Headhunters

This framework is designed for use by asset owners in their engagement with asset managers to identify and analyse the actions that they are taking to advance racial equity in their roles as employers, economic actors, shareholders and capital providers.

"Institutional investors in Canada are taking steps to advance racial equity and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), both within their own organizations and across their investment portfolios. To support these efforts, SHARE launched the Investors for Racial Equity project and convened a group of asset owners based in Canada and the U.S. as a community of practice to explore opportunities to align their investments with their values and commitments to advancing racial equity and DEI. One of the key gaps identified by the community of practice was a standardized framework to collect, evaluate and compare asset manager performance on these issues.

To address this gap, SHARE and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) developed the Investors for Racial Equity Asset Manager Evaluation Tool to help asset owners identify and analyze the commitments, strategies and actions asset managers are taking to advance racial equity and DEI within their operations and investment strategies.

To supplement the tool, SHARE and UARR developed this guide to support asset managers as they take meaningful action and measure their progress in advancing racial equity and DEI within their firms and in their investment decisions."

Integrum: EU Taxonomy Simplified - What's Changed?

The European Commission has adopted a Delegated Act to streamline the EU Taxonomy framework, significantly easing the compliance load for financial and non-financial companies.

Key changes relevant to asset managers include:

🔹 Reporting requirements reduced

The revised framework slashes the number of required datapoints by 64% for non-financial undertakings and by 89% for financial institutions.

🔹 Materiality threshold introduced

Companies will no longer need to report on activities that are deemed financially immaterial - specifically, those contributing less than 10% of turnover, CapEx, or OpEx.

🔹 Refined DNSH criteria

The 'Do No Significant Harm' requirements - especially regarding pollution prevention and chemical use - have been refined to reduce complexity in ESG due diligence and classification.

🗓️ The updated rules will apply from 1 January 2026 (covering FY2025), with an option to defer implementation to FY2026.

Companies with a climate target had, on average, lower borrowing costs than their counterparts without targets over the two years ended March 31, 2025. But among companies with climate targets, execution mattered more than ambition.

"We explore how MSCI ESG Ratings relate to core business fundamentals like profitability, sales variability and asset turnover."

MSCI ESG Research: Demystifying Article 8 funds: Why an ESG Collection category matters 

"Would narrow categorization undermine innovation? Our analysis shows an inclusive ESG category reflects real-world fund diversity, supporting investor clarity and evolving sustainability approaches."

MSCI ESG Research: Insights on MSCI ESG Ratings and business performance

"Do high ESG ratings indicate better business performance? See what the data reveals about the connection between sustainability, operational stability and efficiency and long-term business performance."

Since 2022, Zalando’s combined non-financial declaration can be found in the annual report. The 2024 Annual Report was published in March 2025.

Focal Points:

• "Our net-zero targets replace Zalando’s first generation climate targets, which run until 2025. As of 2024, we reduced scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 82% (versus 2017). In our private labels, we achieved an economic intensity reduction of -48%GHGs/ million euros gross profit (versus 2018).
• Summary of Zalando's 2024 sustainability progress and how our strategy addresses the deep-rooted challenges in the fashion industry."

Parameters:

Data to: 31 Dec 2024
Published: March 2025 
Materiality Matrix: See page 179 
ESG data centre: Not found but CSRD Digest 2024 published (see summary link above)

Focal Points:

• "We are making solid progress towards achieving our target of 40% women in management by the end of 2025/26. This year 30.1% (2023/24: 28.6%) of senior leaders and 39.8% (2023/24: 39.6%) of managers are women.
• In 2024 we announced new science-based emissions targets across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, as part of the next stage of our Net Zero Climate Plan. 
• We have also reduced absolute Scope 3 emissions from supply chain and product use by 30.4%, with a delivered intensity reduction of 38.7% since 2017/18, ensuring we are on track to deliver our 2025/26 
  target of 40%."

