Corporate Knights

MARCH 31, 2025

The climate activist group Just Stop Oil (JSO) has announced the end of its campaign of direct action. Many will read the groups legacy through the lens of public hostility: the frustration caused, the angry headlines, the outrage at its tactics. Not only have JSO activists been spat at, physically assaulted and run over by angry car drivers, but 15 members are also currently serving jail sentences following arrests and charges.

Climate Change 144

Climate Change 144

Corporate Knights

MARCH 28, 2025

If corporations are to implement net-zero targets rather than simply talk about them, the people at the top their boards need the skills to follow through. Yet, according to the investor group Climate Engagement Canada, theres a growing gap between the responsibility of boards to oversee companies net-zero goals and their skills and knowledge to do so effectively.

Banking 144

Banking Net Zero Social Sustainability 144

Corporate Knights

MARCH 14, 2025

Hospitals around the world generate millions of tonnes of plastic waste annually. Much of this waste comes from single-use items such as face masks, surgical gloves, syringes, IV tubes and sterile packaging materials. Whats worse is that many of these medical plastics arent biodegradable. This means they can persist in landfills or oceans for centuries.

Waste 175

Waste Greenwashing Development 175

Corporate Knights

MARCH 13, 2025

For decades, policymakers and energy planners have operated under a simple assumption: modern development requires a national power grid. The industrialized world was built on centralized energy infrastructure massive plants, sprawling transmission networks, tightly controlled by state-backed utilities. In Africa, this model has failed spectacularly.

Banking 260

Banking Digitalization Development 260

Corporate Knights

MARCH 7, 2025

Imagine you are choosing between two similar investment options. One has a green label, promising to fund climate-friendly projects and assets. The other offers a slightly higher return, but has no green label. Which do you choose? My recent study explored this question. My co-researchers and I found that, for most retail investors individual, non-professional investors the presence of a green label mattered more than the actual environmental impact of the bond or the higher financial return o

Green Bonds 130

Green Bonds Greenwashing Sustainable Investment 130

Corporate Knights

MARCH 3, 2025

European political leaders have proposed a massive revamp of sustainable business and finance transparency laws in a move they say will improve the European Unions competitiveness and save more than 6 billion in social and environmental disclosure costs. Yet the so-called simplification omnibus bill proposed by the European Commission (EC) the executive branch of Europes government has come under widespread criticism.

Net Zero 144

Net Zero Supply Chain Supply Chains Green Bonds 144

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Its a pastoral scene straight out of Middlemarch , with a steampunk twist: flocks of woolly sheep wandering a green expanse, cropping grass and resting from the noonday sun in the shade of row upon row of shimmering black photovoltaic arrays extending to the horizon. The solar panels provide clean energy; the sheep provide cheap lawnmowing services that keep the panels from overheating.

Development 194

Development Waste 194

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

In this weeks Corporate Knights Drill-Down, we highlight a compelling financial case for divesting from fossil fuels. Our analysis of nine public pension funds across the world reveals that shifting investments away from fossil fuels and reinvesting these amounts into the Mackenzie Corporate Knights Global 100 Index ETF not only aligns with sustainability goals but can also deliver stronger financial returns.

Divestment 130

Divestment 130

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

Oil and gas companies are influencing what Canadian students learn about climate change, funding and supplying educational materials that frame the issue to serve their interests, health and climate advocates warn in a new report. At least 39 fossil fuel companies and 12 industry-linked organizations including Shell, TC Energy, and the Pathways Alliance have supplied classroom resources that downplay the sectors role in driving global heating, states a new report.

Climate Change 176

Climate Change Greenwashing Development 176

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Drill, baby, drill may be the new mantra out of the Oval Office, but the bottom line tells a different story. If speed is an indicator of success, then the clean energy economy is showing its muscle through robust growth, regardless the sector or corner of the world. California-based shareholder advocates As You Sow and Corporate Knights today released the new cohort of the Carbon Clean200, a global list of 200 publicly traded companies leading the sustainable clean energy economy.

Global Economy 283

Global Economy Manufacturing Divestment Negative Screening 283

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

Clean 200 Methodology The Clean200 are the largest 200 public companies ranked by clean revenue. The ranking was first calculated on July 1, 2016, and publicly released on August 15, 2016, by Corporate Knights and As You Sow. The current list has been updated with data through January 29, 2025. The Clean200 companies are ranked by their clean revenues in U.S. dollars.

Negative Screening 130

Negative Screening Divestment Manufacturing Banking 130

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

In this weeks Corporate Knights drill-down, we take a look at the sustainable revenue trend in one of the fastest growing tiers of the Corporate Knights taxonomy - Energy Storage and Batteries. Driven mainly by the rising demand from electric vehicles and renewable energy storage requirements, Sustainable Revenue from this tier has grown 350% between 2019 and 2023.

Manufacturing 130

Manufacturing 130

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

Clean 200 Methodology The Clean200 are the largest 200 public companies ranked by clean revenue. The ranking was first calculated on July 1, 2016, and publicly released on August 15, 2016, by Corporate Knights and As You Sow. The current list has been updated with data through January 29, 2025. The Clean200 companies are ranked by their clean revenues in U.S. dollars.

