It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, February 07, 2024
Global Demand for Critical Minerals Spurs Recycling Debate
Growing global demand for critical minerals, driven by renewable energy and battery production, highlights the potential of recycling electronics and batteries to recover these resources.
Recycling rare earth metals from old devices could potentially supply a significant portion of the demand for metals in the United States, China, and Europe by 2050.
The lack of comprehensive recycling laws and limited public awareness pose challenges to electronic recycling, but innovations like using microbes and robots are being explored to extract rare earths safely.
There are big plans for the production of critical minerals to meet the rapidly growing demand as the world undergoes a green transition. Governments are starting to work together to develop their sustainable mining capabilities and ensure that they produce enough metals and minerals to respond to global needs. To support these efforts, many are now questioning whether we should be recycling our electronics and batteries to contribute to the production of critical minerals.
People worldwide are sitting on millions of batteries and electronic devices that contain critical minerals that could be used to support the green transition. Millions around the globe have old lithium-ion batteries, mobile phones, laptops, and other devices sitting unused in storage. However, some now believe there should be a major drive to encourage people to recycle these products to support the critical minerals industry, as demand continues to rise. One of the major challenges to this recycling aim is the lack of a cohesive strategy to encourage consumers to recycle their electronics.
The demand for critical minerals has risen substantially in recent years and is expected to continue increasing sharply as the global renewable energy capacity increases. A global green transition will require vast amounts of green energy equipment and battery power, which depend on a steady supply of critical minerals. Over the past two decades, the annual trade in energy-related critical minerals has increased from $53 billion to $378 billion. The battery sector is responsible for around 70 percent of the global demand for cobalt and uses large amounts of aluminium, copper, lithium, nickel, and rare earths. Meanwhile, renewable energy equipment requires a wide variety of critical minerals, supporting the development of core components for solar panels, wind turbines and much more.
In addition to mining for critical minerals, an industry that is rapidly growing, there is also huge potential for the recycling of existing batteries and electronic devices to recover the still-intact critical minerals. Unlike fossil fuels, which when used are gone forever, rare earths can be recovered after use in lots of cases. A recent study suggests that reusing or recycling rare earth metals from old mobile phones, hard drives, electric motors and turbines could provide as much as 40 percent of the demand for metals in the United States, China and Europe by 2050. This is a particularly interesting prospect for the United States, which relies heavily on the import of critical minerals to meet its needs.
Recycling could also alleviate the burden on the environment, as it could help reduce the expansive mining activities otherwise required to provide these minerals. And the need to recycle is going to become more apparent as consumers increasingly purchase battery-powered electric vehicles. Most of these batteries have a lifespan of 10 to 20 years, meaning that we could soon have thousands of discarded EV batteries unless recycling techniques improve. The practice has already been seen in some countries, with Japanese researchers coining the term urban mining to describe collecting rare metals from discarded appliances in the 1980s. While it is common for consumers to recycle their iron, copper and aluminium, is it less common to see rare earths being recycled.
However, few countries are offering consumers straightforward access to recycling schemes. This is partially because it is difficult to extract rare earths from devices, with some recycling techniques requiring hazardous chemicals and lots of energy. Some countries and private companies are now exploring alternative ways to recover these metals safely. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Innovation Hub at the Idaho National Laboratory is exploring the use of microbes to extract rare earths. Meanwhile, Apple and other tech companies are creating robots to help in the recovery process.
In the U.S., 25 states and the District of Columbia have recycling laws mandating the collection of certain electronic devices, although these efforts remain limited. So long as governments fail to provide straightforward recycling mechanisms, electronics will remain discarded in people’s junk drawers or, worse, go to landfills. The lack of comprehensive recycling laws and little public awareness means that many electronics continue to go directly to landfills once they can no longer be used, meaning huge amounts of rare earths are being lost every year.
