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ESG in 5 Sustainability News - 07-07-2026

  • Jul 7
  • 3 min read

This week’s ESG in 5 highlights how sustainability is continuing to move from ambition into practical investment and regulation. Deutsche Bank and Lufthansa are supporting cleaner aviation through sustainable fuel, the EBA is tightening expectations around ESG banking products, and Vena Energy has secured major green financing for solar and battery storage. Meanwhile, Google’s latest emissions update shows the growing challenge of powering AI responsibly, while Equinix is turning excess data centre heat into energy for homes in Milan.



Deutsche Bank fuels cleaner flying with Lufthansa SAF deal.


Deutsche Bank has signed a new agreement with Lufthansa Group to support the use of sustainable aviation fuel across business travel.


Under the deal, Deutsche Bank will invest in around 1,600 metric tonnes, or 2 million litres, of SAF. The companies said this could reduce lifecycle fuel emissions by approximately 5,500 metric tonnes of CO₂ compared with conventional jet fuel, equivalent to the emissions from around 520 flights between Frankfurt and London.


Deutsche Bank said the agreement supports its target to nearly halve supply-chain CO₂ emissions by 2030, while also helping to create stronger demand signals for SAF production.



EBA puts ESG banking products under sharper scrutiny.


The European Banking Authority has published revised guidelines for retail banking products with ESG features, aiming to strengthen consumer protection and reduce greenwashing risk.


The updates make ESG and greenwashing considerations more explicit across the product lifecycle, including internal controls, target market identification, distribution channels and information provided to distributors. The EBA said the changes are designed to ensure consumers are not misled or sold products that do not meet their needs.


The move reflects the growing prominence of ESG banking products and the need for clearer standards as sustainable finance becomes more mainstream.



Vena Energy lands A$1.4bn green finance boost.


Vena Energy has secured approximately A$1.4 billion in green financing facilities to support solar and battery storage assets across Australia.


The financing is structured across two transactions, combining funding for new projects with refinancing for existing assets. It will support operational and under-construction solar capacity, alongside battery energy storage projects across South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.


The assets are expected to generate enough renewable electricity to supply the equivalent annual needs of around 198,000 Australian households, while avoiding more than one million tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year.



Google cuts emissions while AI power demand surges.


Google has reported a 2% reduction in Scope 1 and market-based Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions in 2025, despite a 37% increase in electricity consumption.


The company said clean energy procurement helped decouple rising power demand from operational emissions, as AI and data centre growth continued to increase electricity use. In 2025, Google signed agreements for more than 12 GW of new clean energy, which it said is roughly enough to power a country the size of Greece once operational.


However, Google also acknowledged that its longer-term climate goals are becoming harder to achieve as AI infrastructure expands.



Equinix turns data centre heat into Milan homes.


Equinix and Italian utility A2A are developing a major heat recovery project that will use waste heat from data centres to support Milan’s district heating network.


The project will capture heat from Equinix’s Milan data centre campus and transfer it to a new A2A Energy Centre, where four large heat pumps with a combined 72 MW capacity will raise the temperature before distribution across the city.


The system is expected to recover up to 225 GWh of thermal energy each year, increasing heat supplied through Milan’s district heating network by around 20% and providing enough energy to heat more than 21,000 homes.



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