Parameters:

Data to: 31 January 2025
Published: June 2025 (assurance date)
Materiality Matrix: See page 3 of the ESG Performance data appendix (link below)
ESG data centre: ESG Performance data appendix (pdf) and Excel data book

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF NON-FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND SUSTAINABILITY INFORMATION 2024

Focal Points:

• "By launching the Creatives initiative we identify and foster a talented new generation of designers in our creative teams.  
• Inditex and the trade union federation UNI Global Union - which represents 20 million workers in more than 150 countries- renewed their Global Agreement to implement best labour practices.       
• Inditex has announced a capital investment in Galy, a US startup that has developed innovative technology for lab-growing cotton from cotton stem cells.
• In August 2024 we launched our second CIRCxZara collection, designed by Zara Studio and made from 
  textile waste."                                                                                                         

Parameters:

Data to: 31 December 2024
Published: March 2025
Materiality Matrix: Various references in the report
ESG data centre: Not found

Investor interest in climate transition strategies remains resilient, even amid shifting policy landscapes and market uncertainty. As the urgency of climate action intensifies, implementation is evolving beyond traditional carbon metrics toward more forward-looking climate analytics.

Summary

• Climate investing developments amid shifting policy landscapes
• Implementation is evolving toward forward-looking climate analytics
• Balancing risk, return and sustainability without compromising objectives

A quarterly report on financing the shift to a low-carbon economy - July 2025

The MSCI Sustainability Institute’s Transition Finance Tracker details progress by companies and investors to navigate the shift to a low-carbon global economy. The quarterly report offers a snapshot of the transition in charts and analysis covering emissions, physical risk, targets, disclosure and financial flows using data from MSCI and others.

The world’s listed and unlisted companies together directly generate nearly one-third (32%) of global greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly two-thirds of listed firms are on warming paths above 2°C, with a global average of 2.7°C (4.86°F) above preindustrial levels.

Assessing the transparency, integrity and progress of corporate climate strategies

... includes ...

• Section A: Trends in Corporate Climate Responsibility
• Section B: Company Analysis
  • Food and agriculture sector: Danone, JBS, Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo
  • Tech sector: Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft
  • Fashion sector: adidas, H&M, Inditex, lululemon, Shein
  • Automotive manufacturers: Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota, VW

"This report articulates why investors—and particularly asset allocators, who direct the largest flows of capital to fixed income—should channel their impact assets towards this asset class, what they need to know about the current state of this market, and how they can navigate it with confidence and integrity.

We argue that impact investing in fixed income (which we refer to as “impact fixed income”) is an immense opportunity hiding in plain sight."

SONAR promotes awareness of risks that matter to insurers today and those that will in the future.

• Structural risks impacting the insurance industry already today include lack of consumer trust and excess mortality. 
• In terms of risks for the future, rising global temperatures could increase claims in many lines of business.
• Plastics are another concern, given environmental and health impacts. Earliest claims traction is likely to show in liability insurance.
• Ultra-processed foods could trigger liability and health claims…
• …while the broadening scope of use of digital technology in daily life presents both opportunities and challenges for insurers.

Covers: Structural risks, emerging risks (short-term), emerging risks (medium-term)

• Electric vehicles (EVs), including battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, continue to significantly penetrate global car markets.
• Worldwide cumulative EV sales grew 45% between 2023 and 2024 to 58 million electric passenger cars – more than eighty times the 710,000 vehicles sold in 2014.
• The U.S. had the second largest deployment ... 

Private equity is undergoing a profound transformation. Within the sustainability space, one of the most compelling developments in this evolving landscape is the rise of timber and forestry funds – a niche that is rapidly gaining traction due to its dual promise of financial return and positive environmental impact.