The development of clear international standards for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries and electronic devices could provide guidelines for countries worldwide to follow. This would also ensure that governments are following using best practices in their policy formation and recycling campaigns, to ensure the recycling methods support the critical minerals industry. This would also encourage cross-country idea sharing to advance the practice and, therefore, advance the global green transition.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
Green Hydrogen Breakthrough Could Bring Heavy Industry Into The Zero-Carbon Era
Industries such as steel, cement, and heavy transport account for some one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), rendering breakthrough zero-carbon industrial products one of the most valuable assets of the world’s climate change portfolio. Heavy carbon emitting manufacturers all over the world are making the switch to cleaner industrial processes such as low-carbon electricity for industrial heat and hydrogen-based steelmaking. These companies are desperate to find a new technology that enables this. While quality control remains paramount, lower GHG-emitting industrial products have become the preferred choice.
At the leading edge of this transformation is a North American company, GH Power, that has developed four high-quality zero-carbon industrial products: zero-carbon electricity, zero-carbon hydrogen, zero-carbon iron and zero-carbon high-purity alumina.
GH Power and its team of engineers are bringing the worlds of green hydrogen, green alumina, and exothermic heat that can be fed into the grid using proprietary reactor technology that relies on only two inputs: scrap aluminum and water, which generates zero waste and zero Scope 1 carbon emissions. And a new partnership launched in January adds further credibility to industries as they make the switch. At the beginning of 2024, GH Power partnered with Fresh Coast Climate Solutions, a premier carbon consultant, to develop a comprehensive 3rd party verified green certification and assurance program that could catapult zero-carbon industrial products to a new level. Fresh Coast Climate Solutions provides independent reviews of the climate impacts of a range of clean technologies for global technology startups, technology accelerators, and climate investors.
Last year, GH Power showcased the first 100% green hydrogen power technology. This year, it is hoping to forge a path that offers a mark of excellence for its zero-carbon solutions through certification for industries that adopt its products. This could give users of their products 3rd party assurance of offsets for their own carbon emissions.
The New Industrial Renaissance
The latest Accenture research shows that less than 18% of companies are on track to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The big push is about to come now.
According to Accenture, “just three years of intensive cross-industry collaboration can turn industrial decarbonization from an immovable economic barrier to an economic force compelling all industries to accelerate net zero action.”
Heavy industry (steel, metals, mining, cement, chemicals, freight, and logistics) generates 40% of total global CO2 emissions, but Accenture is confident that new decarbonization strategies will enable growth for these industries.
Industry is responsible for 35% of the U.S. energy consumption. The implications of that are vast. That’s why manufacturers are under immense pressure to switch to low- or zero-carbon products in their production processes.
Of course, industry does nothing if there’s no profit to be made or if it adds product or quality risks while doing it. While the benefit to the world is a drastic reduction in emissions on the front line of the climate change battle, for industries, there are growing financial incentives—both carrot and stick.
The EU is employing a stick in the form of carbon border charges for products produced using dirty inputs and inefficient technologies.
In North America, it’s more about carrots, though. This is an era of technological breakthroughs, and today’s industry leaders are racing to capitalize on the funding opportunities that any clean tech breakthrough presents.
For starters, low- or zero-carbon industrial products, such as those developed by GH Power, build a direct in-road to state and federal contracts and environmental initiatives. The same is true for products manufactured by industries using these clean methods.
In other words, it makes economic sense.
That’s why the market potential for hydrogen technology is poised to hit $11 trillion by 2050, according to Bank of America.
Over 60% of industrial emissions come from the iron, steel, chemicals, non-metallic minerals, and nonferrous metals industries, according to Forbes.
Steel is manufactured by heating iron ore using dirty coal and coke, and the big challenge industry-wide is to develop new ways to produce steel cleaner and more sustainably, which is exactly what GH Power offers for the Alumina industry – a greener zero-carbon emission product.
It’s not a long shot.
Giant steelmakers such as ArcelorMittal (implementing their XCARB decarbonization program - XCarb™ | ArcelorMittal) and ThyssenKrupp ( implementing their Blue Mint decarbonizing program - #nextgenerationsteel | thyssenkrupp Steel (thyssenkrupp-steel.com) are already working to adopt sustainable technology for sustainable steel production using green hydrogen. And Europe’s largest steel plant is getting up to 2 billion euros to make the shift.
There are incentives all over the place, including the cement industry, which traditionally uses coal to process decomposing limestone. Here, too, one of the world’s biggest cement manufacturers is developing a new process that uses electricity instead of coal, taking things one step further by capturing carbon in the process.
