Corporate and development banks want their capital to reach the smallest and most impactful of SMEs in frontier markets. Traditional credit ratings and risk assessments can get in the way.

The London Stock Exchange Group’s head of sustainable finance strategic initiatives wants climate data to redefine the act of indexing.

The World Bank is issuing ‘outcomes’ bond structures for niche sustainability themes and with new financing mechanisms. Like blue bonds, they are probably going to need some rule-setting.

A securitization of pay-as-you-go electricity bills to fund wider access to electricity in Côte d’Ivoire could spark copycat social bonds for affordable housing, telecoms, electricity access and more.

The 28th Conference of the Parties starts in Dubai tomorrow. Dubbed the finance COP, conflicting priorities could turn it into a fossil fuel investor roadshow.

Some big improvements need to be made in all areas of ESG, but it might be useful to stop trying to reconcile it with how markets function.

Social bonds could help deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals by driving private capital into essential services. But impact looks different from one place to the next, so how can issuers report it in a way that makes sense?

Daniel Zelikow, chairman of JPMorgan Development Finance Institution’s governing board, on private-sector development finance, EM policy risk and funding bankable assets.

UN CFO Taskforce member Jill Klindt talks to Euromoney about ESG disclosure challenges for SMEs and the need for all firms to produce consistent, auditable data.

Bank of America’s Abyd Karmali is on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. He spoke to Euromoney ahead of the nature-based COP15 and climate-based COP26 conferences about what is at stake.

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

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.

A new analysis of European banks by ShareAction finds that while some firms distinguish themselves in some climate and biodiversity practices, the overall picture is of a sector that still has much work to do.

The two banks plus Singapore’s stock exchange and sovereign wealth vehicle believe they have the collective strength and skills to build Climate Impact X, based initially on southeast Asian forestry and mangrove projects.

East Capital co-founder Karine Hirn began her investing career in Russia in the 1990s before moving to China to head up the firm’s Asian expansion. She discusses the challenges of the Chinese market, why eastern Europe has the edge on corporate boards and why governance is key to ESG.

As policymakers worry about achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, companies and asset managers are still working out how to make sense of them.

The US president’s prompt action in rejoining the Paris Agreement has given encouragement to environmentalists at home and abroad. What should be next on his green hit list?

From Covid relief funds to the COP26 climate summit, sustainability is expected to dominate the global agenda this year as never before.

Critics of the US firm’s appointment to consult on integrating ESG into EU banking regulation have welcomed a damning report by the bloc’s ombudsman. But does it miss the point?

Volumes of sustainability-linked bonds are predicted to increase during the next year. The model, combined with developing data and disclosures, could help embed sustainability across finance.