Africa Nature Impact Fund seeks USD 100m for nature-based solutions
News in the spotlight: Finance Earth, FSD Africa and FSD Africa Investments have launched the Africa Nature Impact Fund, a financing platform targeting USD 100 million for early-stage nature and nature-based carbon projects across Africa. The fund, announced at the Carbon Markets Africa Summit in Kigali, aims for a first close of USD 20 million in 2027, anchored by a GBP 5 million commitment from FSDAi.
Products and Services
KKR increases investment to US renewable joint venture by USD 1.2bn
TotalEnergies and KKR have agreed to expand their 50/50 U.S. renewables joint venture by adding a 700 MW portfolio of utility-scale solar assets in Texas and Ohio, lifting the venture’s capacity from 1.4 GW to 2.1 GW. The three projects are expected to reach commercial operation by the first quarter of 2027, with electricity already sold to third parties or to be marketed by TotalEnergies. The transaction values the portfolio at an enterprise value of USD1.2 billion and is expected to close in 2026, subject to customary conditions; TotalEnergies will continue to operate the assets after completion. The move extends the partnership created in 2025, when TotalEnergies sold a 50% stake in a portfolio of developed renewable assets to KKR, and supports the company’s broader strategy of combining renewables and flexible assets to build a competitive power portfolio. TotalEnergies reported more than 37 GW of gross renewable generation capacity as of the end of June 2026 and targets more than 100 TWh of net electricity production by 2030.
STOXX and Osmosis launch Sustainable Transition Factor Indices
STOXX and Osmosis Investment Management have launched the iSTOXX Osmosis Multi Factor Transition Indices, a family of 48 indices that integrates sustainability directly into factor-investing methodology rather than applying it as a separate screen or overlay. Built on STOXX Investable Market Indices, the suite offers single-factor, multi-factor and sustainability-integrated exposures for institutional investors, allowing individual factors to be used independently or combined into broader strategies. Osmosis’s proprietary Resource Efficiency signal, which measures economic value generated per unit of carbon, water and waste, is embedded in portfolio construction alongside revised definitions of value, quality, momentum and low volatility. The methodology updates traditional factor definitions to reflect current business models, incorporating R&D and intangible investment into value, durable profitability into quality, risk-managed momentum and downside-focused low volatility. Osmosis research indicates that more resource-efficient companies tend to show higher future firm value, gross profits and free cash flow, and lower leverage.
Africa Nature Impact Fund seeks USD 100m for nature-based solutions
Finance Earth, FSD Africa and FSD Africa Investments have launched the Africa Nature Impact Fund, a financing platform targeting USD 100 million for early-stage nature and nature-based carbon projects across Africa. The fund, announced at the Carbon Markets Africa Summit in Kigali, aims for a first close of USD 20 million in 2027, anchored by a GBP 5 million commitment from FSDAi. It will provide staged funding from project preparation through commercial piloting and implementation, drawing on experience from the Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment, which has assessed more than 300 projects and built a pipeline of over 3.4 billion tonnes of CO₂e potential across 76.5 million hectares. Africa Nature targets protection or regeneration of 4.5 million hectares of land, sequestration or avoidance of over 100 million tonnes of CO₂e over project lifetimes, and improved livelihoods for 1.4 million people, half of them women. The fund will invest only in projects with meaningful benefit-sharing arrangements, aiming to direct around USD 450 million to local communities, and will partner with African financial institutions to embed carbon-market readiness and build local ownership and governance.
Regulations, Law and Frameworks
TNFD, SBTN and NPI align guidance for Corporate Nature Action
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) and the Nature Positive Initiative have released coordinated updates to align how companies assess, measure, set targets for and report on nature-related issues. TNFD’s LEAP 2.0 provides a revised method for identifying nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities, while SBTN’s Science-Based Targets for Nature 2.0 guides companies in prioritizing action and setting science-based targets. The Nature Positive Initiative’s State of Nature Indicators and Metrics framework supplies a common measurement basis, condensing more than 600 existing metrics into four core indicators: ecosystem extent, ecosystem condition, species extinction risk and species populations. The metrics are integrated into both TNFD and SBTN guidance, allowing organizations to reuse data and analysis across assessment, disclosure and target-setting rather than running separate processes. The update is intended to reduce duplication and create a more consistent, science-based pathway from nature-related assessment to corporate action and reporting.
ESMA sets expectations for credible impact and climate-transition claims
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its third thematic note on sustainability claims, focusing on impact claims by funds and bonds. The note does not create new rules but reminds market participants that impact-related statements must be clear, fair and not misleading, applying four principles: accurate, accessible, substantiated and up-to-date communication. ESMA highlights persistent confusion between investee impact (outcomes generated by a company, project or asset) and investor impact (additional outcomes attributable to the investor’s actions), warning that conflating the two can mislead investors. For funds, ESMA calls for explicit impact objectives, a theory of change, clear selection criteria and measurable KPIs, cautioning against treating exclusion screens, ESG risk metrics or generic SDG alignment as evidence of positive impact. For use-of-proceeds and sustainability-linked bonds, ESMA stresses a verifiable link between proceeds or targets and claimed outcomes, materiality to the issuer’s core business, and consistent post-issuance reporting.
Net Zero Commitments
BNP Paribas AM sets 2026–2030 Global Sustainability Strategy after AXA IM integration
BNP Paribas Asset Management has published its Global Sustainability Strategy 2026–2030, positioning sustainability as a driver of long-term portfolio resilience, risk management and value creation for clients. The strategy is structured around four megatrends — environment, innovation, demographics and geopolitics — and six pillars covering thematic research, client solutions, ESG integration, stewardship, exclusion standards and execution culture. Key commitments include aligning sustainability research more closely with investment needs, finalizing an updated net-zero approach ahead of revised NZAM targets at the end of 2026, and rolling out revised ESG and net-zero methodologies in early 2027. BNPP AM also plans to expand client solutions in climate, decarbonization and natural capital, including forestry, carbon and biodiversity, while strengthening coordinated stewardship across asset classes and leading industry initiatives on systemic risks such as AI, hazardous chemicals and climate adaptation. The firm, which manages more than EUR1.7 trillion across 35 countries, frames the strategy as a shift from ambition to execution, with stronger entity- and fund-level reporting and internal accountability.