STRATEGY

Pinsent Masons pledges to halve carbon emissions by 2030

Pinsent Masons has become the latest law firm to announce ambitious new greenhouse gas emissions targets, pledging to halve its emissions by 2050. The global firm said the targets were the first in the industry to be verified by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), aligning it to the Paris Agreement. The targets will commit the company to reducing its absolute global greenhouse gas emissions, against a 2019 base year. The SBTi has also approved a target to source 100% renewable electricity across the firm’s global estate by 2030. The announcement comes in the same week as the UN-backed ‘Race to Zero’ campaign launched a new coalition of top law firms called the ‘Net Zero Lawyers Alliance’ which aims to build support for the net-zero transition across the legal profession.(Business Green)

SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT

Generali to make green investments of €9.5bn in 2021-25

Italy’s top insurer Generali has pledged up to €9.5 billion to green and sustainable investments over the 2021-25 period as part of its new climate protection strategy. Under the new strategy, the insurer aims to fully phase out investments in companies that operate in the thermal coal sector by 2030 in the OECD countries, and by 2040 in the rest of the world. Under the new plan, the insurer aims to reach carbon neutrality of its direct investment portfolio by 2050, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement's goal. Last week Generali successfully placed its first sustainability bond, a €500 million Tier 2 bond due in June 2032. Net proceeds will be used to finance eligible sustainability projects. (Reuters)

WASTE 

Coca-Cola to use 100% recycled plastics for bottles in UK

Coca-Cola Great Britain, in partnership with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), is switching all plastics bottles of 500ml or less to 100% recycled plastics (rPET). While bottles sold by Coca-Cola in the UK have been recyclable, this move will reduce the company’s use of virgin plastics. The company will roll out the bottles in September this year, increasing the amount of recycled plastic material in smaller bottles from 50% to 100%. The move will save 29,000 tonnes of virgin plastic each year. Last year, Coca-Cola announced that it would roll out bottles made from 100% rPET in the Netherlands and Norway, as part of the company's latest efforts in Western Europe to eliminate the use of virgin oil-based plastics in its products. (Edie)

WATER

Nestlé commits $130 million to positive water impact goal

Global food and beverage company Nestlé’s bottled water division Nestlé Waters has announced a series of initiatives aimed at generating a positive water impact at its sites around the world, aiming to retain more water than it uses in its operations by 2025. As part of its new target, Nestlé will invest $130 million in more than 100 new projects at its 48 sites to support better water management and infrastructure, such as river restoration and renaturation projects at the company’s Vittel site in Vosges, France, and the delivery of water treatment, filtration and pipeline infrastructure for the municipal water supply in Benha, Egypt. The projects will be evaluated by the World Resources Institute’s ‘Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting’ methodology to review their impact and sustainability credentials. (ESG Today)

COLLABORATION

Investors worth €3.6 trillion collaborate on net-zero transition

AXA, Amundi, Aviva France, Rothschild & Co Asset Management Europe and Eiffel are among the members of the new ‘Investors for a Just Transition’ coalition convened to promote a low-carbon transition across Europe. Collectively, members represent €3.6 trillion of assets under management. As a starting point, coalition members will, alongside observers including the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), work to develop specific engagement objectives for supporting the key industries in which they invest. These objectives will enable investors to engage with the high-carbon companies in their portfolios with a unified voice. They will also assist with the creation of a digital ‘Just Transition Hub’, whereby investors will be able to assess the work companies are doing to accelerate the low-carbon transition while supporting staff, suppliers and communities. (Edie)