MSCI has produced statistics based on its ESG Research’s consultation of 25 leading institutional investors and the ways in which they have responded to climate change.

According to Cerulli Associates, a research firm, European funds are investing in ESG products at such a rate that they are now mainstream.

BNP Paribas Cardif is to double its green investments by 2020, with an emphasis on green bonds.

Income investors can implement a low-carbon strategy without sacrificing income, according to research from AXA IM Rosenberg Equities.

Climate Change Minister Claire Perry is announcing a raft of measures at the start of Climate Week in New York to push green finance.

Hans Hoogervorst, the chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board has urged financial reporting to evolve to ensure that IFRS Standards continue to meet the needs of market participants.

Over one hundred institutional investors have called on major banks to disclosure climate-related risks and opportunities and of how these are being managed.

Goldman Sachs Bank is to purchase USD300m in home solar loans from Mosaic, a US provider of home solar financing solutions.

Volkswagen will be introducing 80 new electric cars in its various brands (including VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda) by 2025, an increase in the previously stated target of 30, and will offer an electric alternative for all of its models by 2030.

Scottish firms are being invited to participate in a programme to develop and export sustainable energy products, systems and services to international markets.

The annual Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) review has been released, with Samsung Electronics, British American Tobacco and ASML Holding being added to the index, and well-known companies Reckitt Benckiser, BAE Systems and Rio Tinto losing their places.

Asset manager Amundi, one of the founding signatories of the PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment), has been awarded its highest rating for the quality of its analysis and ESG solutions.

Moody's Investors Service has released two new reports on renewable energy, linking the reduced costs and improved operating efficiencies to a surge in growth.

Global reinsurance company SCOR is to conduct a full divestment from companies deriving more than 30 per cent of their turnover from coal, according to latest figures.

M&S has become the first major retailer to source all of its fresh milk from RSPCA Assured dairy farms. All 37 farms that supply fresh milk to the M&S and from now on all fresh milk packaging will carry the RSPCA Assured logo.

A new eight stage action programme has been launched by the Building Research Establishment to support the responsible and ethical sourcing of materials, products and people. The Action Programme on Responsible and Ethical Sourcing programme, or APRES, was created in partnership with Loughborough University and presents eight pathways to best practice to combat modern slavery and unethical practices in supply chains.

GRESB, an ESG report on real estate assets, has released a report following 850 property companies and real estate funds, representing 77,000 assets and over USD3.7tr in value.

More than £600,000 has been awarded to support charitable organisations across London attempting to enter the social investment market.

Ricoh, the imaging and electronics company, is embarking on a pan-European partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) the dementia research charity.

Pearson and Save the Children have launched a new project to deliver education for Syrian refugees and children affected by the Syrian conflict in Jordan.

Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme, in partnership with School for Social Entrepreneurs and funding from the Big Lottery Fund has unveiled its Match Trading tool, a means of grant-funding that matches pound-for-pound any increase in trading income from social enterprises.

Metro Bank has announced that it has provided the youth and community charity YMCA London South West, with GBP30m of funding to support the planned development and regeneration of social housing accommodation.

Hedge funds run by women have outperformed other funds during the first half of the year, data from the HFRX Women index has revealed.

PwC is one of the first organisations to publicly report pay for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workers as an item of its overall pay.

Broadcaster Sky has launched a year-long scheme to help women who want a career in technology, with a £25,000 bursary, communications training and mentoring, as well as access to the company’s expansive technology network.

The carbon UK’s carbon intensity fell by 7.7 per cent in 2016, a faster rate of decline than China, the US and other EU countries.

C&E Advisory has created a new report revealing that as Brexit fear recede corporates and charities are investing more in partnerships with each other.

Progress is a video from CDP that informs and celebrates cities acting on the environment.

Members of Lloyds Banking Group have completed the ‘Fourtitude Challenge’, raising almost £3m for partner Mental Health UK.

The cost of offshore wind has fallen to a point where it is now a cheaper energy alternative than nuclear.

Like many corporates Astellas Pharma Europe has a related charity goal, and uses employee fundraising. It has recently demonstrated how the programme can be joined to the cause by sending fundraisers to see first-hand the results.

Retailer Poundland has announced a successful fundraising campaign for its charity partner Macmillan Cancer Support.

The sunshine requires less land that thought to power our cities, but Paris stands out as the most power hungry city in the world.

The High Court has today told the government that its new rules for environmental cases must be changed to protect those taking legal action.

Uber’s application for a new licence in London has been rejected by Transport for London.

Volvo Cars has been recognised by the United Nations for its electrification strategy in the latest report from the UN’s Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

City Giving Day will celebrate the success of over 200 City companies and their commitment to responsible business.

InfluenceMap have released a report that ranks global corporations by their climate influence. Currently companies are generally judged by their direct carbon footprint, but the report highlights how constructive and obstructive lobbying by companies can have a significant impact on climate policy.

Australian shareholders in BHP Billiton are considering a resolution concerning the potential misalignment between BHP’s stated policy on climate change and the activities of industry bodies of which it is a member.

LEGO Group, Microsoft and Google top the 2017 Global CSR RepTrak report, with overtaking Google, which had been at the top of the ranking for three years running. In total four technology companies make the top ten.

Mars, the food producer and pet care firm, is launching a plan to operate within ‘planetary boundaries’ and deliver a positive social impact.

Starbucks is in the position of having 99 per cent of its coffee ethically sourced, and will be highlighting this with a campaign that will see ‘99’ written across all its cups.

Dream jobs are less important to employees than ‘dream companies’, that is organisations that care about employee wellbeing, provide opportunities to learn and grow, and promote work-life balance.

Forty-one per cent of people think UK businesses should be doing more for charity, and over half of them say they should be required to do so.

Reputational risk is a growing issue, and one might think that public relations companies would be the most sensitive to the challenges. However in a review law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has criticised Bell Pottinger for failing to curb the excess of senior management over a campaign in South Africa.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and Trustees Unlimited have published independent review of their joint board level volunteering programme Step on Board.

For the first time listed companies will have to publish pay ratios between chief executives and their average UK worker under reforms to boardroom accountability outlined by the government today. Business Secretary Greg Clark set out how the government’s package of corporate governance reforms intend to enhance the transparency of big business to shareholders, employees and the public.

Following shareholder approval a GBP700m rescue package, the Co-operative Group will hold only a one per cent stake in the Co-op Bank.