Upcoming: NatWest hosted third annual “Women in Sustainability” event in London 

On 26th June, NatWest hosted its third annual event honouring women leading the sustainability across the financial ecosystem in our London offices.  

The event opened with a fireside chat between Isabelle Girolami, our new Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking, and James Waud, our Head of Financial Institutions Group, exploring how we drive sustainable transformation at scale.  

This was followed by our headline panel on defining transition finance, looking at pathways, progress and pitfalls. For closing, we were joined by Lauren Steadman, multi-medallist Paralympic Champion in the Women's Individual PTS5 category, three-time World Champion and eight-time European Champion, who shared her story on building resilience and overcoming huge adversity.

NatWest’s Sustainable Finance Advisory: Utilities Sector update published

Product innovation: Blue use-of-proceeds structures dive into frameworks. Thematic issuance strategies around water-based "Blue" bonds continue to feature as new additions where issuers are updating their financing frameworks.  

Utility issuers make up three out of 10 EuGBS issuances YTD (a2a, Iberdrola, Norsk Hydro (June)), with two more utility transactions in the pipeline (Verbund, Elenia) given pre-issuance factsheets published earlier this year. NatWest expect total EuGBS supply of up to €20bn for the end of 2025, with the label expected to represent no more than 10% of overall green supply.

Read more.

UK Spending Review 2025 – What does it mean for sustainable finance?  

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled the first spending review under the current Labour government, allocating more than £100bn across critical sustainability themes, with a strong focus on nuclear power, home energy efficiency, carbon capture, and clean energy infrastructure.

It outlines a major shift in public investment towards accelerating the net-zero transition and enhancing national energy security, with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)[1] receiving the largest capital uplift of any department, underlining the centrality of climate policy in national economic planning.  

Some key funding commitments include:

• Energy efficiency & housing: Warm Homes Plan: £13.2bn (2025–2030), including grants and loans for insulation, heat pumps, solar panels, and batteries, with £5bn coming from “financial transactions” (likely loans); Affordable Housing Programme: £39bn over 10 years, doubling previous spending .
• Clean energy infrastructure: Great British Energy (GB Energy)[2]: £8.3bn, including £300m for offshore wind supply chains, delivered via £9.6bn in “financial transactions” (equity, loans, guarantees) .
• Nuclear energy: At least £33.1bn including Sizewell C and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)[3].
• Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS): £9.4bn by 2029, supporting clusters including Acorn (Scotland) and Viking (Humber).

Read GOV UK policy paper.

EU Parliament’s Omnibus negotiator proposes much sharper cuts to sustainability reporting regulations  

Jörgen Warborn, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the Omnibus initiative and a member of the EPP, has published draft amendments proposing significantly deeper cuts to sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements than those suggested by the European Commission.

The draft suggests raising the thresholds for company coverage under the CSRD[4] and CSDDD[5] to firms with over 3,000 employees and €450m in revenue, compared to the Commission’s proposed 1,000-employee threshold, thereby excluding a large number of companies from reporting obligations.

The EPP’s draft also limits value chain reporting requirements, allowing companies to explain why certain information is unavailable rather than mandating its collection, and removes mandatory climate transition plans, requiring reporting only if such plans exist.

These proposed changes, aimed at reducing regulatory burdens and simplifying compliance, may complicate negotiations within Parliament, where views on the Omnibus package remain divided.

Read EU Omnibus proposals.

CDP restructures, looks to reduce sustainability reporting burden 

The global environmental disclosure platform CDP[6] has announced a strategic restructuring that may lead to a 20% reduction in its workforce as it shifts focus toward reducing the reporting burden for companies and enhancing its technological capabilities.

The organisation, which saw a record 22,700 companies disclose through its platform in 2024, is aiming to become a leaner, more partner-and-technology-enabled entity while reinvesting in innovation and key functions such as product, growth, operations, and customer success.

CDP’s updated strategy emphasises streamlining disclosure processes, minimising duplication and manual data entry, and delivering sector-specific, actionable insights through a use-case model.

CEO Sherry Madera stated that the changes are intended to strengthen CDP’s resilience and innovation, ensuring it continues to provide high-quality, standardised environmental data to support sustainable decision-making across the economy.

