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ESG News: Major US corporations, including Meta, McDonald’s, Walmart, Bank of America, and BlackRock, have recently scaled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. However, these changes may have limited direct effects on ESG Risk Ratings, according to Morningstar Sustainalytics.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to end its defense of the rules requiring disclosure of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions.
ESG News: The British Standards Institution (BSI) has introduced groundbreaking government-backed standards, the Overarching Principles Standard (BSI Flex 701), to boost investment in nature-friendly projects across the UK.
ESG Dive: JLL, a Fortune 500 real estate and investment management company, has previously executed more than 150 deals and has participated in transactions worth $20 billion in Europe and Asia’s energy and infrastructure capital markets, according to the release.
ESG Today: Investment management firm Fidelity International announced that it has raised €110 million (USD$119 million) for the Fidelity Real Estate Logistics Impact Climate Solutions (LOGICs) fund, dedicated to energy transition in the real estate sector, adding to the €200 million raised during its first close in March 2024.
Portfolio Adviser: Nordea Asset Management (NAM) has reviewed the names of its sustainable funds in line with new guidelines from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The group has added or kept ‘Sustainable’ in the names of 17 Nordea 1 SICAV funds following the review.
ESG Today: The vast majority of public companies are either retaining or ramping up their climate commitments, with companies found to be more than twice as likely to be increasing their emissions reduction goals than decelerating them, according to a new study released by professional services firm PwC.
MSN: ESG funds in Europe could substantially increase their allocations to the defense industry should existing restrictions be fully removed, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.
ESG Dive: JPMorgan Chase announced changes to its internal practices on diversity, equity and inclusion and its external memberships in climate-related organizations last week, ESG Dive confirmed.
Yahoo Finance: The lawsuit alleging the three asset managers had conspired to “artificially constrict” the U.S. coal market was first filed in November, claiming the asset managers had made “substantial” investments in public coal companies to get them to drive down their output.
Sky News: The defence industry has long complained that environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) standards, intended to guide business impact on society, have prevented small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) raising finance.
Yahoo Finance: ESG fund bosses battered by years of miserable returns are rapidly redefining their mandates to make room for highly lucrative defense bets.
ESG Today: Investment giant BlackRock announced a series of changes to its sustainable fund lineup ahead of the implementation of new fund naming guidelines by EU markets regulator the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), according to a letter to BlackRock clients seen by ESG Today.
ESG Dive: Only a few months into the new administration, the United States is already seeing sweeping changes in the regulatory environment and the future of several climate and social initiatives is tenuous.
ESG Today: A federal court in Australia imposed a A$10.5 million (USD$6.7 million) penalty on superannuation fund Active Super trustee LGSS, after finding that the firm had engaged in greenwashing by continuing to invest in securities in areas that it had claimed to eliminate for environmental or social reasons.
ESG Dive: When the SEC initially adopted the updated Names Rule in 2023, the largest funds previously had until Dec. 11, 2025 to comply, with smaller funds due to comply six months after.
Advisor Hub: UBS Group AG’s annual report no longer refers to a key sustainability term that has come under attack from the Trump administration, indicating how the backlash is impacting European firms.
ESG News: Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has raised over €12 billion ($13.1 billion) for its fifth flagship fund, CI V, significantly exceeding its original fundraising goals.
ESG Dive: Major U.S. banks who looked to the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow for excluding shareholder proposals with requests to disclose banks’ climate change planning and exposures were turned down by the agency.
Portfolio Adviser: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have abandoned plans to impose stricter rules for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the financial services sector to “avoid duplication and unnecessary costs”.
Yahoo Finance: The chief executive of JP Morgan has branded two of the world’s top shareholder proxy advisers “incompetent” amid a growing backlash over their support for diversity policies.
CFO Dive: Women worldwide are far from attaining equal status in the C-suite, holding only about 10% of the most powerful roles such as CEO, CFO and COO, JPMorgan Chase said.
ESG Today: BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) announced the creation of a new entity, the Venture and Impact platform, within its Private Assets division.
