The deadly virus is a stress test, of sorts, for the challenges of climate change, says Market Watch. The crisis points to the potential of a new normal that’s better for our climate future as investors reweight their portfolios in light of current events.

A new report from Greenbiz and Trucost evaluates the fivefold growth in corporate sustainability reporting over the past decade, and looks at how automation and artificial intelligence are being leveraged to both generate and evaluate ESG data.

The first tranche of US$18 million in funding has been deployed to food banks and community organisations across America and Europe working directly with vulnerable populations. In Asia since January, BlackRock has provided support to Give2Asia, where its funding earlier this year supported the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital.

BlackRock has released its Engagement Priorities for 2020 outlining its roadmap for investment stewardship this year. The Priorities also further BlackRock’s commitment in January to make sustainability its new standard for investing.

It appears increasingly likely that the global coronavirus outbreak will cut greenhouse-gas emissions this year, as deepening public health concerns ground planes and squeeze international trade. But, warns Technology Review, the situation could complicate the challenges of climate change at a point when it was crucial to make rapid strides.

The bushfires that devastated huge swaths of Australia over the past six months have left the engagement policies at the center of the superannuation industry's efforts to address climate change risks under growing scrutiny, says Pensions & Investments.

As it currently stands, MSCI has 37 ESG-related gauges versus 1,000 for traditional stock and bond indexes, but expect that disparity to change over time. Remy Briand, head of ESG at MSCI, expects assets under management following the company’s ESG gauges will likely double in 2020, according to a Bloomberg Green report.

The new rule will require all commercial companies with a premium listing to either make climate related disclosures consistent with the approach set out by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) or explain why not. The FCA will consider consulting on extending this rule to a wider scope of issuers.

UBS Asset Management has seen its sustainable ETF range pass €10bn assets under management (AUM), a sign of the increasing demand for ESG products, says ETF Stream. The firm launched its first ETF with an ESG tilt in 2011, the UBS ETF MSCI World Socially Responsible ETF (WSRUSA) which became the first ESG ETF listed in Europe to pass the €1bn barrier last July.

London-based Critical Resource and global sustainability consulting firm Environmental Resources Management ERM, have joined up in a deal that is a significant development in terms of the market for ESG and sustainability consulting services, says Mining.com.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission wants to know whether money managers are engaging in false advertising by saying funds are devoted to doing good when the reality is much murkier, reports Bloomberg.

By focusing on the G, the Governance part of ESG, French asset manager BNP Paribas has issued an index-tracker certificate, which selects companies based on their G-force, says Investment Europe.

A new Federated Hermes study conducted with Beyond Ratings, ‘Pricing ESG risk in sovereign credit, part II’, reveals a meaningful relationship between sovereign ESG scores and CDS spreads in developed markets, according to Institutional Asset Manager.

BlackRock has expanded its range of sustainable exchange traded funds (ETFs) with three new products for investors looking to manage long term risks relating to ESG factors, reports Investment Europe.

Ping An Insurance Group has become the first major Chinese asset owner this year to openly declare that it will stop financing high pollution and high energy consumption industries as part of its efforts to combat climate change and become an active global influencer in the ESG space, according to The Asset.