Japan is looking for investors to participate in a new project on financing nature. It follows the publication of the Nature Finance Practice Guidelines by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment on Monday. The new project will give participating investors and financial institutions an opportunity to put the guidelines into practice. The deadline for applications is 1 October.
Nomura has narrowly missed its sustainable finance facilitation/commitment target, with a five-year cumulative total of $118 billion falling short of its $125 billion goal. According to the Japanese group’s sustainability report, it added $21.8 billion in the most recent financial year. The target miss was attributed to changing market conditions and “significant” depreciation of the yen since the target was set in 2021. Nomura has now set a new target to hit $200 billion over the 10-year period from 2021 to 2031. A spokesperson for the group said many Japanese issuers had sought quicker financing methods ahead of recent interest rate increases by the Bank of Japan rather than opting for sustainable financing, which has a longer lead time.
Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc is stepping down from her board position at BP after four years. The European oil major announced her departure along with the news that Ian Tyler’s interim chair role would be made permanent. Tyler, who is also chair at building materials company Grafton Group and senior independent director at Anglo American, joined BP’s board in April 2025. In her role as lead independent director, Blanc led the search for BP’s new chair along with his predecessor Albert Manifold. Manifold was ousted May after only eight months, with BP citing concerns about governance oversight and conduct. BP said Blanc will not seek re-election at the 2027 AGM and will leave the board once a successor has been appointed.
Outstanding green bonds account for less than 1 percent of assets on average at Europe’s 47 largest banks, according to a new report from IEEFA, which warns that the sector is failing to capitalise on the potential of green bonds to fund transition-critical projects. While 44 of the banks in the sample have a green bond framework, and outstanding green issuance has reached €240 billion, IEEFA said the securities account for around 5 percent of market-based debt funding. Barclays, HSBC, Santander, UBS and Credit Mutuel had the largest assets and lowest relative green bond issuance, according to IEEFA, while Credit Agricole, BPCE, ING, LBBW, DNB were among the top green bond issuers relative to size.
Many European sustainability funds “still see defence investing as unaligned with their ethical/ESG principles” according to a note from RBC analysts. They said feedback following the initiation of coverage of the sector had been that while defence names are increasingly benefitting from greater sustainability fund ownership, relaxed ownership restrictions are not yet widespread.