ANZ Sustainable Finance Insights, Q3 2023

Quarterly highlights  |  Market update  |  Global update  |  Australia  |  New Zealand  |  Asia  |  Europe/The UK  |  Other International  |  ANZ updates  |  Sustainability reading

Market update

All market data are sourced from BloombergNEF as at 30 September 2023 and includes original and tapped issuance, unless otherwise noted. Below provides an excerpt from the detailed market analysis conducted by ANZ Research. See the full market update prepared by ANZ Research. 

Graph 1: Global sustainable debt market by product (label) by quarter

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Graph 2: Global sustainable debt Issuance: use of proceeds vs sustainability-linked

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Global update

A series of notable events were held in the September quarter. Early September saw the meeting of the G20 leaders in New Delhi, India. Shortly following this, the 78^th General Assembly UN was held in New York, convening the SDG Summit which served as a “rallying cry to recharge momentum”. In parallel, the Climate Ambition Summit was convened by the UN Secretary-General, and the Climate Group hosted the annual New York Climate Week. Notable announcements addressed key themes including climate action, nature, transparency, regulation and the role of financing. Many of these key themes are expected to be a focus of COP28 as well, which will take place from 30 November until 12 December 2023. ANZ’s Head of Sustainable Finance, Katharine Tapley, will attend COP28.

Beyond announcements at notable events, industry associations also announced key updates aligned to the sustainability themes identified by ANZ, including transition and nature.

Sustainability developments and updates from the regulatory and legal environment

• The G20 Summit, held in early September, resulted in a declaration which commits G20 leaders to pursue and encourage efforts to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030. The agreement follows IRENA’s June 2023 World Energy Transitions Outlook, which concluded the world needs to triple renewable power capacity by 2030 to possibly limit global warming to 1.5°C. The G20 declaration does not outline any greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
  
  
• The TNFD published its final recommendations for a framework for nature-related risk management and disclosure on 18 September. There are two parts to the framework:
  
  
  1. Disclosure recommendations, which are closely aligned to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) structure and global standards including ISSB IFRS-S1, EU CSRD and GRI. They are also aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Agreement.
     The 14 suggested disclosures are built around four pillars: governance, strategy, risk and impact management, and metrics and targets. The TNFD advises companies to explain their governance framework and procedures for evaluating, prioritising, and overseeing their exposure to nature-related factors and to outline how they establish targets and develop an action plan.
     
     
  2. Guidance for identifying and assessing nature-related issues, using a simplified and streamlined LEAP approach (locate, evaluate, assess and prepare), covering material issues to disclose, impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities.
     Highlighting the importance of location-specific data for nature, the L in LEAP relates to location (Locate the interfaces with nature). The other three components - E (Evaluate dependencies and impacts), A (Assess risks and opportunities), and P (Prepare to respond and report) – support the achievement of the desired disclosure metrics based on the understandings developed in the L phase.
     In contrast to climate change, where greenhouse gas emissions have a global impact, impacts on nature and biodiversity generally vary depending on where a company’s operations are located.
     Documents included in the release cover the recommendations, an executive summary, and guidance including on scenario analysis, engagement with indigenous peoples and local communities, and science-based nature targets for corporates. TNFD Adopters – a list of companies who intend to adopt the recommendations – will be released in January at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos.
• Shortly following the TNFD’s final recommendations, Nature Action 100 revealed a list of 100 companies involved in the first global investor engagement initiative. Nature Action 100 participants aim to engage the selected companies to drive enhanced ambition and create the systemic changes required to reverse nature and biodiversity loss by 2030.
  
  
• The UN’s SDG Summit 2023, held on 18-19 September, saw world leaders adopt a Political Declaration recommitting to achievement of the SDGs. António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, noted that at the halfway mark to the 2030 deadline, only 15% of SDG targets were on track. The Political Declaration included a commitment to improve access to finance for lower income countries to invest in their sustainable development, which is of particular importance given the estimated SDG financing gap has widened.
  
