Property and infrastructure investment advisory firm Gravis Capital Management has appointed David Barley as investment director focusing on the firm’s private markets net-zero strategies. Barley (pictured) was most recently director for the Sustainable Ocean Fund at Mirova UK and prior to that senior adviser to the Prince of Wales’ International Sustainability Unit’s work on energy, … Read more
The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) – the independent body that sets the GRI Standards – has appointed Carol Adams as chair. Adams (pictured), who is professor of accounting at Durham University Business School, takes over from Judy Kuszewski on 1 April following the completion of her final term in the role in which she … Read more
Aviva Investors has appointed Nick Molho as head of climate policy. In the newly created role, Molho will help steer the firm’s macro stewardship programme, with an emphasis on promoting the net-zero transition at a sectoral level, as well as helping to identify and advocate for specific government policies that would drive a ‘just transition’. … Read more
There remains a stark geographical disconnect between where most climate change portfolio investment is directed (the US and Europe), and the main source of incremental emissions (Asia), as well as the location of the population most impacted by climate change (emerging markets). BloombergNEF found that in 2020, developed countries had 12 times more investment per … Read more
Sustainable finance volumes fell off a cliff last year as part of a broad retreat in capital markets activity and as a backlash against ESG ensued. According to Refinitiv, for the first nine months of last year, the latest period for which data are available, sustainable finance bonds fell 26% to $586bn, although sustainable loans … Read more
China’s technology sector is accelerating the uptake of ESG best practices and incorporating them into their core business strategies, particularly environmental and social considerations. While the governance challenges in this sector are well-documented and addressed by increased regulation, less focus has been given to the progress made in environmental and social domains. Analysis of the … Read more
The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) – the independent body that sets the GRI Standards – has appointed Carol Adams as chair. Adams (pictured), who is professor of accounting at Durham University Business School, takes over from Judy Kuszewski on April 1. following the completion of her final term in the role in which she … Read more
Castlefield’s John Eckersley, founder and senior partner, and Ita McMahon, partner in the investment management team, discuss the charitable roots of the business, long-term sustainable growth plans and their approach to engagement as a smaller firm. How is sustainability embedded into your business? JE: I founded the business in 2002 after formally being a … Read more
US president Joe Biden has announced $6bn in funding to boost decarbonization projects in energy-intensive industries. The Industrial Demonstration Program is also designed to provide American manufacturers with a competitive advantage in the emerging clean energy economy, the US Department of Energy said. Funding for the program will come from President Biden’s Infrastructure Law and … Read more
The number of fund products labelled as ‘ESG’ grew by nearly 90% in Europe last year, according to research firm Fitz Partners. The firm compared the management fees of the clean share classes of ESG labelled funds in Europe. The research is based on a universe of more than 4,000 clean share classes for equity … Read more