News briefs: Deutsche Börse buys majority stake in ISS

Plus, recycled paper wine bottles, and Biden's transition team for climate

Frugal Bottle, from Frugalpac, is made from 94% recycled paper.

Deutsche Börse buys majority stake in ISS for ESG 

Deutsche Börse has agreed to buy an 80% stake in governance, ESG data and analytics provider Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) in a deal that values the firm at nearly $2.3 billion, according to a report from Finextra. The company said in a news release that current management and Genstar Capital will retain a stake of 20% in the business, with CEO Gary Retelny staying on in his post as ISS remains autonomous to “ensure independence of its data and research.”

Biden names climate, environment hands for transition teams

President-elect Joe Biden’s teams to review federal agencies include a host of veterans from the Obama administration and others with significant prior experience in domestic and international climate policy battles, according to a list of team members unveiled this week. Politico reports that one of the leading advisers on Biden’s climate plan, Cecilia Martinez, will lead the review of the Council on Environmental Quality. Martinez is a veteran environmental justice advocate who taught at the University of Delaware in Biden’s home state. She served on Biden’s Climate Engagement Advisory Council over the summer and is the co-founder of the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy.

Wine bottle from recycled paperboard 

Cantina Goccia — a “lightly oaked Sangiovese with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon” — will be the first wine to be sold in the Frugal Bottle, a wine bottle made from 94% recycled paperboard that contains a food-grade pouch that can hold wine or spirit, The Drinks Business reports. The bottle was launched by British sustainable packaging company Frugalpac in July, according to the report, and Woodwinters Wine and Whiskies stores in Scotland will retail the wine after an online trial on its website sold out in four weeks.

China must boost green finance to achieve carbon neutrality goals

China must develop its green finance sector to fulfill its pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060, Christoph Nedopil Wang and Dimitri De Boer write this week in China Dialogue. China currently contributes about 26% of global carbon emissions, its economy is still rapidly developing, and many of its sectors and regions are heavily dependent on fossil fuels, they note. They write that to achieve China’s carbon neutral target, new investment of around 138 trillion yuan (US$20 trillion) will be needed between 2020 and 2050 in the energy system alone, over 2.5% of annual GDP, according to a recent study from Tsinghua University’s Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development. On top of that, they add, investments will be needed to make existing infrastructure resilient against the consequences of climate change.