News in the spotlight: MSCI buys First Street to bolster climate risk data
MSCI has acquired First Street, a climate risk data provider, to strengthen its physical climate risk capabilities for financial decision-making.
Products and Services
FTSE Russell and CCB launch green bond index
FTSE Russell and China Construction Bank have launched the FTSE CCB Dim Sum (Offshore CNY) Green Bond Index, one of the first dedicated benchmarks for the offshore RMB green bond market. The index provides a transparent, rules-based framework for measuring performance of offshore RMB-denominated green bonds. The index combines targeted exposure to the offshore RMB Dim Sum bond market with robust green bond eligibility criteria aligned with internationally recognized standards, including the Climate Bonds Initiative. It is designed to reflect the investable CNH green bond universe, offering investors a clear benchmark to access this growing segment of China’s fixed income market. The FTSE CCB Dim Sum Green Bond Index enables investors to access offshore RMB green bond exposure through an investable benchmark and allocate capital more efficiently to China-related sustainable fixed income within global portfolios. It supports diversification while contributing to the internationalisation of RMB.
MS Amlin adds USD 50m to blended-finance disaster fund
MS Amlin, the Lloyd’s global specialist (re)insurer, has committed up to USD 50 million to the Natural Disaster Fund as a commercial risk capacity partner. The fund is a blended risk transfer vehicle mitigating climate-related challenges and building resilience for low-and-middle-income countries across the Global South, currently holding more than USD 100 million of risks. The partnership joins MS Amlin alongside long-standing commercial capacity partner Hannover Re, strengthening the NDF’s ability to provide climate and disaster protection and private risk capacity to vulnerable communities. By sharing risk with the fund, MS Amlin supports the NDF’s core mission to protect societies from the consequences of natural disasters. The NDF is backed by the UK’s British International Investment and Germany’s DKGT, with Progress Fund managing the fund. The commitment will provide additional risk capacity as the fund continues to expand disaster protection coverage in the Global South. MS Amlin joins as a core commercial risk capacity partner, adding to the fund’s ability to scale its portfolio.
BlackRock and Natural History Museum team up on nature-aware investing
BlackRock has partnered with the Natural History Museum (NHM) to integrate the museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) into its BlackRock Sustainable Investing Intelligence (BSI Intel) platform. This collaboration aims to provide investors with a scientifically rigorous dataset to quantify and assess nature-related financial risks, which currently remain underpriced in global markets. The BII, which tracks biodiversity health across more than 76,000 species and 50,000 locations, will be used to build forward-looking signals within BlackRock’s USD 125bn strategy platform. By incorporating data on how human activities—such as land-use change and urban expansion—impact ecosystem integrity, portfolio managers can better identify companies exposed to biodiversity loss or those positioned to benefit from nature-positive sustainability dynamics. This initiative addresses the critical data gap in the transition toward nature-aware investing. As roughly USD 58 trillion of global GDP is estimated to be moderately or highly dependent on nature, the partnership enables more informed capital allocation and stewardship.
ESG Data and Analytics
BeZero acquires climate analytics platform Cedar
BeZero Carbon has acquired Cedar to expand its carbon markets platform and add more sophisticated workflow automation to its ratings business. Cedar built software for turning fragmented sustainability data into structured, auditable outputs, and its founding team is joining BeZero as part of the deal. The acquisition strengthens BeZero’s two-part model: carbon ratings and the BeZero Carbon Markets platform. That platform already gives subscribers access to ratings analysis, self-service data tools, AI-assisted features, pre-rating scorecards and geospatial analysis. Cedar’s technology is expected to deepen due-diligence workflows and make the platform more useful for investors and carbon market participants who need faster, more consistent assessments. For BeZero, the logic is operational rather than purely strategic. Better automation should help customers interrogate more data, compare project risk more efficiently and move from fragmented sustainability inputs to decision-ready insight. The company says the acquisition will improve confidence in investment decisions by making scientific intelligence more accessible inside the platform.
MSCI buys First Street to bolster climate risk data
MSCI has acquired First Street, a climate risk data provider, to strengthen its physical climate risk capabilities for financial decision-making. The transaction is intended to expand MSCI’s offerings for investors and other market participants assessing climate-related hazards such as flooding, wildfire, extreme heat and other environmental threats across assets and portfolios. By combining First Street’s property-level risk analytics with MSCI’s broader data and research platform, the company aims to provide more detailed insights into how physical climate risks may affect valuations, lending, insurance and long-term portfolio resilience. MSCI said the acquisition supports growing demand for decision-useful climate intelligence as regulators, clients and institutions seek better tools to measure and manage exposure to climate impacts. First Street’s models and datasets are expected to be integrated into MSCI’s workflow to improve scenario analysis, risk assessment and reporting. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.