The First 100% Green Hydrogen Production
GH Power came to the forefront in 2022, just as Russia was invading Ukraine, prompting a worldwide push focused on energy security and defending against the weaponization of oil and gas.
It all helped to give much greater impetus to the clean energy transition, both from an energy security and climate change perspective.
Canada was among the first movers here, taking decisive steps by signing a Joint Declaration of Intent with Germany to collaborate on the export of clean Canadian hydrogen to Europe’s economic powerhouse to create a Transatlantic supply chain corridor. Canada is planning to be exporting hydrogen by 2025.
At the center of this supply chain is GH Power, which has received over $2 million in federal funding to help advance this initiative with its participating partners.
GH Power’s hydrogen-producing reactor process is proprietary and breakthrough.
The products produced by the modular version of GH Power’s 2MW reactor are pure and clean, with zero emissions, zero carbon, and zero waste, using only 2 inputs (scrap aluminum and water). Only a small amount of energy is required to start the reactor, after which it is a self-sustaining operation.
The reactor is believed to be the very first of its kind to continuously operate extracting baseload energy and hydrogen from the rapid oxidation of metal in water.
It’s modular and scalable and is planned to enable local microgrids to supply reliable green energy solutions anywhere, anytime--even in the most remote areas of the world.
The reaction is exothermic and self-sustaining, and everything else the energy transition is desperate for - safe, quiet, and deployable in last-mile locations for energy, hydrogen, and alumina buyers.
GH Power could help resolve a major problem in the green hydrogen segment, which traditionally relies on an energy-intensive process of electrolysis. In order to produce just 1 MW equivalent of electricity from hydrogen through electrolysis, you need around 4 MW of solar or wind power, rendering it expensive and inefficient. GH Power’s process is said to create green hydrogen for an estimated 45% cheaper than existing electrolysis technology—and only 1/100th of the land required by solar-powered electrolyzers.
Legitimacy: The Path to Profit for a Green Transition
Without certificate solutions, industries lack the credibility they need to legitimately reduce their carbon footprint. This impacts their ability to raise more funds to pursue full sustainability and a new form of increased green profit-taking for shareholders.
One of the biggest takeaways from last year’s COP28 was the unprecedented multi-billion-dollar Green Public Procurement Pledge for green steel, concrete, and cement, with major Western governments leading the way (U.S., UK, Canada, Germany).
That is poised to be a major catalyst for demand and investment in clean tech solutions, especially those such as GH Power’s whose technology potentially fits our biggest industrial emitters.
North America is in desperate need of these products. Despite mainstream media headlines to the contrary, the United States is not currently a global leader in decarbonization. While American industry is less carbon-intensive than China, India, and Russia—the world’s biggest emitters—it lags behind the European Union, the UK, and Japan.
Other companies to watch in the hydrogen space:
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) is a big player in the industrial gases scene, now making impressive moves in the hydrogen market. They're not just focused on making hydrogen; they envision a whole ecosystem for sustainable energy. Their extensive background gives them an edge, as not many companies can claim expertise in both the production and distribution of industrial gases. With hydrogen expected to play a key role in future energy scenarios, their well-rounded solutions offer reliability and the ability to scale, which are crucial in the fast-changing energy landscape.
As the global emphasis shifts towards hydrogen, their comprehensive approach to hydrogen technology positions them as an integral part of the hydrogen story. This makes them an attractive narrative for investors looking to get involved in the hydrogen market.
Their move into creating integrated hydrogen systems showcases their adaptability and forward-thinking approach. They're not just about producing hydrogen; they're looking at the bigger picture of a sustainable energy ecosystem. This vision, combined with their competitive edge in both production and distribution, makes investing in Air Products and Chemicals a promising option for those who want to support a company at the forefront of the energy transition.
Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) has a storied past in the industrial gas domain and is now making notable advances in the hydrogen sphere. Their approach covers all bases, from hydrogen production to setting up the necessary infrastructure, showcasing their dedication to pushing hydrogen technology forward. Their global reach gives them a unique advantage, as Linde is involved in various projects around the world, from production to partnerships and research, highlighting their active role in the hydrogen revolution.
