Investors propelled ESG funds to new heights in 2020, and federal agencies are watching. WSJ explains why regulators have ethical and sustainable investment funds under review. Photo Illustration: Alex Kuzoian BP PLC has bought a controlling stake in the largest U.S. producer of carbon offsets, doubling down on a bet that preserving forests will be key to companies meeting their carbon-reduction goals. The oil giant in late 2019 made a $5 million venture investment in Pennsylvania’s Finite Carbon, which helps landowners sell their forests as carbon sinks. With majority ownership of Finite, BP plans to take global the business of paying landowners not to cut down trees. BP and Finite didn’t disclose financial terms of the latest deal but said that the forestry firm was now part of the energy company’s Launchpad. The unit functions similarly to a private-equity firm by taking big economic stakes in businesses with an […]