ESG Dive: The nation’s new stance on the SDGs surfaced during remarks made by Edward Heartney, a minister-counselor at the U.S. mission to the UN, on a resolution to create an “International Day of Peaceful Coexistence.”
ESG Today: Business leaders are seeing a wide range of value creation benefits from their companies’ sustainability activities, with more than 60% reporting improved employee attraction and retention, and half citing higher sales and lower costs.
Institutional Investor: Only 12 percent of portfolio managers globally are women and even the highest performing among them struggle to raise capital.
Funds Europe: Nearly 60% of senior UK decision-makers don’t fully understand carbon credits, despite their growing role in corporate net zero strategies, according to an Octopus Investments report.
Yahoo Finance: The United States has withdrawn from a climate coalition that pledged billions of dollars to help certain developing countries transition from coal to clean energy sources. The move marks the latest walk back from a climate deal since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Funds Europe: Women’s representation in UK private equity (PE) and venture capital continues to rise in 2025, with 27% of investment professionals now female, up from 24% in 2023, according to a report by Level 20 and the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA).
ESG Dive: State Street Global Advisors has dropped a requirement for company board nomination slates to feature a certain percentage of women directors from its 2025 global proxy voting and engagement policy, per reports.
Yahoo Finance: As trans-Atlantic relations grow increasingly fraught, Europe’s ESG regulations are becoming yet another flashpoint that threatens to sour ties.
ESG Today: More than 40% of senior executives report that they prioritize ESG factors when applying for jobs, well ahead of their more junior peers, and many see a rising role for sustainability in talent attraction over the longer term, according to a new survey released by Economist Impact.
ESG Today: International investment manager M&G Investments announced that it will adopt the new “Sustainability Improvers” label introduced by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) for its Sustain Paris Aligned range of climate mitigation-focused investment funds.
Yahoo Finance: Despite economic uncertainty and cost pressures, Europe’s demand for digital solutions that improve sustainability and governance continues to grow, according to a new research report published by Information Services Group.
ESG Today: International banking group Standard Chartered announced the release of its inaugural Transition Plan, outlining its detailed plan to achieve its climate goals, including its target to reach net zero emissions across its financing activities by 2050.
ESG Dive: While debates around climate change are only getting hotter in 2025, chief financial officers surveyed in December appeared to be holding firm to their commitment to sustainability.
ESG Today: Alternative asset manager Blackstone announced that it has raised $5.6 billion for its energy transition-focused private equity fund, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners IV, closing the fund at its hard cap.
MSN: Wells Fargo is scrapping its goal of achieving net-zero emissions across its financed portfolio by 2050 as banks rethink their sustainable lending activities.
ESG News: Standard Chartered has released its detailed Transition Plan, showcasing how the bank will integrate climate considerations into all aspects of its operations, aiming for Net Zero across financing activities by 2050 and operations by 2025.
CFO Dive: Groups opposed to environmental, social and governance initiatives at U.S. companies have stepped up their activism early in the 2025 proxy season, submitting 20% of all shareholder proposals, a 5 percentage point increase compared with the same period last year, the Conference Board said.
Institutional Investor: Donald Trump’s re-election in November boosted anti-environmental, social, and governance efforts, prompting 11 Republican state attorneys general to sue BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard in December for allegedly pushing ESG investment options at the expense of the energy industry.
ESG News: The European Commission has launched the Green Industrial Deal, a sweeping business plan aimed at reinforcing industrial competitiveness, reducing emissions and securing Europe's clean energy future.
Portfolio Adviser: Companies in the FTSE 350 index hit their target of having women occupy 40% of leadership positions a year early, with women now filling 43% of company board positions, according to the latest FTSE Women Leaders Review.
ESG Dive: Investors and asset owners are increasingly asking asset managers to offer more detailed reports on ESG-related activities, according to a recent report from research firm Cerulli Associates.
Yahoo Finance: A group of Republican U.S. state treasurers will withhold votes for Vanguard fund board nominees on concerns the slate is "tone-deaf" on sustainability matters, presenting a political hurdle for the top mutual fund manager as it looks to build turnout for a rare fund trustee election.
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