The REP Wrap: Major carbon removals firm in first direct air capture deal
A carbon removals platform operating on behalf of some of the world’s biggest companies has made its first direct air capture deal. Frontier has large, multi-year purchase commitments the likes of Alphabet, McKinsey, Salesforce, JP Morgan and H&M. It has signed a $30.6m deal with German firm Phlair, which it claims could remove 47,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2027 and 2030.
BP will ramp up its investment in oil and gas as part of a “fundamentally reset strategy” announced this week, in response to pressure from activist Elliot Investment Management. In a U-turn on its 2020 commitment to cut its fossil fuel investment by 40% by 2030, it revealed spending would rise to $10bn per year. It will slash “transition investment” by $5bn, to less than $2bn per year.
B-Corp has hit the headlines after another of its members announced plans to ditch the label, saying it “no longer holds the weight it once did”. B-Corp certification is meant to indicate that a company is run in a socially responsible and transparent way, but Aniesha Soobroyen, co-founder of Scrumbles pet food, said on LinkedIn it had become “little more than a marketing badge”. Soapmaker Dr Bronners also left recently, arguing the label had become too watered down. B-Corp is currently undergoing revisions to tighten its criteria.
The proportion of women in top corporate positions fell last year, according to MSCI’s latest annual report. Women now hold 27.3% of board seats at global listed companies – up 1.5% on 2024 – but broader senior positions, including Chief Financial Officers, were down. Among both current and past female directors, there was a higher percentage with financial expertise compared to their male peers.
The Danish arm of EY has urged banks to engage with their borrowers about corporate greenwashing, saying in a blog this week that “greenwashing risks should be considered a credit risk”.
The International Labor Organisation (ILO) is looking for a consultant to work on a paper exploring what a just transition looks like from a climate adaptation perspective rather than mitigation, which has been the focus of discussion to date. The deadline for applications is 7 March.