Impact Insights #9

Welcome back to the ESGI Horizon Newsletter! It’s been a little while, but we’re back with our bi-weekly updates on key developments in sustainability and impact investing.

In this edition, we break down the sweeping executive orders from Trump’s new presidency and their climate implications. We also cover the World Economic Forum’s latest risk report, Thailand’s plastic import ban, the U.K. university divestment movement, and China’s progress on its Great Green Wall. Finally, we wrap up with the latest impact deals driving financial inclusion and gender-smart investing.

Let’s dive in.

"Drill, Baby, Drill" – Trump’s Energy Agenda Takes Shape 

During his inauguration speech, Trump made his stance on energy policy clear: “We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have, the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it.” In the weeks that followed, Trump moved quickly, taking action with major climate implications:

• Withdrew from the Paris Agreement and froze all foreign climate finance.

• Revoked Biden's EV Initiative, which aimed for half of new car sales to be electric by 2030.

• Opened Federal Lands to Drilling, declaring a "national energy emergency" and reversing Biden’s ban on offshore oil and gas development across 625 million acres. Meanwhile, the U.S. are already the world’s top oil and gas producer. Trump also reopened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling.

• Fast-tracked Mining & Drilling with the “Unleashing America’s Energy” order, streamlining permits and revoking 12 Biden-era climate directives related to the government’s role in tackling climate change, climate-related financial risk and environmental justice.

• Halted Offshore Wind Projects, blocking federal support and suspending land leases, permits, and funding.

• Weakened the Endangered Species Act, appointing a committee with the power to greenlight controversial projects with national interests.

• Paused IRA Funding, disrupting clean energy investments.

• Dismantled key environmental offices within the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department.

• Banned Federal Use of Paper Straws, calling paper straws “a ridiculous situation”, and mandated a return to plastic in all federal agencies.

Despite Trump’s rollback of climate policies, momentum for climate action remains strong as state, local, and private sector commitments keeps the U.S. moving forward:

• Bloomberg Philanthropies has pledged to help fund the U.N. climate body following Trump’s exit from the Paris Agreement, ensuring the U.S.’s absence doesn’t derail global climate efforts. The U.S. typically covers 21% of the UNFCCC’s core budget, paying 7.2 million euros ($7.4 million) in 2024 for the required contribution.

• 24 states reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement under the US Climate Alliance.

• Over 5,000 U.S. leaders—including businesses and investors—have pledged to cut emissions in half by 2030 and put the country on track for net zero by 2050.

News & Trends

• 🥤 Thailand banned plastic waste imports to curb toxic pollution. After China’s 2018 ban, Thailand became a top destination for waste from Europe, the U.S., the U.K., and Japan, importing over 1.1 million tonnes between 2018 and 2021. In 2023, the EU exported 1.33 million tonnes of plastic waste abroad, while the U.S. sent 0.41 million.

  

• 🚩 The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 highlights the most severe risks we may face over the next decade. After armed conflict, environmental risks continue to dominate, with extreme weather topping the 10-year risk list for the second year. The report emphasizes how these risks are interconnected, influencing other risk categories.

  

• 🎓 115 U.K. universities have pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, following institutions like Birmingham City University and the University of Bradford. These divested universities represent 77% of the U.K. Higher Education sector, with over $22 billion in endowments.

  

• 🌳 China has completed a 3000-kilometre “Great Green Wall”​ around the Taklamakan Desert to combat desertification and sandstorms. Part of the Three-North Shelterbelt Program, the reforestation project began in 1978 and aims to be finished by 2050, eventually planting up to 100 billion trees—the largest ecological engineering project in the world.

  

Latest Impact Deals

• IDB Invest and BBVA Peru launched the first International Private Social Bond for Women Entrepreneurs. The funds will enhance financial inclusion in Peru by expanding credit access for micro and small businesses led by women.

• Ceniarth committed USD 10 Million to Deetken Impact’s Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund. This investment will support gender-smart capital deployment across Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on solutions for the region’s social and environmental challenges.

• Ghanaian fintech Affinity secured $8 million to scale digital banking. Led by German VC firm Grazia Equity, the seed round will help expand Affinity’s reach. Since launching last October, it has onboarded 50,000+ customers, 65% of whom are accessing formal banking for the first time.