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Oct 23 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Parliament Rejects Omnibus Political Agreement
Last week, I wrote about the latest developments in the EU’s Omnibus reform process. The highlight of the blog was Parliament’s recent actions to adopt a political agreement and the pending vote on a negotiating position, which would move forward...
Oct 23 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Trellis: Salesforce’s GHG “Intensity Loophole”
Trellis recently posted a piece on Salesforce’s use of greenhouse intensity reporting rather than absolute emissions in “what might be called the ‘intensity loophole.’ For years, standard-setters have grappled with how to create a framework that leaves room for fast-growing...
Oct 23 2025
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
Notable additions to PracticalESG.com this week are below. Blog of the week: Anti-ESG Brings Greenwashing Allegations Against Big Tech 7 new CSRD reports were added this week which can be viewed here. Hot Topics for the Week: “U.S. DOE Releases...
Oct 22 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Is the C-Suite View of Sustainability Aligned With the Reality?
While I’m talking about reports, Deloitte published their 2025 C-suite Sustainability Report: The next wave of business value. The results offer interesting contrasts between C-suite views compared to what other reports indicate is happening within sustainability functions themselves. “There has...
Oct 22 2025 #assurance, #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors
94% of Russell 1000 Publish Sustainability Reports, With SASB Beating GRI
The Governance & Accountability Institute published a report on the status of sustainability disclosures in the Russell 1000. The 2025 Sustainability Reporting in Focus contains many interesting insights, but these are the high level findings: “In 2024, 94% of the...
Oct 22 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
Youth Suit Against Federal Energy Policy is Dismissed
We previously wrote about a group of youth plaintiffs suing the US government over recent changes in federal energy policy. Their lawsuit challenging three executive orders promulgated earlier this year has been dismissed. The Montana court ruled that the relief...
Oct 21 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
Anti-ESG Brings Greenwashing Allegations Against Big Tech
Sixteen anti-ESG state attorneys general recently signed a letter to big tech companies Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google inquiring about their renewable energy practices. These AGs take issue with company claims of using 100% renewable energy in their operations because...
Oct 21 2025 #climate, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
New Sustainability ROI Study Offers Old and New Insights
Yet another in a wave of new studies on the ROI of sustainability was published recently by MassMutual and ImpactROI – Project ROI: Determining the Competitive and Financial Advantages of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability 2025. The report is certainly interesting...
Oct 21 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
Google Helps Companies Measure Carbon Footprint of On-line Advertising
One of the best ways companies can reduce their supply chain emissions is to provide programs and/or direct financial support to suppliers for reducing their emissions. Not many companies offer meaningful programs in this regard; Google is one company that...
Oct 16 2025 #compliance, #esg, #investors
Omnibus Update: Parliament Moves Forward with Negotiating Position
The EU’s omnibus package seeks to scale back sustainability regulations, and its passage has been a somewhat chaotic process. US observers may feel particularly confused, as the EU’s lawmaking process isn’t second nature to us. Additionally, headlines have been flying...
Oct 16 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
“We Get ROI on Sustainability – Trust Me”
The ROI/business value of sustainability is the newest thing (it isn’t actually new at all, but go with me on this for the moment). CSOs and other in-house staff wax poetic on their ROI at conferences, seminars, on LinkedIn and...
Oct 16 2025
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
Notable additions to PracticalESG.com this week are below. Blog of the week: Facing Trade Pressure from US, EU Commission Considers Dropping CSRD for US Companies 5 new CSRD reports were added this week which can be viewed here. Hot Topics...
Oct 15 2025 #compliance, #environment, #esg, #human-rights, #social, #supply-chain
France to SHEIN: “Several Non-Compliances” with OECD Guidelines
If you saw the performance of SHEIN’s General Counsel for EMEA before the UK Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee, this news won’t be surprising. The French government has published their Final Statement on the “Specific Instance of the French NCP:...
Oct 15 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
Are You Getting Sustainability Consulting, or Just AI Output?
