Private equity groups keen to bolster their ‘green’ credentials may wish to consider how they might avail of upcoming Proposed Taxonomy Regulation in Europe, as they seek to standardise, and measure, the real impact of sustainable investments in their portfolios.

The European Commission has revealed details of its Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, suggesting a financial roadmap for reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

On 11 December 2019, the Commission presented the European Green Deal, with the ambition of becoming the first climate-neutral bloc in the world by 2050. 

Umbra Capital, a one-year old London-based merchant bank, provided a USD20 million equity portion in a USD270 million funding round in socially responsible capital app Hastee in December.

Prime Capital AG, an independent alternative asset manager and financial services provider, has received the first Second-Party Opinion on an infrastructure equity fund from Sustainalytics, a global specialist in ESG research, ratings and analysis.

Fundraising for the first vintage of the Green Continuum programme, a joint venture between Emundn and the European Investment Bank (EIB) has successfully reached EUR253 million as of 30 of November 2019. The programme was launched in July earlier this year.

Companies ranked in the bottom 50 per cent of ESG performance are significantly more likely to attract activists’ attention, according to the findings of Alvarez & Marsal’s (A&M) latest analysis and predictor of shareholder activism in Europe, the A&M Activist Alert (AAA).

It is becoming increasingly clear that private equity investors are training their sights on how GPs think about ESG issues. The degree to which they engage on the topic, and their approach to influencing portfolio companies, is now firmly entrenched in manager selection and it is a trend that is not likely to reverse anytime soon. 

More than two thirds (67 per cent) of senior leaders within the alternative investments industry think regulatory bodies are not doing enough regarding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) regulation, according to the results of a new survey by Duff & Phleps.

CFA UK’s Certificate in ESG Investing, the first qualification of its kind in the UK, will be available to investment professionals from December.

Mirova Natural Capital wholly owned by sustainable investment manager Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, has held the second close of the Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund (SOF), a fund dedicated to making pioneering impact investments into marine and coastal projects and enterprises that can deliver sustainable economic returns in fisheries, aquaculture, associated seafood supply chains, ocean waste & recycling and marine conservation.