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4 Mins Read Property investment and development group Hongkong Land recently announced that it signed sustainability-linked loans worth HKD$6.85B (approx. US$882M) in alignment with its commitment to sustainability. Before this announcement, Hongkong Land, one of Asia’s leading real estate group that manages more than 850,000 square metres of property across Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, and Jakarta, had signed […]
3 Mins Read ESG-forward investing seems to be taking over the financial industry, but ex-BlackRock chief investment officer for sustainable investing Tariq Fancy warns that this is simply another form of greenwashing. In an opinion article, Fancy says that the Wall Street is “greenwashing the public with deadly distraction in sustainable investing practices” instead of getting to the […]
3 Mins Read Goldman Sachs has reaffirmed its sustainability commitments in a new pledge to reach carbon neutrality by the end of the decade. The investment banking giant says it will develop climate data, improve disclosure, and integrate climate-risk considerations throughout its operations in a bold statement penned by its chairman and CEO David Solomon, who said the […]
4 Mins Read A new values-based financial institution, Climate First Bank (In Organisation), will soon be opening its doors in Florida this year. The bank will support the community through ESG-forward principles, offering customers all the conventional services of a bank with a special emphasis on sustainability to drive a “new and conscious way of banking”. It comes […]
3 Mins Read Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has launched its new investment platform dedicated to sustainable finance amidst rising demand from Asian investors. Called the Sustainable and Green Exchange (STAGE), the new platform serves as an online product repository of ESG-focused products across multiple sectors as well as a resource hub for sustainable finance across […]
3 Mins Read Over 90% of global public investors now have specific environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment policies in place or are in the process of implementing them, reveals a new survey from independent think tank OMFIF and American financial services firm BNY Mellon. The research also found that investors have been especially motivated to adopt ESG […]
2 Mins Read BNP Paribas has announced the successful issuance of equity-linked green bonds totalling A$140 million (US$99.6 million) marking the first to be linked to the Australian Climate Transition (ACT) Index. The ACT Index is based on several climate scenarios and will continually be adjusted to reflect the future technological, social, regulatory and environmental changes. The series […]
2 Mins Read Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. has just issued US$5.75 billion in sustainability bonds, in what it claims is the biggest green bond issued by any firm to date. The proceeds will support investments in both environmental and social initiatives and will not be allocated to any of Google’s activities. As a part of a US$10 […]
3 Mins Read A 23-year-old law student in Melbourne, Australia has filed a lawsuit against the Australian government over failure to disclose the financial risks of climate change to a number of safe investments, including government bonds. Katta O’Donnell says she hopes that the case, which is a world’s-first, will change the way the government recognises and responds […]
2 Mins Read Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has recently hired Jeanne Stampe as green finance resource lead. Stampe is a former WWF head of sustainable finance in Asia. The move is yet another indication of the direction that the traditionally climate conservative financial industry in Asia is heading towards to improve its sustainability […]
3 Mins Read New data comparing sustainable investments with traditional funds shows that environmentally-friendly focused investments bring greater returns. The evidence comes amid strengthened interest in sustainable investments prompted by the dual threat of coronavirus and climate crisis in what appears to be tidal change for the financial industry. Statistics obtained by global research firm Morningstar shows that […]
2 Mins Read Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has announced plans to launch a new Sustainable and Green Exchange (STAGE), representing the first-of-its-kind in Asia. The new information platform will act as a central hub for data on green finance investments in Hong Kong’s securities markets, as well as seek to engage stakeholders in sustainable finance. […]
3 Mins Read Link Asset Management, the manager of Link REIT, has just secured a five-year sustainability-linked loan of HKD$1 billion (US$129 million) from Singapore-headquartered OCBC Bank. It marks the property company’s first sustainability-linked loan transaction in Hong Kong dollars, a show of strengthened commitment to green finance as the industry begins to heed to climate crisis warnings. […]