  
• The UN’s Climate Ambition Summit 2023 followed on 20 September, which aimed to highlight “first movers and doers” – countries that have stepped up their action on climate change – as an example for other countries to follow. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations said higher income countries need to achieve net zero emissions as close as possible to 2040, rather than 2050. Leaders agreed that while the window of opportunity to achieve the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement was closing, achievement was still technically possible by accelerating net zero goals, delivering firm transition policies, and creating regulatory architecture capable of assessing credibility, integrity, and ambition.
  
  
• The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) announced it will separate its standard-setting and validation services into two individual entities, to better ensure impartiality and integrity and bring it into line with international best practice for assurance bodies. SBTi will also expand the capacity of its validation services in response to escalating demand from corporates and strengthen its standard-setting processes. The SBTi also launched the world’s first steel industry science-based decarbonisation guidance. It states direct emissions from the steel industry need to fall by more than 91% between 2021 and 2050 to be aligned with a 1.5°C pathway.
  
  
• A group led by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) published voluntary guidance on blue bonds to help finance a sustainable blue economy, which involves the sustainable use of coastal and marine resources for economic activities while protecting and restoring coastal and marine ecosystems. Suggested eligible assets are aligned to the Green Bond Principles and include coastal climate adaptation and resilience; marine ecosystem management, conservation, and restoration; sustainable coastal and marine tourism; sustainable marine value chains; marine renewable energy; marine pollution; sustainable ports; and sustainable marine transport.
  
  
• The Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) and the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics have formed a partnership to explore how bond instruments could be used to support a just transition. The partnership will identify a range of options to achieve the greatest impact across different geographies and issuer groups.
  
  
• Separately, the CBI also published a Guidance to Assess Transition Plans to support stakeholders in understanding the “five hallmarks” of a credible transition plan. Each of the hallmarks are centred around one of three core pillars – Ambition, Action and Accountability – labelled the “Triple A” framework which demonstrates a company’s transition plan is moving toward a sustainable future.
  
  
• The Network for Greening the Financial System published a report entitled Climate-related litigation: recent trends and developments, which found climate-related litigation is expanding quickly, including by number of cases, legal arguments used and entities against which claims are made. The report looked at trends and developments across three categories of climate-related litigation: against states and public entities; against non-financial institutions; and against financial institutions. 
  

Australia

Notable transactions

• Port of Melbourne issued its inaugural AUD475m sustainability-linked loan, which links to two sustainability indicators covering Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction, and a mental health first aid workplace certification together with an overarching gateway target tied to engagement with port stakeholders to facilitate Scope 3 emissions reduction. This is a landmark transaction in Australia’s ports sector, and is believed to be the first SLL in the sector to include Scope 3 engagement targets. ANZ acted as Joint sustainability coordinator and Joint mandated lead arranger and bookrunner.
  

Sustainability developments and updates from the regulatory and legal environment

• The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released draft guidance to help businesses make accurate environmental and sustainability claims that consumers can understand. The guidance also seeks to help businesses avoid making misleading claims. The consultation process closed on 15 September 2023 and follows the ACCC’s report, Greenwashing by businesses in Australia, published earlier this year.
  
  
• The Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) commenced the second phase of the taxonomy project via the appointment of the Taxonomy Technical Expert Group (TTEG) which will be co-chaired by Guy Debelle, former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), and Emma Herd, Partner at EY working on climate change and sustainability. ASFI said “The TTEG will provide strategic direction over, input into and endorsement of an Australian sustainable finance taxonomy for consideration by government. The TTEG collectively represents a mix of skills and experience that will be critical to informing the taxonomy’s development, including in sustainable finance; whole-of-economy decarbonisation; climate and environmental science and policy; human rights; and Indigenous rights and perspectives.”
  
  
• The Australian Government released a new report, The Clean Energy Generation: workforce needs for a net zero economy. It makes 50 recommendations on how to develop the workforce required to meet and exceed Australia’s climate ambitions in a sustainable and equitable way while supporting people and communities reliant on transitioning sectors.
  
  
• In August, Australia’s Climate Change Minister announced that imports of steel and cement could face a tariff as a mechanism to prevent “international carbon leakage risks”. The proposed tariff is already supported by the Australian Industry Group and the Minerals Council of Australia.
  
