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HSBC said there are already "inklings" of investors returning to more nuanced assessments of sustainability-linked bonds (SLB) in 2023, with less pressure on issuers setting vague targets for emissions reductions in their value chains.

The Australian regulator has launched court action against 'superfund' Mercer Super for misleading its sustainable fund investors over its involvement in fossil fuels.

Assets in biodiversity funds passed $984 million at the end of 2022, with a flurry of strategy launches despite macroeconomic woes, Thomas Cox reports

Recent regulatory developments that push India's ESG requirements forward show it is looking to "set the pace in certain areas", HSBC has said.

As climate-related litigation ramps up around the world, HSBC has predicted it will be much less prevalent across Asia.

Biodiversity-related investing is "in its infancy" with only a "limited" number of relevant investment products available to investors, an executive at HSBC Asset Management has said.

The Emirate of Sharjah has raised $1 billion from the first sovereign sustainable bond from a Gulf state country and first sustainability bond from a Middle Eastern nation, with the deal more than twice oversubscribed.

Sustainability-linked bonds lost their 'halo effect' in 2022, the knock-on benefits to their conventional bonds from issuing a sustainable bond, research by HSBC has found.

China is to strengthen its lead on green finance in Asia throughout 2023, driven by rising demand for ESG-focused funds and movements to open up its green bond market to international investors, research has found.

Attempts to finalise a standard have been bogged down in talks about whether the labelled bond market also needs minimum requirements - but there is hope of resolution. Ahren Lester reports