SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Co-op to allocate £3m to low-carbon food systems projects

British retailer the Co-op and its charity, the Co-op Foundation, are launching a £3 million innovation fund that will support projects that slash greenhouse gas emissions and improve social sustainability across the food value chain. The ‘Carbon Innovation Fund’ will run for three years, offering £1 million in grant funding annually to community environmental causes, social enterprises, charities, start-ups and collaborative projects working on solutions for a more sustainable food system. Each successful applicant will be entitled to a share of up to £100,000. The fund will also support the preservation and dissemination of ancient and indigenous knowledge, as well as supporting emerging technologies and processes. While applicants must be UK-based, their projects could help decarbonisation at any point in the food system globally. (edie)

ENVIRONMENT

Hochschild fights plans to close mines over ecological impact

UK mining company Hochschild Mining will fight plans by Peru’s government to hasten the closure of several mines in the southern Ayacucho region over concerns about their environmental impact. Hochschild will defend its plan to continue mining gold and silver from two Peruvian mines after the country’s prime minister told local media that four mines in the southern Ayacucho region would be barred from further expansion, and would be closed “as soon as possible”. Peru’s mining industry has been linked to a string of environmental issues in recent years including deforestation, pollution and the mistreatment of environmental activists. The closure plan is likely to raise concern throughout the mining sector in Peru, the world’s second largest producer of copper, which includes UK miners Anglo American, Newmont, Glencore and Freeport-McMoRan. (The Guardian)

GOVERNANCE 

Over half of FTSE 100 firms link executive pay to ESG measures

Almost two-thirds of FTSE 100 businesses now include an environmental, social and governance (ESG) measure as part of executive incentive pay plans, up from less than half of pay plans in 2020, according to research from PwC. The analysis found 58% of FTSE 100 companies now link ESG measures to executive pay, up from 45% in 2020, which is more than a 30% increase year on year. In total, 46% of companies had ESG measures included in annual bonuses in 2020, while 32% included these measures in the assessments of 2021 long-term incentive plans (LTIP). The average weighting of ESG measures is 16% in the bonus and 20% in the LTIP. The research also found that 28% of companies had linked decarbonisation and net-zero measures to executive pay. (edie)

REPORTING

S&P DJI extends climate transition & Paris-aligned indices

S&P Dow Jones Indices, a world leading index provider, announced the launch of the ‘S&P Net Zero 2050 Climate Transition Select Index Series’ and ‘S&P Net Zero 2050 Paris-Aligned Select Index Series’. The indices measure the performance of a targeted number of the largest float-adjusted market capitalisation companies designed to be collectively compatible with a 1.5ºC global warming climate scenario. Companies that are involved in controversial weapons and tobacco business activities, ESG controversies and are non-compliant with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) principles are excluded. The indices are the latest additions to the S&P Net Zero 2050 Climate Transition ESG Index Series and S&P Net Zero 2050 Paris-Aligned Climate ESG Index Series, which are aligned with the European Union's minimum standards for low carbon benchmarks under Regulation (EU) 2016/1011. (Business Green; PR Newswire)

SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT

IKEA Foundation donates £4.5m to drive sustainable finance

The University of Oxford has secured a £4.5 million grant from the IKEA Foundation to support projects aimed at helping the financial sector better understand the impact of their investments on climate and the net-zero transition. The funding is targeted at four projects run by the University's Sustainable Finance Group, including efforts to improve financial data for polluting industries, track changes in the costs of capital, and boost sustainable finance skills and expertise. One project also aims to develop, pilot, and scale-up new and more impactful forms of engagement between financial institutions and the companies they invest in, amid concerns that current efforts to encourage firms to decarbonise and address climate-related risks are not achieving the pace and scale required to hit global climate goals. (Business Green)

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