(Financial Times) PwC was advising DWS on sustainability at the same time as the accounting firm was investigating and dismissing whistleblower allegations of large-scale greenwashing at the asset manager, raising questions over the independence of the probe. The allegations were made in mid-March by DWS’ former head of sustainability Desiree Fixler. Shortly after being sacked,…

(WSJ) The Ford Foundation, S&P Global, Hamilton Lane and Omidyar Network are backing the venture to gather and share data related to environmental, social and governance performance. The system, called Novata, aims to be a central database for gathering, reporting and benchmarking companies’ performance on factors such as carbon emissions, resource management, employee diversity and…

(WSJ) Starting in 2022, BlackRock says its large investors can vote themselves on everything from who sits on boards to executive pay to what companies should disclose on greenhouse gas emissions. The change allows those BlackRock clients to lay claim to voting power on some $2 trillion in investments tied to index-tracking assets BlackRock manages…

(Reuters) Carbon offsets are allowing the world’s biggest polluters to forge ahead with business plans that are threatening global climate goals, the head of Greenpeace International said in an interview. “There’s no time for offsets. We are in a climate emergency and we need phasing out of fossil fuels,” Greenpeace’s Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said…

(NBC) Tesla Inc. must pay nearly $137 million to a Black former worker who said he suffered racial abuse at the electric carmaker’s San Francisco Bay Area factory. The jury in San Francisco agreed that Owen Diaz was subjected to racial harassment and a hostile work environment. Diaz alleged in a lawsuit that he was…

(Financial Times) The San Francisco-based start-up said in its IPO prospectus in August that it would adhere to a “sustainability principles and objectives framework”, which was developed with a consultancy group advised by academics, rating agencies and charities. However, in an update to the prospectus, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late on Monday,…

(Bloomberg Law) European banks are beginning to drop clients that pose a climate risk rather than face the possibility of higher capital requirements, according to the watchdog overseeing the development. Banks are raising prices, denying loan requests, “de-selecting industries and in some cases clients,” said Jacob Gyntelberg, director of the economic and risk analysis department…

(The New Yorker) Let’s say that you’ve devoted your entire adult life to developing a carbon-free way to power a household for a year on the fuel of a single glass of water, and that you’ve had moments, even years, when you were pretty sure you would succeed. Let’s say also that you’re not crazy.…

(WSJ) A group that includes Carlyle, Blackstone and EQT is working to standardize how the industry tracks progress on environmental and social goals. The group, collectively representing more than $4 trillion in assets under management, has agreed on what it expects will become the first standardized set of ESG reporting metrics for the private-equity industry.…

(Permira) Leading global general partners (GPs) and limited partners (LPs) today announced the creation of the ESG Data Convergence Project to advance an initial standardized set of ESG metrics and mechanism for comparative reporting. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) led the collaboration which includes GPs and…