By now, you’ve seen the news about the report Deloitte produced for the Australian government that contained numerous errors because it was generated by AI without a human checking its output first. Matt Levine offered his views on the matter:...
Oct 15 2025 #esg, #investors
SEC Signals Hostility to ESG Shareholder Proposals
It wasn’t too long ago that activist investor groups like Engine No. 1 and Arjuna Capital were using shareholder proposals and proxy contests to push ESG in the corporate world. These groups saw limited success. While some shareholder proposals did...
Oct 14 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
BCG: Companies See 4%-7% Increase in EBITDA From Sustainability
Some compelling data and news from BCG. In their newly-published analysis Sustainability in Private Markets: How Staying the Course Creates Value, the firm reported private equity General Partners (GPs) “estimate that sustainability drives 4% to 7% in realized EBITDA growth...
Oct 14 2025 #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Earplug Company Brings Greenwashing Suit Against Competitor
While environmental regulation may be slowing down in the US, sustainability litigation is still going strong. Greenwashing presents a major litigation risk for companies that falsely or improperly promote sustainable aspects of their products or services. You may already be...
Oct 14 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Climate Litigation Going Strong, Despite Political Environment
Climate litigation continues to rise in the US and abroad. The UNEP, in conjunction with the Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, published their Climate Litigation Report 2025, the fourth in an ongoing annual series. The report...
Oct 9 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #human-rights, #supply-chain
Facing Trade Pressure from US, EU Commission Considers Dropping CSRD for US Companies
The EU is looking to further scale back sustainability legislation. As omnibus negotiations grind along, the EU Commission seeks to unilaterally cut a number of sustainability measures. The Commission is doing this through delaying or abandoning implementation of “Level 2”...
Oct 9 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
In Defense of Kariba – Quantum Commodity Intelligence
The Kariba carbon offset project is still drawing scrutiny, even after Verra itself reported on problems with the project: “… it was found that the actual deforestation observed in the Kariba project’s reference area was significantly lower than the initially...
Oct 9 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #social, #supply-chain
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
Notable additions to PracticalESG.com this week are below. Blog of the week: ISS on Who is Reporting What Scope 3 Emissions 7 new CSRD reports were added this week which can be viewed here. Hot Topics for the Week: Climate...
Oct 8 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
ISS on Who is Reporting What Scope 3 Emissions
Here are some fascinating statistics from ISS Corporate last week. I like these not only for what they communicate but how – they are easy to understand. Simplicity and clarity are not typical hallmarks in conveying sustainability-related information. Summing up...
Oct 8 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #social, #supply-chain
Is it Now E Versus S?
It seems like E, S and G go together like peas and carrots (channeling Forest Gump). But that may not necessarily be the case. There are more instances where companies make decisions as though it is E versus S. Here’s...
Oct 8 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #investors, #social
Judge Finds No Monetary Damages in ESG Investing Case
Earlier this year, anti-ESG walked away with a big win when a federal judge in Texas ruled that American Airlines breached its duty of loyalty by considering ESG factors in the company’s retirement investing. Now that win has been tempered...
Oct 7 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Salesforce on Their “Simple” Sustainability ROI
Last week, Forbes wrote a short piece on their Sustainability Leaders Summit held last month. This follows their 2025 Forbes Research State of Sustainability Survey, about which I blogged recently. The new article highlights Salesforce: “Salesforce has developed an easy...
Oct 7 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors
MSCI’s Climate Week Summary: Investors “Focused on Where Money is Made”
Following up on the previous blog’s theme on the importance of converting operational sustainability metrics to business fundamentals… In the past 5 years, climate/sustainability-focused equities were following the 1990s dot-com path – “meme-like” valuation growth without reasonable underlying business fundamentals....
Oct 7 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
NZBA Votes to Cease Operations
Last month, I wrote about a pending Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) plan to pivot from a membership-based organization to a standard-setting one. The plan went to a vote and passed. The NZBA will cease operations immediately. Responsible Investor reports:...
