ESG in 5 - Market Update & Sustainability News - 25-03-2025

In this week’s ESG Market Update, we bring you the latest sustainability news from around the globe. As momentum builds in the ESG space, major players like Rio Tinto, Nordea, Iberdrola, and Puro.earth are making bold moves - from solar power deals and carbon removal agreements to innovative green financing and verified CO₂ removal milestones.

Market Recap

As markets stabilise, the ESG strategies made gains, with the MSCI ACWI Focus leading the pack with a 0.64% gain.

(1 week performance from 17/03/25 to 21/03/25)

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Rio Tinto Signs Solar and Storage Deal

Mining giant Rio Tinto has announced a new deal with renewable energy firm Edify Energy to supply reliable low-carbon electricity to power aluminium production operations in Queensland, Australia.

The company has committed to reduce its operational Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030, and to achieve net zero by 2050.

Rio Tinto has said that it will purchase 90% of the power and battery storage capacity generated by two solar power stations over 20 years

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Nordea Signs 68,000 Tonne Carbon Removal Agreement

Northern Europe-based bank Nordea has signed a deal with Norwegian startup Inherit Carbon Solutions to remove at least 68,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, providing carbon removal credits to the bank starting next year.

This multi-year contract is the first of what the bank says will be a portfolio of agreements with companies working on carbon removal projects. Under the agreement, Inherit will implement its system to capture CO2 from a biogas plant in Denmark. Once captured, the CO2 will be liquified and transported for geological storage under the North Sea.

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Iberdrola Issues Green Bond Linked to its Share Price

Global energy and electricity provider Iberdrola has announced that it has raised €400 million in a new green bond offering, with the bonds linked to the company’s share price, enabling investors to benefit from the performance of its shares.

Iberdrola is one of the largest corporate issuers of green bonds, using the instruments to fund projects including renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, and waste management.

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Puro.earth Passes 1 million Tonne Carbon Removal Milestone

Carbon-crediting platform Puro.earth announced that it has achieved the issuance of more than 1 million CO2 removal certificates – representing more than 1 million tonnes of verified carbon removal – following a significant acceleration in the market over the past several months.

Through Puro.earth’s platform, and based on its carbon credit methodologies, suppliers that remove CO2 from the atmosphere to durable storage of at least 100 years are certified and issued CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) into the Puro Registry, which can then be purchased by companies.

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Sources. 

Anthony Walters - Head of ESG at Clever Adviser Technology Ltd (Clever)

Market recap Data sourced from FE FundInfo (quoted in Pounds Sterling).

Rio Tinto Signs Solar and Storage Deal to Power Aluminum Operations, by ESG Today, 14/03/25

Nordea Signs 68,000 Tonne Carbon Removal Agreement by ESG Today, 18/02/25

Iberdrola Issues Green Bond Linked to its Share Price, by ESG Today, 24/03/25

Nasdaq-backed Carbon Credit Platform Puro.earth Passes 1 Million Tonne Carbon Removal Milestone, by ESG Today, 21/03/25