Focus

• Global Nuclear Resurgence
• Nuclear: Near Perfect and Indispensable
• AI, Quantum & the Paradox of Power Demand
• Investing Across the Nuclear Value Chain

Topics

• Uranium
• Geopolitics and Energy Security
• Comparing Energy Solutions
• Key Demand Drivers for Nuclear Energy
• New Innovations in Nuclear Technology
• Risks in the Nuclear Thematic
• Investment Expressions

• Social issues are central for the Sector, in particular, Access to Healthcare
• ESG ratings vary on social, environmental impacts; Governance is a key concern
• A modest presence on ESG-labelled bond markets

Topic in focus

• Poor Risk Management, Litigation and Reputational Risks Are Systemic Issues
• Opioid CrisisPromptsStep-Change in Fines and Settlements
• Product Liability Litigation
• Kickbacks, Bribery and Pay-and-Delay Prevalent
• Sustainability-related regulations to watch

Analysts:

• Frank Zhang
• Desana Rose
• Daniela Sedlakova

Analyzing voting results on shareholder resolutions on environmental, social, and political topics

Executive Summary

"This is the fifth year that we have published analysis of our voting results on shareholder resolutions on environmental, social, and political topics. The 2021 proxy voting season was the high‑water mark for overall support of such resolutions. In this year’s report, we explore the reasons for the subsequent changes in voting outcomes."

The outcome of talks with both countries and companies to mitigate climate change leads the Robeco Active Ownership team’s report of activities in the second quarter.

Summary

• Reports on engagement with Indonesia and with high-emitting companies
• Voting season update on how the ‘road to hell is paved with good governance’
• Trying to align executive performance with fair remuneration still an issue

Last week Ryan Mangold - FirstGroup CFO, sat down with Chris Armstrong, the ESG analyst at Berenberg to discuss the company's sustainability journey and its recently published Climate Transition Plan.

Please find a link to the video recording of the interview and accompanying slides.

In 2024, the European Union took a bold step toward climate action by finalizing its methane regulation, a first-of-its-kind measure to curb one of the most potent greenhouse gases. The law aims not only to cut emissions, but to restore accountability to the energy sector and align Europe’s fossil fuel supply chain with its climate responsibility. That vision wouldn’t have been possible without pressure from the global investor community.

But the job isn’t finished.

Part of the fossil fuel industry is now pushing to delay, dilute or distort the implementation of the EU Methane Emissions Regulation. For this historic law to deliver the methane reductions it was designed to achieve, investors must remain engaged. Their voices — trusted in both boardrooms and ministries — are essential to resisting attempts to weaken the regulation and preserving its ambition.

Catch the AI wave: water risk in big tech

Access to usable fresh water is fundamental to livelihoods, health, ecosystems, and the global economy.

Water-related natural hazards such as floods and droughts can have such devastating effects that we believe that water-related risks and opportunities can be financially material factors that need to be increasingly integrated into technology sector decisions and the investment strategies that support them.

"As we cross the midyear mark for 2025, we may take some lessons from a volatile first half, looking to adapt with the changing investment landscape while staying focused on our long-term goals. As disruption reshapes global markets, investors are turning to active management to deliver value and capture opportunities for outperformance—80% of investors say they are more likely to increase their use of active approaches in the year ahead, according to Schroders Global Investor Insights Survey 2025.

Themes driven by changes in technology and society’s structural needs can add value for investors over time as these thematic investments are designed to benefit from this change.

As we see it, sustainable investment is as much about identifying opportunities over the long term as it is about mitigating risk. Recently, I hosted a webinar discussion with three Schroders portfolio managers—Alicia Alisa Craig, Marek Poszepczynski and Paddy Flood—on major thematic investment opportunities: changing demographics, technological innovation and the energy transition. These themes are examples of thoughtful, research-based investing at the intersection of society’s evolving needs, in innovative companies poised for growth."

"PIMCO’s Sustainable Investing Report provides our latest thinking on sustainability. Here, we highlight the report's key takeaways, including how we are advancing our analytical capabilities."

"The global energy landscape continues to evolve, and nuclear is emerging as a critical player in the energy transition. With recent policy shifts and growing energy demands—as we explored in our last newsletter on sustainability trends to watch—nuclear presents unique potential to provide reliable power while reducing carbon emissions. 

In this newsletter, Alexei Viarruel, Executive Director, Global Natural Resources, Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan, shares valuable insights into the revitalization of U.S. nuclear energy, reflecting on challenges and opportunities within the sector.