For investors, Linde offers a mix of stability and innovation. Their extensive experience, coupled with a proactive stance on hydrogen technology, suggests a path of steady growth and visionary leadership in the industry. Linde represents a well-balanced investment opportunity in a market that values both historical achievements and a commitment to future advancements.
Their holistic strategy in the hydrogen space illustrates their genuine commitment to advancing hydrogen as a key component of the future energy landscape. With activities ranging from production to the development of global infrastructure, Linde's proactive efforts set them apart from competitors. This blend of traditional success and innovative endeavors makes Linde an appealing investment choice for those looking to engage with a leader in the evolving energy sector.
Shell (NYSE:SHEL) is transitioning from a traditional oil giant to a diversified energy company, a move that marks a significant shift in the energy sector. Their involvement in hydrogen initiatives, from establishing refueling stations to engaging in research collaborations, is a key part of this transformation. Shell's strategy showcases a broad and forward-thinking approach, positioning them as a major player in the move towards sustainable and innovative energy solutions.
Shell offers a unique opportunity to back a company that combines the robustness of an established energy leader with the agility and innovativeness of a green technology firm. Their commitment to hydrogen is a critical element of their future strategy, signaling a strategic pivot towards renewable energy sources. This dual advantage of stability and innovation makes Shell an attractive choice for investors navigating the uncertain energy market.
Shell's efforts in the hydrogen space reflect a broader commitment to adapting to and leading in the changing energy landscape. For investors, this means supporting a company that's not just responding to the shift towards renewable energy but is at the forefront of driving this change. The combination of Shell's historical strength and its forward-looking initiatives presents a compelling narrative for those looking to invest in a company that is shaping the future of energy.
BP (NYSE:BP) has rebranded itself from British Petroleum to 'Beyond Petroleum,' symbolizing its transformation into a leader in the green energy revolution, with hydrogen playing a pivotal role. Their involvement in hydrogen, through investments and partnerships, showcases BP's progressive approach to energy. Positioning hydrogen at the heart of their growth strategy aligns with global sustainability goals and indicates their readiness to play a significant role in the future energy landscape.
BP's commitment to hydrogen and sustainable energy solutions signals strong potential for long-term growth, making them an appealing choice for investors focused on future-oriented companies. Their efforts to pivot towards a more sustainable energy mix underscore BP's vision and adaptability, positioning them as a forward-thinking player in the energy sector.
For investors, BP represents a company that's not only embracing the shift towards cleaner energy but is actively shaping the direction of this transition. Their focus on hydrogen and renewable energy solutions offers a glimpse into the future of the energy market, where sustainability and innovation drive growth. Investing in BP means backing a company with a clear vision for its role in a greener, more sustainable energy future.
By Tom Kool
Big Oil Unloved Despite Record Shareholder Returns
Oil majors continue to underperform the broader markets.
In terms of shareholder returns among the S&P 500 index, Exxon and Chevron have climbed up in the rankings of the most generous stocks in recent months.
The top two U.S. oil and gas producers also both reported on Friday higher production, especially from the Permian.
Big Oil has seriously underperformed the overall market over the past year, and it’s not just because of the decline in oil prices.
Investors are not convinced that oil companies—despite supplying essential products for today’s way of living such as gasoline, chemicals, fibers and what-not—have a future. Instead, they are focused on the trendy technology stocks, which have now become the darlings of the stock market.
The top U.S. oil producers, ExxonMobil and Chevron, have been trying to win investors back by adding large share buybacks to the constant dividend increases they have been doing over the past four decades.
In terms of shareholder returns among the S&P 500 index, Exxon and Chevron have climbed up in the rankings of the most generous stocks in recent months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. But they can’t compete with the massive share repurchases by Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, or Meta.
In terms of shareholder returns from buybacks and dividends combined, Exxon ranks fourth among S&P 500 companies, behind Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft. Chevron is seventh, with JP Morgan and Meta between it and Exxon.
Shareholder returns at Exxon and Chevron are at all-time highs, and profits last year were the second-highest in a decade, right after the record highs of 2022 when all Big Oil firms posted massive earnings amid rallying oil and gas prices. Related: Iraq Wants to Ditch the U.S. Dollar in Oil Trade
The top two U.S. oil and gas producers also both reported on Friday higher production, especially from the Permian.
