Tuna industry on a collision course with subsea mining sector: Rising sea temperatures are expected to drive a number of tuna species into a potential mining hotspot, threatening the USD 5.5 bn tuna industry, Bloomberg writes, citing research in Nature. Global warming will drive tuna to migrate toward the Clarion-Clipperton Zone between Hawaii and Mexico, which has been pegged for deep sea mining of metals including cobalt and nickel. The mining operations would have a devastating effect on the breathing and feeding patterns of both tuna and the prey on which they rely for sustenance, the research cautions.

How will it take a toll on the fishing industry? Mining would send up sediment plumes that could span hundreds of feet and affect the breathing patterns of fish and spike their stress hormone levels, the research explains. Excavation of deep sea minerals could also unearth toxic metals that further impact the longevity of the species.

REMEMBER- There’s more deep sea mining coming: The UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) said it would begin accepting permit applications from corporations looking to launch deep-sea mining projects this month following two weeks of negotiations on standards and requirements of the new practice last April. The deep-sea mining projects aim to extract critical minerals essential to EV battery production including cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese. A notable sticking point in the decision is the lack of a standard mining code that would guide ISA in its application reviewing process.

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An unlikely tie-up between KSA’s Aramco, ESG is raising questions: Saudi Aramco has emerged as an unorthodox beneficiary of sustainable investment funds as a result of complex processes used to raise money from its pipelines, Bloomberg reports. The link between Aramco and ESG began with the setting up of two subsidiaries — the Aramco Oil Pipelines Company and the Aramco Gas Pipelines Company. Aramco sold 49% of the shares in each to consortiums led EIG Global Energy Partners and BlackRock Inc., respectively. In a bid to generate necessary funds to repay bank loans for the transaction, both asset managers created two SPVs — EIG Pearl Holdings and GreenSaif Pipelines Bidco. They sold the bonds which at the time got an above-average score in the JPMorgan Chase & Co. sustainability screening. The bonds then made their way to JPMorgan’s ESG indexes.

Major flaws: The existence of such complex financial structures arise as an issue for ESG investors who want their funds going into climate-friendly firms, founder and CEO of the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute Ulf Erlandsson said. “Some ESG investors have invested in these package deals, even though it seems unlikely that they would have bought the oil and gas companies’ bonds on a stand-alone basis,” Erlandsson said.