Also in this update, we showcase innovative companies in industries across the green economy, from sustainable foods to energy storage."

Key Takeaways

• "What Happened and Why: The performance of sustainable funds has seen ups and downs in recent years. Analysis of the data shows that this dynamic was often driven by funds’ style and sector tilts rather than anything intrinsic to sustainability itself.
• Focus on Performance: We think performance will be the key driver of sustainable-investing market growth in the years ahead, with investors increasingly focused on linkages to alpha, value creation and the fundamentals of investing.
• Investing at the Intersections: The underlying secular themes driving the transition to a low-carbon economy are resilient, in our view. Investment opportunities may be found at the confluence of factors such as rising power demand, higher temperatures and aging infrastructure."

I have written before about the wedge in conviction about the importance of ESG to investment decisions. The closer you come to the sell side, the less analysts care about climate change and ESG considerations. So far, this impression has been chiefly based on anecdotal evidence, but Jesse Chan provides some numbers that are indeed alarming.

Chan trawls through 526,740 analyst reports on US companies issued by 2,627 analysts between 2009 and 2020. Note that this period coincides with the rise in ESG awareness and does not include the recent backlash against ESG, during which climate change-related discussions in analyst reports are likely to have declined again.

However, even during these days of growth in climate change-related discussions, only one in ten analysts included climate change-related topics in any of their analyses, and only one in a hundred reports did so, rising to 1.4% of reports in 2020. In all honesty, I find these numbers shockingly low.

In the past, the focus of professional ESG investors was on getting better disclosure and increased transparency of a business’ environmental and social practices. As transparency improved, the focus increasingly shifted to concerns about greenwashing activities. Today, a company that engages in misleading communication about its environmental or social practices will be punished by investors. But how significant is the effect of this punishment in practice?

To find out, the authors of a new study examined more than 5,000 cases of greenwashing uncovered by RepRisk between 2007 and 2022. The study focused solely on the 12 largest developed stock markets to ensure that these markets were sufficiently transparent, with high standards of corporate governance and a large share of institutional investors. The chart below shows that more than half of all incidents of greenwashing were attributed to US companies. UK companies are the second most common culprits.

Focal Points:

• "The Sustainability Report 2024 includes the company's inaugural Climate Transition Plan. The Climate Transition Plan, which outlines our transition approach and action plan for decarbonising the business while developing related opportunities and includes existing as well as new targets.
• We met all climate-related targets for the year and made progress towards targets beyond 2024. For example, we increased the share of gross written premiums from companies with science-based targets validated by a third party in our single-risk re/insurance and further reduced the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of our corporate bond and listed equity portfolio (covering Scope 1 and 2).
• In addition, our absolute GHG emissions from business air travel remained more than 60% below their value in 2018."

Parameters:

• Data to: 31 December 2024
• Published: March 2025 (assurance date)
• Materiality Matrix: DMA details p17
• ESG data centre: Sustainability data here

Focal Points:

• GHG EMISSIONS (SCOPE 1 AND 2)  -10.3%
• LOST TIME ACCIDENTS PER 1,000 FTEs - 36.6%
• SHARE OF WOMEN IN GROUP MANAGEMENT  25.0%

Parameters:

• Data to: 31 December 2024
• Published: Feb 2025 (assurance date)
• Materiality Matrix: DMA to be published in 2025 reporting year.
• ESG data centre: Sustainability data here

Focal Points:

Targets and results:                                                                                                                           

• Maintain the frequency rate (Fh) Lost Workday Cases (LWDC) at or below 1.5    1.7
• 30% share of women in senior leadership positions by 2030     21%
• Technology and innovation for sustainable building design > 50% connected units by 2025 compared to total maintenance portfolio of elevators, escalators, and moving walks      40%     
• Energy management and climate change – 100% renewable electricity by 2025     99%

Parameters:

• Data to: 31 December 2024
• Published: Feb 2025
• Materiality Matrix: p131
• ESG data centre: Sustainability data here

Focal Points:

