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In 20 years’ time, when we look back over the last year or so, it is likely to be remembered as the first time that the world of investment was made to grasp its responsibility to the planet and its people. This period has seen the confluence of real political will, regulatory enforcement and investor-driven … Read more
Deforestation risks are starting to translate into financial risk for corporates, according to Gabriel Wilson-Otto, head of sustainable investing strategy at Fidelity. Speaking in a webinar entitled Nature Positive: the new Net Zero with Jenn-Hui Tan, global head of stewardship and sustainable investing, and Velislava Dimitrova, portfolio manager of the FF Sustainable Biodiversity Fund, Wilson-Otto said the firm … Read more
In this new series for ESG Clarity EU, Hargreaves Lansdown dives into ESG funds available in the UK and EU, analysing their investments, performance and ESG credentials. For this latest article, Dominic Rowles takes a look at the Ninety One UK Sustainable Equity fund. The Ninety One UK Sustainable Equity fund invests in companies making a positive contribution to … Read more
The government of Ecuador recently announced the world’s largest debt for nature swap, under which it will exchange $1.6bn in sovereign bonds for a $656m ‘Galapagos bond’, structured by Credit Suisse. As well as reducing the country’s debt burden, and creating much lower debt service costs, the transaction will release an annual amount of … Read more
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have published a draft of Thailand’s sustainable finance taxonomy. Phase one of the taxonomy, a classification system of economic activities deemed environmentally sustainable, focuses on the energy and transportation sectors. These were selected for two reasons: their significant volume of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and … Read more
The European Union recently approved the new regulation on deforestation-free products, known as the EU Anti-Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which states that companies marketing within the bloc will have to prove their products do not contribute for deforestation. While companies trading within the UK are not obliged to follow the same rules, any UK company trading with … Read more
India’s government has issued a consultation for a new green credit programme, which is designed to incentivise environmental friendly activities such as planting trees and conserving water usage. By participating in these activities, entities including individuals, farmers, urban and rural local bodies and private sector companies can earn tradable green credits. Under the scheme, they … Read more
The UK’s Investment Association (IA) has come out to “strongly oppose” including asset managers’ proprietary ESG ratings, used when marketing a fund, in planned government rules for ESG ratings providers. The investment sector lobby body makes an exception where the individual rating is used publicly and systemically for a charge. ESG ratings should also not … Read more
Three years ago, I mentioned in an article for ESG Clarity about the loss of the insect biomass, how the sound of spring and summer which brings out insects which are a part of the food chain for our native wildlife, has changed, it’s become much quieter. This year there has been a lot of … Read more
Martin Currie, a specialist investment manager of Franklin Templeton, has launched its first social impact fund. The FTGF Martin Currie Improving Society fund is a global equity fund, categorised as Article 9 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. It aims to deliver long-term capital growth while advancing fairness of social opportunity and narrowing the … Read more