Parliament committee, the final compromise text in relation to a regulation on ESG rating activities (the regulation) is expected to start applying 18 months after its entry into force…

Andrea Webster, Senior Advisor at SustainFinance, says innovation must disrupt the status quo in traditional energy systems. Idealists imagine clean renewable energy powering a content and peaceful world around us. Solar panels adorn rooftops and wind turbines swoop to catch the breeze. Reality paints a very different picture; we not only need to re-think and re-engineer the world around us,…

Eva Warigia, Associate Director, Investor Relations at New Forests, explains how responsibly-managed plantation forestry in Sub-Saharan Africa is becoming an increasingly attractive asset class. The African continent hosts 17% of the world’s forests. However, nearly four million hectares of these are lost each year, leading to a 3% loss of gross domestic product associated with soil and nutrient depletion, according…

Regulatory pressure over greenwashing increases as deadlines approach for widespread incorporation of sustainable fuel. An investigation by the European Commission (EC) into potentially misleading claims by airlines about sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) is not expected to lead to direct sanctions, but leaves firms and their investors open to reputational risk. At the end of April, the EC and EU consumer…

Private markets specialist Eurazeo plans to invest in companies that are aligned to the holistic concept of a ‘safe operating space for humanity’. The European Union’s environmental regulations may be among the toughest in the world, but one asset manager believes there is money to be made by skipping far ahead even of Brussels’ green tape. Private equity investor Eurazeo…