• In pursuit of its 2030 net zero target for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) Division recorded a renewable energy transition rate of 93.4% as of the end of 2024. By applying high-efficiency energy technologies across seven product categories, it reduced average power consumption by 31.5% compared to 2019. Additionally, the DX Division signed new solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) at its Gumi and Gwangju sites to diversify renewable energy sourcing.
• As part of its goal to apply recycled materials to all plastic components by 2050, Samsung incorporated recycled content into 31% of the plastic parts used in its products as of 2024.
• In 2024, the company conducted human rights risk assessments across Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East to identify and address key concerns. Based on stakeholder input from international organizations, NGOs and academia, Samsung developed and implemented a human rights risk management plan.

Parameters:

• Data to:  January 1st to December 31st, 2024
• Published: June 2025 (Annual reporting cycle – previous edition published in June 2024).
• Materiality Matrix: See p7
• Sustainability Performance data centre: Not found

RepRisk data reveals two-thirds of fashion supply chain risks are social

• Among all sectors, retail is by far the most exposed to supply chain risk, with incidents more than doubling globally since 2020 and rising by 22% in the past year alone.
• Over the past five years, social risks have accounted for about two-thirds of all incidents globally in each fashion segment: fast, premium, and luxury.
• Human rights and poor working conditions drive the majority of social risk incidents in the global fashion sector.

In today’s global economy, supply chains are not just operational backbones – they are strategic assets that directly impact business continuity, profitability, and corporate reputation. As supply chains extend across borders and involve layers of subcontractors, responsibility becomes increasingly fragmented. This opacity introduces significant exposure to business conduct risks. These risks can arise from unethical, illegal, or irresponsible behavior by a company or its employees – such as biodiversity degradation, forced labor, or greenwashing – and can result in serious consequences, including regulatory penalties, compliance breaches, reputational damage, and financial loss. Beyond the harm to the environment and society, the fallout can shake investor confidence and expose banks, asset managers, and insurers to financial and reputational risks.

This report presents key findings and insights from RepRisk’s analysis of data on supply chain risk exposure, with a particular focus on the fashion sector. Due to its vast scale, complex supply chains, and dual role as both a producer of essential goods and a major employer in many regions, the fashion industry represents a critical focal point for supply chain risks.

“Fashion’s supply chains have never been easy – and today’s global pressures make them even tougher. It is time for transparency! Daily monitoring powered by data that effectively combines human intelligence with AI – through fine-tuned models trained on human-labeled data – enables fashion and other companies not only to build resilient value chains but also to maintain stakeholder trust and drive long-term performance.”

Philipp Aeby, CEO and Co-founder at RepRisk

Read the press release

The UNFCCC meetings in Bonn that ended recently resulted in some modest optimism, with the release of an informal note on Just Transitions by the co-chairs to be further discussed at COP 30 in Brazil in November 2025. Progress has been relatively slow on the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme, but it fills an important gap in the global climate transition that completements efforts by financial institutions, especially at the domestic level.

On a global level, both the Loss & Damage Fund launched at COP27 and the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) launched during COP28 are premised on the idea that the benefits and costs associated with the emissions released into the atmosphere, and the consequences of climatic change, are not shared equitably.

Countries that benefited little if at all from historical emissions are likely to be impacted most by the physical impacts of climate change. Likewise, many of those impacted the most by the dramatic economic changes associated with the climate transition have not benefited proportionately from the emissions that necessitated it.

The informal Just Transition draft covers several important topics. It connects the emissions reduction required by the Paris Agreement with corresponding efforts to ensure the costs and opportunities are shared equitably as countries chart out their individual pathways. It also acknowledges that making sure the process by which countries develop their own just transition pathways is effective, inclusive and participatory.

Taking this point a step further, the informal draft lays out expectations that these processes will occur within the UNFCCC process as countries adopt and update Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategies (LT-LEDS). It will also be developed outside of the UNFCCC process, but throughout will require support on the ‘means of implementation’, including capacity building, technology development & transfer, and climate finance.

