Day: 23 December 2025

Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber testifies on Beacon Hill to support the creation of a climate bank in Massachusetts

Stuart Mitchell

Ceres CEO and President Mindy Lubber testified last week in support of proposed legislation to create a climate bank designed to foster financial innovation to invest in climate mitigation and resilience projects and accelerate the deployment of clean energy projects across the Commonwealth. Lubber urged members of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Financial Services, in both written and oral comments, to advance the legislation, known as the Act Creating a Climate Bank in Massachusetts (H.3937 / S.786).  “Private capital is one of the last largely untapped financial resources in…

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New podcast episode explores solar power’s future growth

Stuart Mitchell

A new episode of the IEA podcast Everything Energy delves into what the World Energy Outlook 2025 says about future of solar power, which is projected to grow rapidly in the coming decades in all the scenarios mapped out in the report. Now available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, the episode features insights from Brent Wanner, Head of the IEA’s Power Supply Unit, and Anthony Vautrin, an energy modeller specialising in demand. They discuss the trends that have underpinned solar’s rapid ascent, its potential to meet rising electricity demand around the world, and some of…

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Stocktake of Sustainability Standards and Initiatives for minerals and metals

Stuart Mitchell

Amid the global rising demand for minerals and metals, a new report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) maps over 100 Sustainability Standards and Initiatives operating across value chains to clarify how these interact with laws, regulations and policy commitments, and how they might enhance environmental governance rather than undermine it.  The study finds that while these standards and initiatives are increasingly used to promote environmental and social performance, their rapid proliferation has created a fragmented and often confusing…

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IFC Supports Côte d’Ivoire Electricity for All Program’s Second Social Bond to Bring Electricity to Millions More People

Stuart Mitchell

To boost access to electricity for low-income households and small businesses in Côte d’Ivoire, IFC recently announced its support for a bond issuance that will help finance up to 600,000 new electricity connections, benefiting nearly 2.8 million people in the country, an almost 10 percent increase in national electricity access. IFC’s guarantees, totaling up to XOF15.8 billion (US$28.3 million equivalent), will support the participation of Société Ivoirienne de Banque (SIB) and the Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) as anchor investors in the bond, issued by a securitization vehicle…

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IPA and ISBA release updated version of their Creative Services Framework Agreement

Stuart Mitchell

The Creative Services Framework Agreement (CSFA) is designed to help agencies and advertisers build clear and effective long-term relationships. The IPA and ISBA have released an updated version of their joint template Creative Services Framework Agreement, developed in partnership with law firm Lewis Silkin, to continue providing advertisers and agencies with tools to create balanced, proportionate contracts for the provision of creative services. Originally published in 1998, the CSFA has undergone several updates over the years. Its last full overhaul was in 2015, when significant changes were introduced to reflect…

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