ESG News Round-up

EU proposes Net-Zero Industry Act

The European Commission (EC) unveiled a critical regulation on 16 March 2023 that will aim to scale up manufacturing of green technologies in the bloc.

The EC's proposed Net-Zero Industry Act outlines green technologies that will receive particular support and will be subject to a 40% domestic production benchmark.

Top spenders on bottled water

People in Singapore spend the most on bottled water globally, splashing out on average over US$1,300 per head in 2021, a UN study showed.

The money was used to buy over 1,100 litres of water per person, it said, in a review of the global bottled water industry and its impacts on societies and the environment.

Australia ranked second, at about 500 litres and US$386 per head.

Globally, people are spending USD270b a year on bottled water, when under half of that sum could ensure clean tap water access for hundreds of millions of people for years, the report by the United Nations University found. ─ Eco-Business

ING toughens oil & gas policy

Dutch lender ING said it had again toughened its lending policy to the oil and gas sector, restricting finance to clients engaged in commodity or trade finance and "midstream" infrastructure.

ING, a leading provider of commodity finance, said it was working on a methodology to reduce the volumes of traded oil and gas it finances in line with global climate goals with a view to setting targets by 2024. ─ Reuters

Microsoft signs ocean-based CO2 removal deal

Ocean health company Running Tide announced an agreement with tech giant Microsoft for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal, using technology that accelerates naturally the ocean’s ability to to remove CO2, and permanently sink it to the deep ocean.

Under the new agreement, Running Tide will remove 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) on behalf of Microsoft.

H&M launches secondhand resale garment shop

Fashion retailer H&M US has announced the launch of H&M Pre-Loved, a new branded shop offering secondhand garments.

This marked the company’s first resale business model in the US.

The launch follows a series of initiatives by H&M Group to improve fashion circularity, including establishing the first global garment collecting initiative by a fashion company in 2013, and investing in companies that develop technologies to enable textile recycling through its investment arm H&M CO:LAB.

Source: Kenanga Research - 20 Mar 2023