For many countries, the informal draft acknowledges “that high debt burdens can hinder those parties in pursuing just transition pathways”. This follows some progress at the Financing for Development Conference in Seville, Spain, in providing better mechanisms for sovereigns to resolve situations involving unsustainable debt levels that can hinder efforts on climate transition. This aligns with calls by the ‘T20’ Task Force to increase the accessibility of finance to support just transitions and avoid financing mechanisms that can increase – rather than alleviate – challenges of a buildup of debt.

Meanwhile, the Just Transition Finance Lab highlights ways in which the country-specific nature of just transitions can allow for substantial progress through ‘closer-to-the-ground’ monitoring. This research builds on efforts underway within the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group to highlight how emerging & developing countries are incorporating monitoring through domestic policymaking channels. This supplements the measurement of progress with metrics showing whether the process and outcomes are supporting just transition outcomes.

Domestic efforts provide a more localised approach while connecting internationally through climate finance, business ownership, and trade links. The financial sector, through its own transition planning and engagement with its customers, can complement efforts by governments and providers of climate finance by adding a Just Transition focus itself.

It is perhaps more important that efforts from the financial sector to support the Just Transition make progress in parallel with financing green activities and tracking financed emissions. Financed emissions disclosure starts by capturing high-emission companies and layers on additional financed emissions sources within customer value chains, all along the way identifying how to support decarbonization of the economy (and avoid ‘paper decarbonization’ merely of an institution’s portfolio).

Financial institutions’ involvement with the Just Transition requires overlaying the transition planning for an institution and its clients with additional efforts to focus on just outcomes and processes. This is not just a problem that can be solved through a technical solution to collect the right data and make sure it is accurate and used in an effective way.

A Just Transition requires a much more intentional effort to build trust with customers and other stakeholders, which is most effectively built up over time through repeated (even if small) interactions with stakeholders. While the financial sector works with its customers and stakeholders (of both FIs and their customers) to cultivate the relationships and trust needed in the just transition, they should align with the direction of travel both domestically and globally as these efforts bear fruit.

Want to stay updated about the implementation of responsible finance in OIC markets & Islamic finance? Subscribe to RFI’s free email newsletter today!

On 25 June 2025, the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), its academic partner the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre (TPI Centre) at LSE and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), hosted a corporate and investor roundtable as part of London Climate Action work, held at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

The event brought together more than 80 senior representatives from global companies (mostly in hard-to-abate sectors) and institutional investors for an action-oriented dialogue.

Through facilitated roundtable discussions, participants explored how transition plans, disclosures and assessments can support investor decision-making, influence company valuation and guide the scale and direction of capital allocation. 

Trump's assaults on the Federal Reserve's independence must cease. BankThink - American Banker Newspaper

"Materiality underpins our approach to sustainability and stewardship and is viewed through the lens of three key themes: climate, nature, and people."

"As we look forward to 2025, M&G plc has grouped its activities under two themes – ‘Resilient planet’ and ‘Resilient societies’ – which include the work we do on climate, communities and people, with the addition of nature given its growing importance for our clients and broader society."

Sarasin & Partners is a London-based limited liability partnership offering discretionary asset management services to charities, private clients, intermediaries and institutional investors in the UK and globally. As of 31 December 2024, assets under management were £18.5 billion.

By David Atkin, CEO Principles for Responsible Investment

"Time flies, and we have reached the halfway point of 2025. In my previous blogs, I wrote that responsible investors were facing a volatile and uncertain operating environment, and this has remained the case over the first half of the calendar year.  

From my perspective, the geopolitical environment continues to shift beneath our feet—marked by heightened security concerns in Europe and broader global uncertainties—creating a level of ambiguity that none of us can ignore. Conflicts rage in Ukraine, Sudan and increasingly across the Middle East. Politically, whilst the US context dominates global discourse, recent elections in markets as varied as Canada, Australia, Germany, Romania and Poland resulted in leaders from across the political spectrum taking office. Elections and conflicts, by their nature, generate significant public discussion and media attention. But I believe that responsible investors, with a long-term lens, are looking beyond immediate events, to how they can continue to generate returns for their beneficiaries into the future..."  