Negative Screening 130

Negative Screening Divestment Manufacturing Banking 130

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

Climate campaigners have filed a complaint against WPP , the London-based advertising giant, with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), stating that it has violated key corporate guidelines on climate and human rights. Adfree Cities and the New Weather Institute filed the complaint this week with the UK branch of the OECD.

Climate Change 145

Climate Change Banking Development 145

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Sales in the Renewable Energy category are by far the largest category of sustainable revenue in the Corporate Knights Global Sustainable Economy Intelligence database , with nearly USD 5 trillion recorded so far for the period 2019-2023. This category includes solar and wind energy, batteries and energy storage, and the transmission and distribution of renewable energy.

130

130

Corporate Knights

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

Its not always all about China. In this weeks CK Drill Down, we focus on a subset of our sustainable investment database consisting of 800 large companies that we have been tracking since 2018, including 175 from the U.S.A, 69 from China, and 222 from Europe. In 2023 the European companies invested over 3.5 times more in sustainable production than the American companies, and four times more than the Chinese companies.

Sustainable Investment 130

Sustainable Investment 130

Corporate Knights

JANUARY 21, 2025

Skip to ranking If theres one thing the private sector craves most from government, its clear, stable policies. But in the coming year, many businesses will have no such luck as they navigate major changes to the global tax and regulatory environment that has been encouraging investment in more sustainable technologies and practices. While the new U.S. president will be taking aim at legislation that resulted in nearly US$300 billion in private-sector investments in clean energy, battery manufac

Banking 361

Banking Sustainable Investment Net Zero Manufacturing 361

Corporate Knights

JANUARY 16, 2025

Ten years after the securities regulations came into force, which established a disclosure regime regarding the number and percentage of women sitting on a board of directors, or holding an executive position, where do we stand? Has there been any progress? We are, respectively, the dean of the John Molson School of Business and an expert for decades on the place of women in the upper echelons of the business world, and we have combed through the tenth Review of Disclosure Regarding Women on Boa

Academics 144

Academics Banking Development 144

Corporate Knights

JANUARY 13, 2025

As the opening date of this years COP29 climate meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, approached, the guest list continued to thin. Heads of state from France, Germany, Canada, China, India, Brazil, Russia and the United States, among others, bowed out. King Charles excused himself. Greta Thunberg boycotted. Their reasons varied, from head injuries to domestic troubles to principled stands against the host countrys human rights record, but taken together, the regrets struck an ominous tone.

Paris Agreement 302

Paris Agreement Greenwashing Climate Change Decarbonize 302

Corporate Knights

JANUARY 9, 2025

This article by Grist is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. It has been edited to conform with Corporate Knights style. On Tuesday, after a ferocious Santa Ana windstorm blew through Southern California, a severe brush fire broke out in the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, burning 1,000 structures and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate as of Wednesday afternoon.

Climate Change 301

Climate Change Digitalization 301

Corporate Knights

JANUARY 8, 2025

Raj Lala, president of Evolve Funds Group Inc., is zero for three when it comes to launching responsible-investment-themed funds. The first was a gender-diversity exchange-traded fund (ETF) that closed after three years when it failed to attract enough investors. The second and third were a pair of carbon-neutral ETFs that lasted less than a year because, according to Lala, investors didnt want to pay higher fees to offset the carbon-credit trades.

Greenwashing 290

Greenwashing Climate Change Net Zero Financial Planner 290

Corporate Knights

DECEMBER 30, 2024

Twenty-twenty-four will go down as the most expensive ever for home insurance claims in Canada so far. Unfortunately, insurance companies will pass along those costs to Canadians in the form of higher premiums in 2025, adding to already inflated levels endured over the past decade. We are trapped in a climate-driven cycle of bigger impacts, higher claims and higher premiums.

Net Zero 260

Net Zero Climate Change 260

Corporate Knights

DECEMBER 18, 2024

Another year is drawing to a close with everyone gathering their top lists of 2024. And while youre revisiting the best the world had to offer in pop culture, music and the arts, its worth a reminder of all the good-news stories on climate and clean energy progress that graced our screens in 2024. There was a lot to choose from something that may not be immediately apparent in the aftermath of the U.S. election and news that 2024 will almost certainly be the hottest on record.

Stranded Assets 284

Stranded Assets Climate Change Clean Technology Decarbonize 284

Corporate Knights

DECEMBER 17, 2024

The supply chains of over 100 fashion brands are linked to oil and gas fracking in the Permian Basin in Texas, due to their sourcing of fossil-fuel derived synthetic fibers, according to a new report from climate group Stand.earth. The report found 107 fashion companies using textile materials that rely on petrochemicals. Of these, 57 have explicit policies to phase out or reduce virgin polyester, which Stand.earth said was necessary to reduce the sectors carbon footprint.

