This week in ESG news: Trump admin pays TotalEnergies $1 billion to stop building wind energy projects in U.S.; Germany launches 2030 climate action plan; H&M sets science-based nature targets; India adopts cautious 2035 climate, clean energy goals; EFRAG to discuss voluntary sustainability reporting with large companies taken out of CSRD scope; New York governor looks to push back “unattainable” climate goals; Microsoft signs million-ton biochar carbon removal deal; PepsiCo hits key water sustainability goals; KKR earns 15x investment on sale of energy, water efficient data center cooling company; capital raises for textile circularity tech, fusion, carbon accounting, sustainable building materials, and more.
See below for the highlights of the past week, and get all your ESG news at ESG Today:
Sustainability Goals, Initiatives and Achievements
Radisson Sets Goal to Reach 100 Net Zero Hotels by 2030
LaSalle Raises $370 Million for New Real Estate Decarbonization Fund
Microsoft Signs 1 Million Ton Carbon Removal Deal with U.S. Biochar Company Liferaft
Octopus Acquires Majority Stake in Grid Tech Company Uplight
PepsiCo Achieves Key Water Sustainability Goal
H&M Sets Science-Based Nature Targets to Address Impact of Supply Chain on Land
The Language of Climate Tech is Changing, and it Says a Lot About Where Sustainability is Headed
Government & Regulators
India Approves Cautious 2035 Climate, Clean Energy Goals
Germany Adopts Climate Action Plan to Slash Emissions, Fossil Fuel Consumption
Trump Administration Pays TotalEnergies $1 Billion to End Offshore Wind Projects in U.S.
New York Governor Proposes Pushing Back Climate Targets that Have Become “Costly and Unattainable”
EU Commission Approves €5 Billion Danish Offshore Wind Program
Sustainability Reporting
IFRS Foundation Proposes Updates to Agriculture, Power Sector Sustainability Reporting Standards
EFRAG to Engage with Large Companies on Voluntary Sustainability Reporting
California Weighs Approaches to Phase in New Scope 3 GHG Emissions Reporting Requirements
India Launches Centralized Carbon Market Trading Platform
ESG Services and Tools
Watershed Launches AI-Powered Sustainability Reporting Tools
How AI is Helping Tackle Real Estate’s Sustainability Cost Crunch
Procurement is Where Nature Strategy Becomes Real
Sustainable Finance
Zelestra Secures $600 Million Green Financing to Build Solar Projects Backed by PPAs with Meta
Sustainable Investing
Private Equity & Venture Capital
Climate Investment Raises $450 Million to Address the “Missing Middle” in Climate Tech Finance
Textile Recycling Tech Startup Renasens Raises €10 Million
KKR Impact Fund Earns 15x Investment on Sale of Data Center Cooling Provider CoolIT to Ecolab
Lululemon Invests in Biorecycling Tech Company Epoch Biodesign
Brookfield, La Caisse Acquire Clean Energy Platform Boralex for $6.5 Billion
India-based Fusion Tech Startup Pranos Raises $6.8 Million
Zevero Raises $7 Million to Scale Carbon Accounting and Management Platform Across New Markets
Cocoon Raises $15 Million to Scale Low-Carbon Building Materials
Exec Moves
Nomura AM Appoints Nick Henderson as Head of Global Sustainable Equities