"Since the establishment of our Sovereign ESG Methodology in 2019, we have been evolving our approach to evaluating countries’ sustainability performance to support our sovereign bond investment decision process.

Our framework continues to aim to identify countries with leading ESG practices or positive improvement while avoiding systematic bias against developing countries through contexualizing countries’ performance within their stage of development.

We previously highlighted the importance of a comprehensive assessment of sustainability momentum to address data lag and reward countries on a positive trajectory. In our revamped approach, we recognise the limitations of ESG data and stress the importance of supplementing it with qualitative insight and, where possible, active engagement with policymakers, to paint a more complete picture of a country’s management of sustainability risks and opportunities.

By accounting for regional dynamics, income disparities and policy contexts, we can support forward-looking investment decisions."

Key Highlights:

• Physical climate risks are increasingly recognised as financially material, with global economic losses from natural disasters exceeding USD 4tn over the past 50 years. However, only 40 per cent of the USD 280bn in losses from natural catastrophes in 2023 were insured.
• Asset managers have traditionally focused on transition risks, but the growing frequency and severity of physical risks demand enhanced research and integration into investment strategies. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches offer valuable insights for strategic asset allocation and security selection
• A “build or buy” dilemma exists in climate-risk modelling. While in-house models provide transparency and control, third-party solutions offer immediate insights. A hybrid approach, leveraging a continuum of modelling options, can tailor solutions to specific investors’ needs

Climate risk is breaking supply chains.

Are investors asking the right questions?

A look at why indirect exposure could cost more – and how resilience creates opportunity.

About a quarter of the world's adults lack access to affordable, quality financial services - but digital disruption is helping bring them into the formal financial system.

Financial inclusion allows individuals to save and invest, while also supporting entrepreneurship and business growth. And for investors, these developments are opening the door to varied investment opportunities among banks and nontraditional financial services firms.

Key takeaways

• By lowering costs and generating new business opportunities, digital innovations are helping make financial services more accessible to the underserved population.
  Digital connectivity helps nontraditional financial services gain traction in emerging markets (EM).
• In developed markets (DM), banks and financial technology companies extend services to the unbanked and underbanked populations in varied ways.
• Small business lending, once considered one of banking's more challenging business lines, is seeing increased competition from digital disruptors.

Rob Rowe talks with Alternative & Renewable Energy Analyst Vikram Bagri about the role of renewables in meeting the energy needs of the world.

They touch on tariffs and other implications of U.S. policy, dependence on China, the innovation under way in the nuclear space, and the overall market environment for renewables.

Without adaptation, utilities are projected to bear the brunt of the projected costs for companies in the S&P Global 1200 index, according to a new analysis using the S&P Global Sustainable1 Climate Physical Risk dataset.

Companies’ exposure to extreme weather events and chronic climate hazards such as extreme heat, water stress and drought has created significant financial costs across all sectors. These costs are projected to continue climbing, even under a climate change scenario that assumes strong greenhouse gas emissions reduction (SSP2-4.5), absent adaptation.

The total cost of climate physical risk for the world’s largest companies that make up the S&P Global 1200 is projected to reach $1.2 trillion annually by 2050 under this scenario, according to S&P Global Sustainable1 data; this figure assumes no adaptation measures and is not adjusted for future inflation. The highest costs come from extreme heat and water stress.

Utility companies are projected to experience the largest costs from climate physical risk: The average electric utility in the S&P Global 1200 is projected to face $4.6 billion in costs annually in the 2050s, absent adaptation. Importantly, utilities are more advanced than many sectors in terms of adaptation planning.

This report examines issuance trends and the sustainability impact of labelled bonds from sovereigns, supranationals, subnationals and agencies (or public entities) – collectively referred to as SSAs.

The analysis mostly uses Sustainable Fitch’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Instrument Ratings database, covering 152 SSA entities and 790 individual bonds issued by them.

Sustainable Fitch: Sector Insight: Information and Communications Technology 

The activities of companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector have material environmental and social impacts. Highly interconnected supply chains and heavy consumption of energy, water and raw materials underscore the need for effective management of natural resource consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy efficiency. 