Exxon posted higher-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter, while its full-year profit was the second-highest in a decade, as the supermajor boosted its Guyana and Permian production and achieved record annual refinery throughput.
Exxon also said it generated $55.4 billion of cash flow from operating activities and distributed a record $32.4 billion to shareholders in 2023.
“Our consistent strategy and execution excellence across the business delivered industry-leading earnings and enabled us to return more cash to shareholders than our peers in 2023,” Exxon’s chairman and chief executive officer Darren Woods said.
At the end of last year, ExxonMobil said it would accelerate the pace of its share repurchases to $20 billion annually in 2024 as it raises production and generates higher cash flows and earnings. After the Pioneer merger closes, Exxon plans to increase the pace of the share buyback program in 2024 to $20 billion annually through 2025, “assuming reasonable market conditions.”
Chevron also boosted cash returns to shareholders to a record and set annual oil and gas production records in 2023, as it reported its second-highest yearly earnings last year and fourth-quarter profits beating consensus estimates.
“In 2023, we returned more cash to shareholders and produced more oil and natural gas than any year in the company’s history,” Chevron’s chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said.
Cash returned to shareholders totaled more than $26 billion for the year, up by 18% from the previous year’s record total.
Yet, despite the stellar operational performance and record returns to shareholders of the past two years, Exxon and Chevron’s stocks are trailing the market.
Oil prices have dropped by 6% over the past 12 months, Exxon’s stock has lost nearly 9%, and Chevron’s has dipped more than 10%. At the same time, the S&P 500 gas gained 20%.
“For the sector to trade at a higher multiple, the investors need to view oil as moving back into an era of scarcity,” Jeff Wyll, a senior analyst at Neuberger Berman, told Bloomberg.
“We may be there in a few years, but we’re not there now.”
Big Oil is unloved by many now.
But the largest U.S. firms believe they have a lot to offer to patient investors as an industry that will be around for a long time as it’s essential to the global economy, Chevron CEO Wirth told Bloomberg TV in an interview.
“There’s a real value opportunity here for patient shareholders,” Wirth noted.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
BRAZIL
Petrobras to Invest $100 Billion in Offshore Oil Production
“We need to keep the core [business] very safe . . . We are not doing [a] crazy transition,”
Brazil’s state oil firm Petrobras plans more than $100 billion in investments this decade to boost offshore oil production as it looks to be one of the last oil producers standing when oil demand starts to drop, CEO Jean Paul Prates has told the Financial Times.
“We need to keep the core [business] very safe . . . We are not doing [a] crazy transition,” the company’s top executive told FT, commenting on the recently announced strategic plan through 2028.
Petrobras needs new oil exploration and production frontiers open as it wants “to be able to be there at the very end of the fade-out of oil,” said Prates, who became CEO at the Brazilian state energy firm a year ago under leftwing Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
As much as $73 billion out of the $102 billion total capex planned from 2024 to 2028 is set to go to exploration and production, according to Petrobras’s presentation to investors last week.
After spending a decade on selling off many assets outside Brazil, Petrobras is now shifting its strategy to portfolio diversification, keeping the focus on the most profitable assets, the company said. Reserves replacement, new frontiers, and increased gas supply are all pillars of the new exploration and production strategy.
Petrobras is now re-evaluating its portfolio in search of synergies and economic diversification and is looking at new frontiers in exploration, especially in the Equatorial Margin offshore Brazil, Prates said in the investor presentation.
Last autumn, Prates said that Petrobras expects to begin in 2024 offshore exploration drilling close to the mouth of the Amazon River in the so-called Equatorial Margin offshore Brazil.
The Brazilian firm currently doesn’t have permission from regulators to drill for oil and gas in the environmentally sensitive area.
US thermal coal exports surpassed $5 billion in 2023, with India being the largest recipient, making up over a third of total exports.
Domestic coal use in the US has hit a century low, while exports have increased, especially to countries like India, where coal remains a dominant source of electricity.
The surge in exports comes as US companies move manufacturing to India, leveraging a coal-heavy power grid, despite public commitments to green policies.
