The European Council announced today that it has adopted new legislation aimed at phasing down highly potent greenhouse gases including fluorinated gases (F-gases) and ozone depleting substances (ODSs), marking the last major step to the implementation of the new regulation. According to a statement by the European Commission welcoming the announcement, the new rules will result in the elimination of…
Issuance volumes of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds grew modestly in 2023 to $946 billion from $925 billion in 2022, maintaining a record 14% share of overall bond issuance, with continued growth in Europe and Asia Pacific markets offset by another year of sharp declines in North America, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. For…
Climate tech startup CHOOOSE announced today the launch of a new partnership with energy giant bp, aimed at enhancing its decarbonization solutions for the aviation industry, and helping airlines to meet their sustainability obligations. As part of the partnership, bp is making a strategic investment in CHOOOSE. Founded in 2017, Norway-based CHOOOSE provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform enabling companies to build…
Covid-19 has fundamentally altered the global paradigm, and its impacts are evident practically in every facet of our lives. The growing interest in social risk and human capital management, and enthusiasm for ESG and socially responsible investing, has increased worldwide. In 2023, the majority of assets managed in Europe, comprising approximately €7trn out of a total of €12trn euros, were…
Global sustainable funds saw their first quarter of outflows in the last three months of 2023, driven by an acceleration of investors fleeing ESG funds in the US and Japan. However, in spite of a collective outflow of $2.5bn at the global level, European and Asia-ex Japan funds continued to see inflows, Morningstar’s Global Sustainable Fund Flows: Q4 2023 in…
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has published a major update to its biodiversity standard to enable companies to meet the growing demands from multiple stakeholders for information on biodiversity impacts. With human activity the leading cause for as many as one million animal and plant species being pushed to the brink of extinction, GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024 is designed to…
High interest rates and a weaker global economy have been headwinds for clean energy equities over the past year. The growth some had expected did not quite materialise, and the MSCI Global Alternative Energy Index fell 27% in 2023, down 50% from its 2021 highs. Yet despite the weak performance in publicly listed companies, the installation of global renewable power…