4th October 2019
Focus on UK green investment and finance news this week. First up new rules come into force for UK pension trustees to outline their approach to engagement with and voting in respect to companies in which they invest, as well as disclosing how they take account of ESG and climate factors.
Furthermore, London keeps its top spot as the best financial hub for green finance – despite not having yet issued a sovereign green bond – and there was also a good smattering of news from UK investment trusts.
UK Green Finance News
London retains green finance crown – Sebastian McCarthy – City AM
UK’s new ESG pension rules: four measures to ensure their success – Emmet McNamee – PRI
FTSE Russell scraps ‘non-renewable energy’ label after LSE pressure – FT
Gresham House plots £58 million raise to pursue energy storage pipelines – Liam Stoker – Solar Power Portal
Foresight to ‘optimise’ capital structure, pay down debt with new share placing – Liam Stoke – Solar Power Portal
Irish wealth fund backs Gore Street storage – ReNews
Foresight Group powers up with double wind farm purchase – Jonny Bairstow – Energy News Live
Square Mile unveils two initiatives to assess asset managers’ ESG and sustainability credentials – Beth Brearley – InvestmentWeek
Investment Analysis
ESG 2.0: How to Improve ESG Scoring to Better Reflect Renewable Energy Use and Investment – ACORE
Bit by Bit, Socially Conscious Investors Are Influencing 401(k)’s – Mark Miller – New York Times
From the farm to the restaurant, how people are investing in regenerative agriculture – Nancy Matsumoto – GreenBiz
Survey: Two-thirds of UK public want their investments aligned with the SDGs – edie
A Call by Investors on US Companies to Align Climate Lobbying with Paris Agreement – Barbara Grady – Havard Law School Forum
Climate change could make borrowing costlier for states and cities – Alex Brown – Phys.org
Some of world’s biggest asset managers ‘paying lip service’ to ESG – Anna Menin – City AM
‘We are now at a tipping point’: Investment giants to step up calls for corporates to set net zero goals – James Murray – BusinessGreen
Investment News
The ‘Greta Effect’: Surge in eco-awareness driving ‘most significant’ period of ESG inflows – Mike Sheen – Investment Week
Schumer Tells Financial Firms to Disclose More on Climate Risk – Ari Natter – Bloomberg
Climate Bonds Initiative, Credit Suisse launch ‘Sustainable Transition Bonds’ – The Asset
Germany and World Bank Partner to Stop Deforestation – Lauren Anderson – IISD
An alliance of major investors overseeing $2.4 trillion has committed to making portfolios entirely carbon-neutral by 2050 – Carmen Reinicke – MSN
New rules force pension funds to consider environmental and social factors – Alex Daniel – City AM
Lyxor launches green bond ESG ETF – Tom Eckett – EFT Stream
Range of Tobam funds gains LuxFLAG ESG label – Jonathan Boyd – Investment Europe
Clean energy shares streak ahead of fossil fuel stocks – FT
Green Investment Group and BNEF team up for renewables and climate data boost – BusinessGreen
Major investors embark on green farming, cities, and clean energy financing drive – Michael Holder – BusinessGreen
TwentyFour AM plans sustainable absolute return credit fund – Beth Brearley – Investment Week
EU leaders risk trade tension with carbon border tax plan to shield industry – Susanna Twidale, Barbara Lewis – Reuters
Comment
Why A Data Revolution Is Giving Socially Responsible Investors an Edge – Matthew Heimer – Fortune
‘Blue finance’ hopes to put oceans on a sustainable path – Angélina Boulesteix – phys.org
Here’s why you might find stocks such as Microsoft in ESG-friendly funds – Lizzy Gurdus – CNBC
Recasting the risk/return ratio at the time of ESG – Raphael Hara – KSAPA
Money Is Pouring Into ESG Funds. It’s Good News for Microsoft Stock – Leslie P. Norton – Barron’s
Potential & Challenge Of ESG ETF Investing – Ben Lavine – EFT.com
6 Ways to Fire Up your ESG Policy – Simon Grover – Quietroom
Here’s how to put cash into socially conscious investments and still make money – Jill Cornfield – CNBC
That joke isn’t funny any more – ethical investment beats sin – Simon English – Evening Standard
Why emerging markets offer the best ESG growth opportunities – Ellie Duncan – Investment Week
“Environmental risks are very relevant for long term investors” – Aurore Barlier – L’Agefi
Money Is the Oxygen on Which the Fire of Global Warming Burns – Bill McKibben – New Yorker
‘Investing in a simple index fund is immoral’ — why climate-change investing has been more talk than action – Brett Arends – Market Watch
We need a democratized Green Investment Bank for a just transition – Ali Riza Güngen, Thomas Marois – Open Democracy
Making the investment case for regenerative agriculture – Gregory Heiliers – AFN
Bourse : critères ESG, habillage ou réalité ? – Emmanuel Schafroth – Les Echos
En matière de réforme ESG, le Japon a connu de nombreuses fausses illusions. – Andrea Astone – allnews
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