  
• The first female Governor of the RBA, Michele Bullock, gave a speech on Climate Change and Central Banks a few weeks before assuming her new role. Bullock discussed the implications of climate change for the economy and financial stability, noting that climate change will likely affect potential economic output and the neutral interest rate and therefore monetary policy.
  
  
• The RBA also published a Bulletin article on Green and Sustainable Finance in Australia, which found “some evidence of a small greenium for AAA-rated kangaroo bonds”, based on a limited analysis. It also found that “the secondary market for green bonds appears to be no less liquid than their conventional counterparts”, i.e. green bonds do not appear to be traded less frequently than vanilla.
  
  
• Australia’s new International Development Policy requires at least half of new bilateral and regional investments valued at more than AUD3m to have a climate objective and at least half to have a gender equality objective. At Labor’s national conference, the party also recommitted to the target of raising the aid budget to 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) but did not specify a timeline. The Development Policy Centre estimates it currently sits at 0.2% of GNI.
  
  
• The Victorian Government announced a ban on gas connections to new homes requiring a planning permit from 1 January 2024. There will also be a ban on gas connections for all new public buildings yet to reach design stage, starting immediately. These changes form part of Victoria’s Gas Substitution Roadmap.
  
  
• The Australian Treasury is expected to release its Sustainable Finance Strategy in the next month. 

New Zealand

Notable transactions

• Wellington City Council will raise up to NZD400m using a special purpose vehicle owned by Crown Infrastructure Partners to construct the Moa Point Sludge Minimisation Facility (SMF), incorporating a green loan as part of the financing. This was the second transaction completed under New Zealand’s Infrastructure Funding and Finance Act 2020 which enables funding to remain off local councils’ balance sheets to reduce barriers to housing and supporting infrastructure development. The debt financing structure involved a combination of long-term fixed rate debt and a medium-term floating rate green loan with long-dated interest rate hedging. It is estimated the SMF will reduce the volume of sludge produced by up to 80% per annum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the treatment process by up to 60%. ANZ acted as Joint sustainable finance coordinator and mandated lead arranger.
  
  
• Auckland Council priced a NZD300m five-year Green Bond for settlement on 27 September 2023. The proceeds are intended to finance eligible assets or refinance corporate debt that supports eligible assets in accordance with the Council’s updated Sustainable Finance Framework (September 2023). ANZ acted as a Joint lead manager for this transaction.
  
  
• Community Finance successfully launched NZD5.5m five-year Community Bonds with proceeds lent to Community Housing Provider, The Salvation Army New Zealand Trust on a secured basis to support the development of 31 new homes at Nawton, Hamilton and other authorised investments. ANZ acted as Sole arranger and Sole lead manager.
  

Sustainability developments and updates from the regulatory and legal environment

• New Zealand’s government announced changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) settings, including increasing the minimum auction price from NZD33.06 to NZD60 in December 2023. No New Zealand Units (NZUs) were traded in the September auction, for the third time in a row. Units that were offered in the first three auctions of 2023 will be rolled over to the December auction, at which time the higher reserve price will apply.
  
  
• The New Zealand Government is running a consultation process on biodiversity credit systems, to assess whether this could help “incentivise the protection and restoration of native wildlife in Aotearoa New Zealand”. Consultation is open from 7 July to 3 November 2023.
  
  
• New Zealand’s concrete industry published its net-zero carbon roadmap to 2050 which includes a 44% reduction target for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 (compared with a 2020 baseline) and a net zero target by 2050. Use of alternative fuels and mineral additions are expected to underpin emissions reductions to 2030 but the net zero by 2050 target is heavily dependent on carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS).
  
  
• The New Zealand Government is progressing development of a pay gap reporting system, proposing that annual reporting would be mandatory for employers with over 250 employees initially, eventually expanding to cover those with over 100 employees.

