The world’s oceans turned a page in history yesterday. After years of painstaking negotiations and false starts, the High Seas Treaty was finally ratified, crossing the threshold of 60 nations and ensuring its entry into force early next year. For the first time, the two-thirds of the ocean that lies
By Hacina Py, Group Chief Sustainability Officer, Societe Generale The future of our oceans has surged to the forefront of the global agenda. The recent United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), held in June in Nice and preceded by the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) in Monaco, helped crystallise a powerful
Treaty Nears Entry into Force Delegates continued work at the Preparatory Commission for the Entry into Force of the High-Seas Biodiversity Treaty in New York this week, debating draft rules on funding and procedures as the treaty moves closer to becoming operational. The Agreement — formally adopted in June 2023
Closing the Climate Data Gap CTrees, a nonprofit founded in 2022, is building the first global system to monitor, report, and verify carbon stocks and land-use activities for every ecosystem on land. In 2024, it secured the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant to enhance its flagship Jurisdictional MRV (JMRV)
By Keith Tuffley COP30 isn’t a technical debate, but a strategic shift in financing models and investment in reforestation initiatives. As the world prepares for COP30 in the heart of the Amazon, the role of nature and forests will be elevated as never before. Brazil is setting the agenda, not
Tokyo-Based Insurer Steps Into Nature Finance Nippon Life Insurance Co. has launched a “Nature Finance Approach” to measure how corporate activity affects ecosystems, with development support from sustainability consultancy ERM. The framework adapts the Planetary Boundaries concept, developed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, into financing decisions. It gauges impacts using
Key Impact Points Billions Flow to Forest-Risk Commodities The 2025 Forest 500 – Finance report finds that the 150 financial institutions with the greatest exposure to deforestation risk channelled $8.9 trillion in 2024 to 500 companies linked to the production, processing, and trade of nine forest-risk commodities, including beef, palm
BELÉM, Brazil — The Brazilian government has delivered a blunt message to its fellow United Nations climate negotiators: the next major climate summit will not be moved. In a document sent to the 11-member Bureau of the UN Climate Change Conference — the group of senior negotiators and officials that
Key Impact Points: Landmark Bank–State Partnership in Forest Carbon Markets Standard Chartered has signed a five-year agreement with the Government of Acre, Brazil, to bring high-integrity jurisdictional forest carbon credits to market, potentially releasing 5 million credits in 2026. Located in the Amazon rainforest, Acre will use the programme to
Key Impact Points: GRI Academy Expands Curriculum for Sustainability Professionals As climate and biodiversity crises deepen, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is taking steps to help organizations improve how they disclose environmental impacts. The GRI Academy has launched two new online courses to equip sustainability professionals with the tools to