Cybersecurity and customer data privacy also present social and governance challenges, with increased scrutiny from regulators and governments on the frequency and costs of data breaches.

JobPost: Goldman Sachs - Asset & Wealth Management, Sustainability & Impact, Value Creation, Associate - New York

See links below for further details and to apply

Account Manager, Fundraising

Senior Sponsorship Specialist, Events (8 Month Fixed Term Contract)

Senior Associate, Events (8 Month Fixed Term Contract)

JobPost: Bloomberg - Senior Sustainability Analyst, Reporting & Data - Global Sustainability Office (NYC, close unknown)

JobPost: Mondelez - ESG Data & Digital Manager (various global locations)

The Senior Engagement Manager role will sit within the Investor engagement (IE) team. The IE team is responsible for challenging asset managers and asset owners on their responsible investment practices (climate, biodiversity, social…), socialising ShareAction research relevant to advancing responsible investment standards, as well as coordinating investor engagement and outreach across the organisation.

ShareAction intends to develop an ambitious engagement strategy with asset owners to persuade them to lead and drive change across the investment and stewardship chain. One of the main focus area will be engagement with UK and EU pension funds, aimed at mobilising them to drive greater ambition through the investment system by setting high expectations of their asset managers and holding them to account for the quality and ambition of their stewardship activity, including by moving mandates where appropriate.

The role involves establishing high-calibre relationships with senior decision-makers at mainly UK and European asset owners. These relationships are developed through regular dialogue via individual meetings, roundtables or webinars, exploring the application and evolution of responsible investment standards across selected thematic areas. The impact of this dialogue will rest upon the role holder working closely with colleagues across the organisation to leverage ShareAction’s expertise across workstreams.

The Senior Engagement Manager will also support the development of ShareAction’s responsible investment standards for institutional investors, working closely with the Head of Investor Engagement and Senior Research Manager to produce research on key thematic issues. They will lead engagement with investors to gather input, shape recommendations, and drive adoption of higher standards across the investment system.

If this role sounds like something that would build on your current skill set and engage you, we’d love to hear from you!

Deadline for applications: 9:00 a.m. on Monday 4th August

JobPost: UGI Corp. - Manager - ESG & Investor Relations (US, close unknown)

The role will be based within the Carbon Performance or Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) team.

Do note, we are recruiting one candidate for each of the projects, so do express your interest in one of the listed projects and why you will be suited to it within the cover letter. While we will do our best to accommodate project preferences, we cannot guarantee placement in the preferred team.

• Collecting data from government documents, assessing the alignment of NDC emissions reduction targets with 1.5C and researching national policies on climate mitigation, adaptation, just transition and finance.
• Contributing to ongoing improvements in the existing ASCOR methodology.
• Supporting the maintenance of an internal assessment database using Excel alongside R or Python.
• Contributing to writing reports and related analysis and visualisations.  

JobPost: ISS - New Business Sales - Climate & Sustainability (NYC, close unknown)

Senior Associate, Stakeholder Experience
Principles for Responsible Investment
 
Employment Type Full time Please note, where PRI has an office there is an expectation to work a minimum of 2 days per week 
 
Location  Hybrid · London, UK   
 
Seniority Junior
Closing: 8:00pm, 15th Jun 2025 BST

Specialist, Investor Initiatives
Principles for Responsible Investment
 
Employment Type Full time Please note, where PRI has an office there is an expectation to work a minimum of 2 days per week 
 
Location  Hybrid · London, UK   
 
Team IIC
 
Seniority Mid-level
Closing: 8:00pm, 5th Jun 2025 BST

JobPost: M&G - Senior ESG Compliance Advisor (London/Edinburgh, close 30 June)

Principles for Responsible Investment
 
Employment Type Full time Please note, where PRI has an office there is an expectation to work a minimum of 2 days per week 
 
Location  Hybrid · London, UK   
 
Seniority Senior
Closing: 8:00pm, 15th Jun 2025 BST