Asia

Notable transactions

• The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited issued a Triple-Tranche Reg S only Senior Unsecured Social Bond equivalent to almost HKD20bn, the largest social bond issuance in Asia. The transaction comprised HKD9.5bn 2-year, CNH5bn 3-year, and USD650m 5-year social bonds. The proceeds will be used to finance or refinance eligible social projects under HKMC’s Social, Green and Sustainability Framework, mainly under the Special 100% Loan Guarantee of the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme. ANZ acted as a Joint lead manager and Joint book runner.
  
  
• Olam food ingredients (ofi) has successfully secured a multi-tranche sustainability-linked facility aggregating US$1,750 million, which comprises a two-year and three-year Revolving Credit Facility and a three-year term loan. Proceeds will be applied towards refinancing of ofi’s existing loans and general corporate purposes. The interest margin on the facility is linked to the achievement of certain sustainability targets. ANZ acted as Mandated lead arranger.
  

Sustainability developments and updates from the regulatory and legal environment

• Southeast Asia: The 10^th Joint Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors noted the ASEAN Taxonomy Board is working to finalise a refined Version 2 of the inter-regional ASEAN Taxonomy (based on stakeholder consultation). This version will inform the development of Version 3, which will incorporate technical screening criteria for sectors not addressed in previous versions. Version 3 will be published in phases over two years (by 2025).
  
  
• Southeast Asia: ASEAN Exchanges released a set of ESG metrics recommended for disclosure by listed companies. The release follows a comparative preliminary analysis of ESG metrics, and the metrics are categorised across each pillar, covering four environmental topics, nine social topics, and ten governance topics.
  
  
• Singapore: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and McKinsey & Company jointly published a paper which outlines how high-integrity carbon credits (“transition credits”) can improve the economic viability of the early retirement of coal-fired power plants. The proposed approach may catalyse the transition of the large and young fleet of coal-fired power plants in Asia.
  
  
• Singapore: In a recent Regulator’s Column released on its website, the SGX Group announced three key elements of developing, executing and disclosing a credible transition plan. While the Regulator’s Column acknowledges that strategies and measures may vary to reflect unique circumstances, three common attributes around understanding of climate-related risks, strong governance structures and decarbonisation targets are explored.
  
  
• Singapore: Australia and Singapore have reached new agreements under the Green Economy Agreement signed in October-22. The recent developments will see the establishment of a Green Shipping Corridor by the end of 2025, the provision of an USD3.7m Asia Climate Solutions Design Grant, and a joint AUD20m commitment to incentivise and facilitate collaboration between Singaporean and Australian companies.
  
  
• Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released high-level transition principles to assist banks with transition considerations in their plans to achieve net zero. The announcement outlined six principles including establishing objectives and initiatives that align with a net-zero outlook, implementing appropriate governance, and engaging with customers.
  
  
• Thailand: Thailand adopted the first phase of its Green Taxonomy. It addresses two of the country’s highest emitting sectors, energy and transportation, which account for up to two-thirds of Thailand’s total emissions. Future phases will expand to other sectors. 
  

Europe/The UK

Notable transactions

• DKSH, a leading Market Expansion Services Provider and trusted partner for companies looking to grow in Asia and beyond, converted a CHF150m revolving credit facility into a sustainability-linked loan. The conversion links improvements in DKSH’s scope 1 and 2 emissions and gender diversity performance with the cost of the debt. ANZ was sole sustainability coordinator.  

Sustainability developments and updates from the regulatory and legal environment

• The EU: The European Commission adopted the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) on 31 July. The Standards apply to all companies subject to the CSRD and require these companies to report on their environmental, social and governance risks and impacts. EU member states will adopt the ESRS by the end of 2023 with mandatory reporting under the CSRD from the 2024 reporting period.
  
  
• The EU: The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has aligned definitions, concepts and disclosures regarding impacts with the GRI. The interoperability of the standards was announced in a joint statement by the GRI and EFRAG and should enable companies with existing GRI-aligned reporting to leverage this in preparation for reporting under the ESRS.
  