US thermal coal exporters recorded more than $5 billion in overseas sales in 2023, shipping upwards of 32.5 million metric tons of the high-polluting power fuel, according to Reuters, citing data from ship-tracking firm Kpler. These coal export earnings were the second highest since 2017, trailing only behind 2022's $5.7 billion. This comes as US utility coal usage for electricity generation tumbles to the lowest in this century.
Reuters points out diverging trends between sliding domestic coal use at power plants and a surge in coal exports. They called this "hypocrisy, given the country's ambitions to become a global leader in energy transition and pollution reduction efforts."
In 2023, India was the largest destination for US coal shipments, with 11.8 million tons delivered, accounting for 36.3% of total US thermal exports. Kpler data showed that volume was up 130% from 2022, and the south Asian nation is the world's largest coal producer and consumer after China.
"India is expected to remain a keen buyer of international coal as the country's domestic reserves are being depleted and power firms rely on coal for about 75% of India's electricity," Reuters said.
In a separate report, Reuters pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government increased coal power generation in 2023 by 11.3%, the fastest pace in at least five years.
"In the next 18 months, about 19,600 MW (megawatts of) capacity is likely to be commissioned," the power ministry said late last week.
Many of these companies, who have adopted woke green policies, will be or have already produced goods in India on a grid heavily reliant on coal.
Other top export destinations for US coal last year include The Netherlands (13.4% of total), Egypt (8.5%), Morocco (6.7%) and Japan (6.0%).
According to the US Energy Information Administration, a record 17% of total US coal production was exported, compared to around 12.5% in 2017.
To sum up, Biden is 'making coal great again' with surging exports. At the same time, US corporations flock to India from China to build products on coal-powered grids while virtue signaling back in the States how they're saving the planet by planting trees and buying carbon credits.
New Study Reveals Greenwashing as Key Obstacle for ESG Funds
Greenwashing, particularly in the financial sector, has significantly increased over the past five years, leading to a decrease in investments into sustainable funds.
High-profile cases like Deutsche Bank's DWS and Baillie Gifford have spotlighted misleading ESG claims, contributing to a lack of trust among investors.
The study found that greenwashing accusations cause institutional investors to decrease their green fund investments by 8% and retail investors by 12.6% the following month, highlighting the urgent need for regulatory action to improve trust and transparency in sustainable investment products.
Investments into sustainable funds are reducing due to an increase in greenwashing and scepticism towards environment, social and governance focused investing, a new study has found.
The whitepaper from Elise Gourier and Helene Mathurin at ESSEC Business School found that the issue of greenwashing had become “particularly prominent in the past five years”, especially within the financial industry.
Through using natural language processing to analyse hundreds of thousands of news articles that mention greenwashing or terms associated with it, the study tracked the prominence of the issue.
Strikingly, it found that while greenwashing had previously been focused on sectors such as the oil and gas industry or specific incidents such as the Volkswagen scandal in 2015, the recent focus on investment firms was new.
This “unprecedented” surge in the financial sector has now made investment firms the most frequent target of greenwashing accusations, with articles about greenwashing from the industry matching the combined total of those about both the energy and construction industry.
In September, Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm DWS was fined $19m by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for “materially misleading statements” about its process for incorporating ESG factors into research and investment recommendations.
Scottish asset manager Baillie Gifford also came under fire last year from Greta Thunberg, who pulled out of Edinburgh International Book Festival due to its sponsorship by the asset manager, which invests in fossil fuel companies.
Through tracking the frequency of articles like these, the study found that an uptick in greenwashing stories causes institutional investors to decrease their investments in green funds by eight per cent the following month, and retail investors by 12.6 per cent.
The paper added that retail investors and institutional investors differed in their response, with the former specifically pulling money out of funds that have strong ESG ratings, suggesting a lack of trust in the ratings themselves.
ESG ratings themselves have come under fire in recent months, with MSCI recently being accused of ‘bias’ in its ratings to push investors towards their indices.
Because of these withdrawals, this was leading to the price of sustainable firms to become warped by greenwashing, the paper argued.
New rules from the Financial Conduct Authority around greenwashing are set to be implemented from 31 May this year, with firms facing a fresh clampdown to improve the “trust and transparency of sustainable investment products”.