Supply Chain 245

Supply Chain Supply Chains Academics Shipping 245

Corporate Knights

DECEMBER 9, 2024

Liquefied natural gas developers have expansion plans that could release 10 additional metric gigatons of climate pollution by 2030, and major banks and investors are enabling them to the tune of nearly $500 billion. A new report published by Reclaim Finance on Thursday calculates that, between 2021 and 2023, 400 banks put $213 billion toward LNG expansion and 400 investors funded the buildout with $252 billion as of May 2024.

Net Zero 248

Net Zero Banking Paris Agreement Development 248

Corporate Knights

DECEMBER 5, 2024

Aniseh Sharifi spent the better part of the past six years trying to convince an unyielding condo board they should invest in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. “A big reason for moving out of my condo was to get a charger,” she tells Corporate Knights. Sharifi says that she was not the only tenant in her building, located in Toronto’s east end, to make such a request.

Decarbonize 184

Decarbonize 184

Corporate Knights

DECEMBER 2, 2024

Searching for the protein of the future? Try your nearest duck pond, which in warmer weather is likely blanketed with the food sector’s next miracle ingredient: Lemna , also known as water lentils, also known as duckweed. Yes, it’s those tiny green plants that grow wild on the water’s surface, and their unique potential as an ingredient in animal-free products has been getting researchers and investors excited.

Manufacturing 167

Manufacturing 167

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 29, 2024

Canada is brimming with the potential to meet the aspirations of its citizens. No matter their political affiliations, Canadians overwhelmingly desire a flourishing economy that generates skilled jobs, ensures secure retirements, provides affordable housing and fosters economic opportunities. They seek meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, a commitment to preserving nature, and robust protection for their homes and businesses against increasingly severe natural disasters.

Impact Investing 167

Impact Investing Development Decarbonize 167

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Net zero. An environmental commitment sought by billions of global citizens, creating a world where the production of carbon emissions is counterbalanced by the amount we are able to absorb or sequester. Industries, corporations, and governments have committed to net zero goals, some within just a few short years, which will help to restore the overall health of the natural environment.

Net Zero 246

Net Zero Embodied Carbon Waste Development 246

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 22, 2024

More than 1,700 oil, gas and coal lobbyists are registered attendees of this year’s international climate summit, currently underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, to try to persuade the world that the fossil fuel industry can be part of the climate solution. The PR companies that help them sell that message are not far behind. Dozens of the consultants registered for the two-week conference, called COP29, come from 10 public relations agencies that work with oil giants such as Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, a

Greenwashing 246

Greenwashing Paris Agreement 246

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

The makers of heat recovery systems don’t tend to generate much media frenzy, but when they’re introduced by the likes of America’s Got Talent judge Heidi Klum, Canadian supermodel Winnie Harlow and William, Prince of Wales, the paparazzi start to take notice. That’s the magic formula behind this month’s Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, a glitzy event that shamelessly combined Hollywood pizzazz and British royalty with innovative waste-heat systems, wildlife conservati

Waste 130

Waste Development 130

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

T hree years ago, Canada enshrined its 2050 net-zero target into law. Bringing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions to a level anywhere in the vicinity of zero, net or otherwise, in the next 30 years will require a radical departure from what we’ve seen the last three decades. Emissions today are higher than they were in 1995, and in the 17 years since they peaked in 2007 they have declined a total of just 11%.

Decarbonize 162

Decarbonize Net Zero Climate Change Smart Buildings 162

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

In 2023, Canada's Liberal government passed landmark legislation to phase out chemical toxicity experiments on animals. Bill S5, as it was called, seemed like a big step in the right direction for scientific progress and animal welfare. However, according to some political leaders, scientists and animal advocates, one crucial step has been missed: funding the research centre capable of putting those laws into action.

Academics 354

Academics Climate Change Development 354

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Whoever invented the notion of herding cats never imagined the frustrations of guiding 190 nations along the complex path to net-zero. But that’s the mandate of Simon Stiell, the former environment minister of Grenada who is now the United Nations’ climate chief – the man most responsible for achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting climate change to 1.5°C by 2030.

Paris Agreement 157

Paris Agreement Climate Change Net Zero Development 157

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

At the close of every year, the conscience of the world goes on display at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. Held last year in the United Arab Emirates, the COP28 meeting came under fire for planning a hydrocarbon-free future in a country where oil and gas account for 30% of total exports. In 2024, COP29 must dig itself out of a bigger hole.

Greenwashing 284

Greenwashing Paris Agreement Climate Change Development 284

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

Students at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa are cracking open something far more significant than your standard business case study. Gone are the days of dissecting yet another U.S.-based example; instead, GIBS students are diving headfirst into African realities. “It’s critical for students to engage with case studies that reflect local conditions, offer context-specific solutions and link them to global discourse,” explains professo

Development 144

Development Climate Change Supply Chain Supply Chains 144

Corporate Knights

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

In 2016, when Tim Stonemeijer went looking for an MBA program that put sustainability at the fore, he found slim pickings. Today the English-born entrepreneur and circular-economy champion sees a “candy shop” of business schools flying the sustainability banner. The shift, while heartening, presents a challenge: how best to measure these programs’ commitment to sustainability and the impact they’re having on the world of business more broadly?

Chief Sustainability Officer 278

Chief Sustainability Officer Waste Development Net Zero 278