Read ESG Today Report.

Morningstar DBRS publishes updated criteria on its approach to environmental, social, and governance factors in credit ratings

Morningstar DBRS has released an updated version of its ESG criteria, outlining how it incorporates 17 environmental, social, and governance factors into credit ratings across various sectors including governments, financial institutions, corporate finance, and structured finance. 

The changes in the updated criteria primarily provide clarifications and reflect the differing ESG approaches being adopted by various countries. 

Following a periodic review, Morningstar DBRS concluded that the update is not material and will not result in any changes to existing credit ratings. 

The revised Criteria, which replaces the previous version from August 13 2024, became effective on May 16 2025. 

Read Morningstar press release.

SBTi opens consultation on new standard to accelerate automotive industry's net-zero transition 

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)[7] has launched a 60-day public consultation on its draft Automotive Sector Net-Zero Standard, aiming to provide a science-based framework to help automakers and parts manufacturers set credible net-zero targets.

The proposed standard aligns with the broader Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2 and includes updated, sector-specific criteria for reducing emissions across scopes 1, 2, and 3, building on previous guidance for land transport.

Key consultation topics include a new aggregated emissions indicator, criteria for increasing low-emission vehicle sales, regional emissions pathways, and enhanced guidance on emissions calculations, particularly for well-to-wheel assessments.

The standard targets automakers producing over 10,000 vehicles annually and parts manufacturers earning at least 20% of revenue from automotive components, with the consultation open to all stakeholders until August 11, 2025.

Read Science Based Targets article.

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Voluntary carbon market in transition as quality focus reshapes trading strategies  

The voluntary carbon market is stabilising after three years of decline, with a shift towards higher-quality credits.  

The report notes a demand for integrity and transparency, prompting changes in buyer preferences.  

A greater emphasis on carbon removal projects is expected to reshape market dynamics and boost investor confidence. 

Read S&P Global article. 

Britain facing race to avoid $1bn in EU carbon tax costs  

Britain must link its carbon market to the EU's by January 2026 to avoid incurring approximately £800m in annual carbon border tariffs.  

Experts warn that the necessary technical adjustments may take years, raising concerns about the feasibility of meeting this deadline.  

The UK government remains committed to forging this link despite the complexities involved.

Read Reuters article. 

Rothschild research: Sustainable funds (Morningstar) outperform traditional in the long term

Rothschild has released its ‘ESG insights for 2025 and beyond’, detailing an analysis of Morningstar data that investment in sustainable funds over the longer term, taking 2018 as a baseline, have outperformed their traditional counterparts. 

Regular articles from us on market-moving themes, and updates on what we are doing to further our ESG commitment. 

• Sustainability in fund finance: challenges, innovations, and the road ahead | NatWest Corporates and Institutions
• FMSB to support consistent sustainability-linked products governance | NatWest Corporates and Institutions
• NatWest’s 20th ‘What ESG investors want’ webinar

Sustainability Solutions platform 

We’ve launched a new climate platform to help cut costs and support businesses in their transition to become more sustainable. The main features of the platform are a focus on lower emission vehicles and solar potential. The tool has a quick calculator function where businesses can gather quick costings and estimated savings and also generate in-depth solar reports to find tailored recommendations of local suppliers.

Explore the tool.

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Or, for Corporates looking to discuss any of the above further, please reach out to our authors:

• Caroline Haas, Head of Sustainable Finance Advisory 
• Dr Arthur Krebbers, Managing Director, Sustainable Finance Advisory 
• Rui Zu, Sustainable Finance Advisory
• Thomas Gidman, Sustainable Finance Advisory
• Daniel Bressler, Sustainable Finance Advisory
• Helen Ferguson, Sustainable Finance Advisory
• Niceasia Mc Perry, Sustainable Finance Advisory
• Isabella Crack, Sustainable Finance Advisory
• Zeyno Yurddas, Sustainable Finance Advisory

1. DESNZ [1] Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
2. GB Energy [2] Great British Energy
3. SMRs [3] Small Modular Reactors
4. CSRD [4] Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
5. CSDDD [5] Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
6. CDP [6] Carbon Disclosure Project
7. SBTi [7] The Science Based Targets initiative