News in the spotlight: EcoVadis and CO2 AI partner to improve Scope 3 emissions tracking
EcoVadis and CO2 AI have announced a partnership to improve the quality and granularity of Scope 3 emissions data used by companies for carbon accounting and decarbonisation. The collaboration integrates EcoVadis supplier carbon ratings and primary emissions data directly into CO2 AI’s footprinting platform, allowing mutual customers to move beyond spend-based estimates to supplier-specific metrics.
Products and Services
Standard Chartered launches platform to help suppliers manage their carbon footprint
Standard Chartered has launched a free “Supply Net Zero” platform to help its suppliers measure, manage and reduce their carbon footprint. The tool is designed to show suppliers where their emissions originate, outline mitigation and reduction steps, and provide resources and guidance to accelerate decarbonisation. The bank says the platform is open to all of its suppliers and is intended to support progress toward its own net-zero targets. Standard Chartered has set a 2050 net-zero goal for financed emissions and a long-term target to direct 50% of total supplier spend to suppliers that are actively decarbonising and have science-based emissions-reduction targets. According to the bank, 54% of its supplier spend is now with suppliers that have such targets in place. While most of Standard Chartered’s scope 3 emissions come from financed activities, the bank’s own supply chain generated 441,178 metric tons of CO₂e in 2025. Over the past year, supplier emissions intensity fell by 6%, which the bank cites as evidence that business growth and emissions reduction can occur together.
Regulations, Law and Frameworks
Hong Kong to expand Sustainable Finance Taxonomy with new climate activities
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched a public consultation on the Phase 2B prototype of the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance. The consultation runs from 7 September to 7 October 2026 and seeks feedback on proposed expansions and refinements to the taxonomy’s scope and technical screening criteria. Phase 2B builds on the Phase 2A update earlier in 2026, which added manufacturing and ICT sectors. The new draft introduces 10 additional economic activities under the “climate change mitigation” objective and adjusts the classification of some Phase 2A activities, increasing the total number of covered activities from 25 to 39. It also sets out technical standards for related green and transition activities and measures, including in sectors such as battery manufacturing and hard-to-abate industries like steel and aviation. The HKMA says the revisions are intended to align the taxonomy more closely with international practice, reflect latest climate science and technology developments, and respond to market and policy needs. The authority is using the updated framework to attract more overseas capital into Hong Kong and mainland China projects.
UK launches consultation to revisit corporate sustainability disclosures
The UK government has launched a major consultation, Modernising Corporate Reporting, proposing a comprehensive overhaul of the corporate reporting framework for UK companies. The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade says the current system has become too complex and voluminous, with piecemeal additions eroding clarity and investor usefulness. Comments are requested by 30 November 2026. The reform programme is built on five principles: clarity of purpose for investors and creditors, flexibility for companies to tell their story, simplicity and coherence, proportionality by size and impact, and future-readiness for digital developments. Key proposals include simplifying scopes, thresholds and exemptions that determine required disclosures; creating a lighter regime for SMEs, including extending audit exemptions to some medium-sized companies; and introducing a new “very large” company threshold for non-financial reporting. The government proposes removing detailed financial reporting rules from the Companies Act 2006, leaving accounting standards as the single source of detailed obligations.
ESG Data and Analytics
Greenly buys Normative as carbon accounting sector consolidates
Greenly has acquired Swedish carbon accounting software company Normative in a deal valued at around EUR 64 million, as consolidation accelerates in the climate software market. The transaction brings together two of the sector’s largest emissions datasets and customer bases under a single platform. The combined group says it will serve more than 4,000 companies across over 30 countries and currently manages around 500 million tonnes of CO₂, with a target of one billion tonnes by 2030. Greenly and Normative aim to grow combined software annual recurring revenue from EUR 30 million to EUR 50 million within three years. The merged platform covers corporate carbon accounting for Scopes 1, 2 and 3, supplier engagement, life-cycle assessment and multi-framework ESG reporting, including CSRD, IFRS, SEC and SBTi requirements. Normative’s scientific methodology and enterprise-grade approach will be integrated into Greenly’s AI-native platform, which draws on a combined set of more than five million emission factors.
EcoVadis and CO2 AI partner to improve Scope 3 emissions tracking
EcoVadis and CO2 AI have announced a partnership to improve the quality and granularity of Scope 3 emissions data used by companies for carbon accounting and decarbonisation. The collaboration integrates EcoVadis supplier carbon ratings and primary emissions data directly into CO2 AI’s footprinting platform, allowing mutual customers to move beyond spend-based estimates to supplier-specific metrics. Under the arrangement, corporate emissions data and product carbon footprints collected by EcoVadis flow into CO2 AI’s engine, giving users access to both company-level and product-level primary data from suppliers in a single workflow. This is intended to help procurement and sustainability teams identify which suppliers are driving the largest emissions, track real performance changes over time and build more audit-ready Scope 3.1 inventories. EcoVadis says the partnership helps transform supply chains from sources of risk into drivers of climate resilience by combining its supplier network with AI modelling.
Bloomlabs adds biodiversity credit data amid growing market interest
Bloomlabs has launched a new “Countries” dataset covering 94 jurisdictions (plus the EU) to track how far each has progressed with biodiversity credit markets. The platform classifies countries on a four-stage ladder: Referenced (credits mentioned in national documents), Exploring (active policy work), Piloting (test projects underway) and Operational (domestic voluntary or compliance credit systems in place). As of the latest data, seven countries are at the Operational stage, one is Piloting, 19 are Exploring and 31 are Referencing. Fifty-four countries explicitly name biodiversity credits in their CBD filings. The dataset combines policy analysis (including more than 4,500 NBSAPs and national reports), continuous market research and Bloom’s transaction data to give a policy-to-market view for each country. Sales are highly concentrated: Oceania accounts for more than half of all biodiversity credit volumes, and together with Germany, France and Colombia represents 94% of recorded sales. Operational countries average around EUR 600,000 in sales, more than 12 times the average for earlier-stage markets.
Leadership Announcements
Aviva Investors names Luciano Lilloy Head of Sustainable Equities
Aviva Investors has appointed Luciano Lilloy as Head of Sustainable Equities and Duncan Bulgin as Head of Equity Research, strengthening its equity leadership ahead of Max Burns’ retirement later this year. Lilloy joins from Impax Asset Management and will also serve as a named portfolio manager on the Global Climate Equity Strategy, taking over Max Burns’ portfolio management responsibilities for that strategy. Bulgin joins from GAM Investments with more than 20 years of experience as an analyst and portfolio manager, including senior roles at GAM and Newton Investment Management. As Head of Equity Research, he will oversee global equities research and global commodities research. He succeeds Burns, who joined Aviva Investors in 2016 and became Head of Equity Research in 2022. Alongside the two hires, Aviva Investors has consolidated its equities capabilities under a single leadership structure. The Index Investments team will move into the Equities business, which is led by Nicholette MacDonald-Brown as Global Head of Active Equities. Harsharan Mann will become Co-Portfolio Manager of the Global Core Strategy as part of the transition.