  
• The EU: As a last step in the decision-making process for the ‘Fit for 55’ package, the EU Council adopted five laws which mandate emissions reduction thresholds, support vulnerable citizens and support the transition of sectors exposed to carbon leakage. The emissions reduction thresholds apply to energy-intensive industries, as well as buildings and transport sectors. Vulnerable citizens are addressed through the establishment of a Social Climate Fund, and imports of carbon-intensive industries are regulated via the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
  
  
• The EU: The European Commission enacted rules for reporting emissions embedded in imports under the CBAM. Along with the reporting obligations, the Commission released transitional methodology for calculating embedded emissions and guidance on implementation of the rules. There will be no financial adjustment required for imported emissions during the CBAM’s transition phase, until it permanently enters into force from 1 January 2026.
  
  
• The EU: Members for the European Parliament (MEP) agreed to update the Renewable Energy Directive which mandates that 42.5% of the EU’s 2030 energy consumption will be met by renewables,  and outlines a 45% target for each member state. The change in legislation will also reduce time-related barriers for grant permits for renewable energy power plants. They should take no more than 24 months outside “renewables go-to areas”, and no longer than 12 months in “renewables go-to areas”.
  
  
• The EU: The EU Parliament and Council has reached a provision deal to ban the use of generic environmental claims such as “carbon neutral” unless the claim can be substantiated. This aims to avoid greenwashing by outlawing carbon offsetting and provide clarity for consumers to make better choices.
  
  
• The EU: Nordea, a bank operating in Northern Europe, issued its second “sustainability-linked loan bond”, this time EUR-denominated (EUR1bn). This is a recently developed, innovative format where proceeds from the issuance of a vanilla bond are used to finance or refinance SLLs. Under Nordea’s SLL funding framework, these loans must align with the SLL Principles and corporate borrowers must have KPIs and SPTs related to climate change mitigation. Nordea developed the framework “to cater for the transition assets not included in our green bond asset portfolio, but that still hold strong ESG target alignment”. Nordea had issued its inaugural SLL bonds in September 2022 across two SEK tranches and two NOK tranches, equivalent to around EUR400m in total.
  
  
• The EU: EU Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains is now agreed and will be applied at the end of 2025. The regulation ensures that companies, which supply a set of key goods (such as cattle, soy, cocoa and rubber) for sale in the EU or in the EU export market, must confirm that the product is produced on land which has not been deforested since 31 December 2020. This will apply to EU companies as well as international companies who import key goods into the EU.
  
  
• The UK: The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) Authority announced reforms to further limit emissions in energy intensive sectors such as industrials, aviation and power from 2024. The Authority also announced that other sectors, including domestic maritime transport and waste, will be covered by the scheme from 2026 and 2028 respectively.
  
  
• The UK: The UK Government has created a framework to assess the suitability of the ISSB standards in creation of the UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards. The endorsement decision is expected by July 2024.
  
  
• Switzerland: In partnership with Ecofact, Swiss Sustainable Finance published a TCFD guide which aims to support financial institutions in their preparation of climate reports. The guidance is split across two parts: the Swiss legal context and a practical guide on TCFD reporting.
  
  
• Germany: BaFin (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht), Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, launched its Sustainable Finance Strategy which clarifies the supervisory role of BaFin in sustainable finance, and outlines the five areas of focus: regulation, data, management, information, and shared knowledge.
  

Other International

Sustainability developments and updates from the regulatory and legal environment

• The US: The US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted an amendment to the “Names Rule” which requires that 80 percent of total investments, by value, are aligned with the characteristics and/or objectives suggested by its name. The amendment is the first in approximately 20 years and aims to prevent fund names from misrepresenting the actual investments.
  
  
• The US: The US Government proposed a Sustainable Procurement rule for Federal procurement in support of its net zero goal by 2050 goal. The proposed rule would direct Federal buyers to purchase sustainable products and services to drive investment in the American economy and build sustainable supply chains.
  
  
• The US: Principles for Net-Zero Financing and Investment were published by the US Department of the Treasury. The voluntary Principles outline best practices for financial institutions that have made net zero commitments and aim to mobilise private sector capital to address climate change impacts.
  
  
• The US: The Californian Senate passed a bill requiring public and private companies operating in California with revenue above USD1bn to report their carbon emissions. In mid-October, Californian Governor, Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law, ratifying that scope 1 and 2 emissions disclosures are required from 2026, and scope 3 emissions disclosures are required from 2027.
  
