Amazonia Impact Ventures says that financing sustainable agricultural production can reduce deforestation rates.

Climate change cannot be tackled in isolation. Biodiversity is an equally important challenge, and the two must be considered in tandem. A new report backed by Singapore’s Temasek spells out the challenge and the opportunity.

Credit Suisse’s chief sustainability officer is no ESG ideologue. She is at heart a hard-nosed investment banker who sees a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to guide clients to a more sustainable future.

South African banks’ sustainable finance challenges reflect the nation’s difficult but vital transition away from coal.

Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake has laid out her bank’s ambitions in green energy, as its Green Investment Group reports a record portfolio.

A year after launch, the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets is close to setting standards for a murky market. Board member Chris Leeds discusses the journey so far, the challenges ahead and the opportunities that standardization could create for banks.

Annual stress tests of bank balance sheets were one of the last decade’s most obvious supervisory responses to the global financial crisis. With a wave of new bottom-up assessments now getting under way, regulators hope to do something similar with climate risks. Can they do it or will this simply result in a toothless box-ticking exercise?

Many parts of Africa present formidable obstacles to financial inclusion. Euromoney speaks to some of the pioneers that are using technology to bring far-flung populations into the financial system.

Derivatives could turbocharge environmental, social and governance markets, with a related boost to bank revenues. However, they could also make it harder to monitor exposure.

James Gifford’s life changed when he hopped aboard a flight from Sydney in 2003. The team he joined in Geneva framed the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment, created the concept of ‘ESG’ and changed the world.

The world has been pressuring Brazil about the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest within its borders for decades. New ESG-style initiatives are being adopted by Brazilian banks and businesses, but it could be the climate impact closer to home that’s creating the impetus for real change.

Gustavo Montezano has been president of BNDES since July 2019. He is on a mission to get Brazil’s state development bank to adapt to the new financial reality of ESG. How the resultant tensions play out will be crucial to the development of Brazil and the world.

Nearly all banks talk about corporate responsibility, few make it integral to the way they work. What sets Bank of America apart is that it has been doing just that for years and this year it receives the award for North America’s best bank for corporate responsibility.

Across every sector and region HSBC stands out for its commitment to developing partnerships and products that will bring finance at scale to create a more sustainable and resilient planet.

With its unique model of direct lending to microfinance institutions and bringing large investors to the table, BNP Paribas has put financial inclusion at the heart of its agenda.

Using its balance sheet to help the transition to net zero emissions, racial equality and economic mobility, while supporting employees through Covid-19 and assisting communities in all markets it operates in, Bank of America has put corporate responsibility at its core.

The breadth and ambition of Santander’s diversity and inclusion programmes set it apart from its peers globally.

When a big US bank joins its peers around the world under an umbrella of responsible banking, it lifts the entire responsibility agenda – and this is exactly what Citi has done as an early signatory to the Principles of Responsible Banking (PRB) of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.