A new energy efficiency mortgage pilot scheme has been launched by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) Europe in collaboration with 37 European banks. Aimed at capitalising on the EU funded Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative, participating banks include BNP Paribas, ING Bank, Nordea Bank and Société Générale.

Pressing for results ahead of schedule, the Global Climate Action Summit has challenged cities, states, and corporations around the globe to boost climate actions before the conference in September. It has requested for the transparent disclosure of carbon emissions and reduction efforts in order to hold regions accountable for meeting end goals.

Pressing for results ahead of schedule, the Global Climate Action Summit has challenged cities, states, and corporations around the globe to boost climate actions before the conference in September. It has requested for the transparent disclosure of carbon emissions and reduction efforts in order to hold regions accountable for meeting end goals.

Hermes Investment Management is opening up several ESG tools for its fund managers and engagers to use to make enhanced investment decisions and to better inform engagement activities with companies.

Growing demand for green investment solutions has led UBS Global Wealth Management to establish its first sustainable investing portfolio for UK clients.

Triodos Bank has provided financial support to Riverford to help them transfer 74 per cent of the company ownership to employees. A £3m loan along with £2m of working capital facilities has been confirmed to help fund the change.

Macquarie has issued a £500 m loan to support green projects involving renewable energy, clean transportation, waste management, and low-carbon buildings.

The Canada Pension Investment Board (CCPIB) has become the first pension fund in the world to issue a green bond. Valued at $1.2bn, the sale will provide CPPIB with additional funding as its holdings in the renewable energy sector increases.

Clean energy developers Thrive Renewables and Aura Power have joined together to offer UK business free battery storage in exchange for a share of resulting returns.

The Dow Chemical Company has generated over £90m in 2017 from measuring business impacts on nature. This number is three times as much money as 2016’s £30m, proving that natural capital projects are buzzing.

Lightsource BP, the solar energy developer 43 per cent owned by BP, has completed a major project in India. The Maharashtra project, with 200,000 LONGi Solar photovoltaic panels ground-mounted across 240 acres, is one of the first to be completed from the batch of Solar Energy Corporation India (SECI) tenders.

Insurer Ecclesiastical is helping prevent specialist trade skills disappearing. Inspired by Ecclesiastical’s insurance of Grade 1 listed buildings in the UK, the organisation has pledged £225,000 to The Prince’s Foundation over the next three years to enable 36 students to take part in the charity’s Building Craft Programme (BCP).

Volvo Cars has announced plans to manufacture all new vehicles with 25 percent recycled plastics by the year 2025. Having sold over 570k of cars built with 5 percent recycled materials last year, the company aims to reduce plastic pollution with the expanded project.

US telecom giant AT&T has signed a deal to source 300MW of wind energy from NextEra Energy. Building upon existing agreements with the company, the purchase totals 820MW bought by AT&T since February. It is estimated to be one of the largest corporate renewable energy acquisitions in US history.

Bike rental provider Mobike has celebrated its second birthday by planting a tree for every 100km cycled on its RideForEarth event in support of Earth Day, and as a result 2,300 trees are now growing across the globe.

In an effort to improve renewable energy storage, Siemens has begun a £1.5m pilot project testing ammonia in replace of other battery technologies.

Samsung Electronics has announced its switch to 100% renewable energy in United States, China, and European markets by the year 2020. The rest of the Samsung’s global operations will then follow suit, with green sources powering its entire office buildings, factories, and other facilities.

All-night long negotiations resulted in an upgraded renewable energy goal for the European Union. Previously held at 27 percent, the target has been increased to 32 percent for the year 2030.

The 2018 edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy has reported that natural gas has been the largest source of energy growth, being boosted by coal-to-gas switching in China, but that renewables are continuing to gain momentum.

In its latest initiative towards a greener economy, China has paved a highway curve with solar panels. The plastic-covered panels were created by one of China’s leading solar road development companies, Shandong Pavenergy.

Sky Ocean Rescue has expanded its operations to the Irish Republic. The campaign, designed to inspire people and organisations, including other businesses, to make simple, everyday changes to help save our oceans, has launched at a time when the country has shown increasing public concern at the state of the seas around it.

A new database of women working in the energy sector, the Switch List, is being launched by RenewableUK. The crowd-sourced database will make it easier for those organising industry events to identify female experts, and invite them as speakers.

New government regulations have granted pension scheme members more power in viewing the sustainable investment activity of their accounts.

Dr Hans-Christoph Hirt, head of Hermes EOS, is highlighting the limited progress in the implementation of a value-creating strategy at the Deutsche Bank AG AGM, raising concerns about the high turnover of management and supervisory board members.

New rules for MOT were implemented on 20 May, including updated defect categorisations, strict limits for diesel emissions, widened test scopes, and exemptions for older vehicles.

Neighbourly, giving platform connecting charities, businesses and communities, has appointed Steve Butterworth as CEO. The appointment comes on the back of the company’s strong performance over the past three years and on the verge of delivering an international rollout strategy. Since its formation in 2015, Neighbourly’s platform has been used to pledge GBP 5.98m funds and 11,400 days; execute 7,600 projects; and donate 3m surplus meals and 5 tonnes of products.

The Brussels Environment Minister, Céline Fremault, has proposed that all internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles should be banned from the city by 2030, having already announced that all diesel vehicles will by the same date.

ClientEarth has appointed Alice Garton to lead its new Climate programme after three years of heading up the organisation’s Company & Financial Project.

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists at the 2018 Better Society Awards which took place last night. For the fourth consecutive year the awards have recognised and celebrated the great strides made in creating a better world through community action, technological innovation and corporate responsibility.

The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) has backed a shareholder resolution calling for Shell to align its greenhouse gas intensity targets with the goals of Paris Agreement. With over six million members, Nest last year established a bespoke investment fund to manage the risks of climate change within its members’ portfolios, has nearly GBP 7m invested in Shell on behalf of UK workers.