  
• Canada: The Canadian Government released a self-review of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and guidelines for inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. The guidelines, which came into effect on 24 July 2023, outline that subsidies will be considered inefficient unless they meet at least one of six criteria. The criteria include contribution to emissions reductions, essential energy services to remote communities, and support of Indigenous economic participation.
  
  
• Canada: To support Canada’s transition to a net-zero electricity grid commencing in 2025, the Government of Canada released draft Clean Electricity Regulations which are expected to come into force on 1 January 2025. The regulations limit emissions to 30 tonnes of CO₂ per gigawatt hour for electricity generation units that meet the applicability criteria.
  
  
• Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) announced its sustainable finance regulatory framework, which includes ESG disclosure requirements for ADGM companies and outlines rules for sustainability-oriented financial institutions.

ANZ updates

As a global bank committed to supporting sustainable finance market growth, ANZ is actively working with customers to help them transition to net zero emissions by 2050. ANZ’s sustainability highlights for the quarter include the below.

Research and publications

• ANZ Research expects El Niño could disrupt commodity markets, increase carbon emissions, and push food inflation higher.
  
  
• The transition to zero carbon is gaining momentum as more entities commit to sustainable financing, according to Kaylene Gulich, Chief Executive Officer of the Western Australian Treasury Corporation.
  
  
• The MinterEllison and Mergermarket Australian Renewables Report 2023 report found international and domestic investors plan to increase their Australian renewable energy investment this year and beyond.
  
  
• ANZ launched a daily podcast, 5 in 5 with ANZ, hosted by Bernard Hickey. The podcast gives you the five things you need to know about the global economy and financial markets in under five minutes with interviews with our global team of economists and strategists, followed by a bonus deep dive topic of the day.
  

Sustainability news

• In a panel at the Carbon Market Institute’s Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit, ANZ CEO, Shayne Elliott, said there was “no shortage of money” to fund the energy transition but emphasised the need for a “coherent plan” to coordinate the various global taxonomies, regulations, disclosures, standards, and targets which would support a less complex and more efficient and effective transition. ANZ was a major sponsor of the event.
  
  
• ANZ Hong Kong hosted a Chinese Sustainable Finance Luncheon on 30th August with around 35 clients from around 20 Chinese and Hong Kong clients. At the event, our clients heard from ANZ regarding Chinese economic updates with the rising importance on ESG, introduction of sustainable finance products with case studies, as well as sharing from Moody’s about the importance of an International Second Party Opinion.
  
  
• ANZ Institutional hosted the sixth annual ANZ Finance & Treasury Forum which explored the overarching theme of innovation. The innovation discussion was applied to many areas including technology, geopolitics, future banking and sustainability. Stephanie Vallance, Executive Director Sustainable Finance moderated a panel discussion covering innovation in the sustainable capital markets and its role in delivering a net zero and nature-positive future. The panel discussion included insights from Zoe Whitton (Pollination), Natasha Garcha (IIX) and Jonas Millqvist (EIFO).
  
  
• ANZ and KangaNews led a roundtable discussion focused on nature and biodiversity. Participants discussed evolving expertise in the climate space and how this could be used to help deliver faster action on nature. ANZ attendees were Katharine Tapley, Head of Sustainable Finance and Mark Bennet, Head of Agribusiness and Specialised Commercial.

Sustainability reading

• The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published its Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control which estimated that invasive alien species imposed an annual economic cost of USD423bn globally in 2019.
  
  
• New research published in the journal Science Advances shows that six out of nine planetary boundaries have been exceeded: biogeochemical flows, freshwater change, land system change, biosphere integrity, climate change, and novel entities. Ocean acidification is also close to breaching its threshold. The authors say this suggests “Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity.”
  
  
• Pollination launched a Nature Finance Focus report which tracks global investment in nature. The report publicises the results from a survey of leading institutional investors globally on their experiences interacting with nature. The survey uncovered investor motivations and ambitions and assessed what these investors consider the greatest risks and opportunities in the nature space.