Each month, we gather standout sustainable finance articles from our favourite writers. This curated selection brings together the most engaging ideas, timely analyses, and fresh perspectives published over the past month, so you can catch up on what mattered most.

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Top 10 Sustainability Markers – February 2026

Terence Jeyaretnam

In his February 2026 “Top 10 Sustainability Markers”, Terence Jeyaretnam maps the accelerating integration of climate and nature into disclosure architecture, trade policy, corporate law and financial governance. The month’s developments point to a structural shift: sustainability is moving from narrative reporting to enforceable, system-level regulation embedded within capital allocation and enterprise risk management.

Key points:

Global disclosure convergence accelerates

• The UK formally released UK SRS S1 and S2, aligned to the ISSB baseline (IFRS S1 and S2), reinforcing international comparability across governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets. Disclosure architecture is consolidating around a common global framework.

Carbon leakage moves to the centre of industrial strategy

• Australia’s final Carbon Leakage Review examines competitiveness risks for emissions-intensive, trade-exposed sectors including aluminium, steel, LNG, cement and chemicals. With the EU’s CBAM entering its transitional phase and similar mechanisms progressing in the UK and Canada, carbon policy is now inseparable from trade exposure, capital expenditure planning and export market access.

GHG accounting standards tighten

• Forthcoming GHG Protocol revisions signal stricter boundary definitions for joint ventures, franchises and operational control. The new Land Sector and Removals Standard establishes clearer rules for nature-based and technological removals, raising expectations around measurement integrity, baselines and auditability.

Modern slavery framework shifts toward due diligence

• Australia’s Anti-Slavery Commissioner has recommended moving beyond transparency-only reporting to mandatory, risk-based due diligence with potential enforcement powers, aligning with emerging global supply-chain regulation and increasing compliance exposure.

China’s emissions plateau draws scrutiny

• Analysis indicates China’s CO₂ emissions have been flat or falling for 21 consecutive months, potentially signalling a structural shift in global emissions trajectories, driven in part by renewable expansion and economic dynamics.

‘Beyond GDP’ gains multilateral backing

• More than 150 countries have supported UN-led calls for economic metrics that better capture biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and long-term resilience, signalling rising institutional support for nature-inclusive economic frameworks.

High Seas Biodiversity Treaty advances

• Australia introduced legislation to ratify the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, formalising mechanisms for marine protected areas and environmental impact assessment beyond national jurisdiction—strengthening global ocean governance.

Nature-related directors’ duties crystallise

• Legal analysis across the UK, Australia, Canada and the EU reinforces that directors’ duties increasingly encompass material biodiversity and ecosystem risks. Nature is shifting from a CSR adjacency to a core governance obligation with potential liability implications.

AI’s climate claims face evidence-based scrutiny

• The IEA’s Energy and AI report finds global data centres consumed an estimated 460–500 TWh in 2025 (around 1.5–2% of global electricity use), with demand potentially more than doubling by 2030. AI-driven efficiency gains may be offset by rising electricity use, water intensity and rebound effects—placing pressure on credible scope 2 and 3 disclosures and lifecycle analysis.

Carbon Majors data sharpens accountability lens

• The 2024 Carbon Majors update confirms that a relatively small group of fossil fuel and cement producers accounts for a disproportionate share of industrial emissions. Production-based attribution continues to influence litigation risk, stewardship strategies and transition-alignment scrutiny under ISSB, EU CSRD/ESRS and emerging mandatory regimes.

Back At You. A Few Thoughts on Sustainability…

Simon Rebbechi

In his latest roundup, Simon Rebbechi threads together a set of “under-the-radar” sustainability signals, where technology, trade policy, and litigation are reshaping real-economy decarbonisation pathways. The common throughline: the transition is being driven as much by cost curves, supply-chain security, and regulatory architecture as by climate ambition itself.

Key points:

Robotaxis as an EV adoption lever

• Waymo’s US$16bn raise and expanding ride volumes are shifting the narrative toward safety + scale, with price emerging as the next catalyst.

Hybrids/EVs keep going mainstream

• Product quality is improving fast, reinforcing electrification as a consumer-value story.

Critical minerals: partners + premiums

• China’s dominance is driving US-aligned coalition building and a growing willingness for corporates to pay more for secure, strategically-friendly supply because rare earths are small in COGS but big in risk.

AI power demand is reshaping grids

• Data centres are increasingly going behind-the-meter to get “time-to-power,” and much of it is gas-driven, with knock-on impacts for emissions, permitting, and global gas vs renewables dynamics.

Extreme cold ≠ climate reversal

• Despite cold snaps, the long-run trend is fewer extreme cold events and fewer freezing days, tightening physical-risk communication.

Accountability toolkit broadens

• Climate litigation and shareholder pressure (e.g., “prove the value” challenges to oil & gas strategies) are being used to shift norms, not just win cases.

Carbon measurement → carbon trade tools

• US moves to measure emissions intensity can enable CBAM-style import duties over time, showing the “viral” spread of carbon border logic.

Carbon pricing momentum persists

• Coverage continues to expand globally, underpinning transition risk, competitiveness, and investment signals.

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