Oct 2 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
CBAM Simplification Completed – De Minimis Threshold Adopted by EU Council
The EU is currently in the process of “simplifying” many of its sustainability laws and regulations. We’ve written about the EU Council and Parliament reaching a political position on amendments to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Now those amendments...
Oct 2 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Sustainability Professionals – Be Careful in Interpreting Market Signals
Many years ago, I was moved into what was then a new supply chain risk consulting practice in the company for which I was working. At an internal conference, we reviewed a case study about Volvo 850s manufactured in the...
Oct 2 2025
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
Notable additions to PracticalESG.com this week are below. Blog of the week: SEC Announces Intent to Change Rules Impacting Sustainability Disclosures 8 new CSRD reports were added this week which can be viewed here. Hot Topics for the Week: 2025...
Oct 1 2025 #compliance, #esg, #human-rights, #supply-chain
New Tariffs Increase Criminal and Civil Enforcement Supply Chain Risks
I’ve recently written about how the new US tariffs create more pressure on supply chain due diligence processes and professionals (here and here, for instance). Hogan Lovells issued similar warnings: “U.S. trade enforcement now targets the entire supply chain for...
Oct 1 2025 #compliance, #esg, #human-rights, #social, #supply-chain
German Supply Chain Act to be Applied “Restrictively”
We’ve written about upcoming changes to the text of Germany’s Supply Chain Act. While the legislative changes scale back the law as written, the German government is also signalling changes to how the law is enforced. Reporting from Clean Energy...
Oct 1 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Verra Cancels Kariba Credits, Improves Project Reviews
Carbon registry Verra has been under scrutiny since The New Yorker exposed problems in 2023 concerning methods and approaches in verifying voluntary carbon offsets in the Kariba project – befallen with much controversy. Verra announced the conclusion of its project...
Sep 30 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
SEC Announces Intent to Change Rules Impacting Sustainability Disclosures
SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced last week that the agency is initiating rulemaking with a significant impact on how companies report climate/sustainability matters in financial disclosures. Currently, companies that report on climate or other sustainability matters in SEC filings typically...
Sep 30 2025 #assurance, #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
Doubts Rise About EU Omnibus Deadline
Omnibus negotiations surrounding the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) are due to reach a critical junction in mid-October. This is when the EU Commission, Council, and Parliament are all supposed to have their...
Sep 30 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Trump Uses Emergency Powers to Keep Coal Plants Running
Most reports about last week’s Climate Week NYC were upbeat, but there was contrasting news – not just President Trump’s UN address calling climate change the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” Bloomberg reported that the administration “plans...
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Sep 22 2025
Podcast
: What is Sustainability Due Diligence?
Aug 12 2025
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: ESG Litigation Landscape 2025
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Featured Q&A Members Only
SEC expectations for sustainability KPI disclosure
As companies increasingly publicly report sustainability KPIs, I’m wondering if that is creating any obligation or expectation from the SEC to regularly disclose these in SEC filings? What if senior management regularly publicly references particular KPIs (without the actual KPI results) as what they are looking at to measure the success of the business and new initiatives? Do these statements create some obligation or expectation from the SEC to include the KPI results in 10-Ks/10-Qs?
09/25/2025, Question #30633
SEC Climate Disclosure Rule
What is the current status of the SEC climate disclosure rule?
09/15/2025, Question #30466
Liability for hyperlinked information in earnings disclosure – applicability to sustainability information
Here is a question posted over on TheCorporateCounsel.net Q&A Forum that is relevant to corporate sustainability messaging:
A company is proposing to include a couple hyperlinks in an earnings release to some previously published comments from the CEO that were made on LinkedIn about management philosophy. The information in those comments is not material. I believe that links such as those are not permitted in an SEC filing so the company would remove those links in the version of the release that gets furnished with the corresponding 8-K. Should there be any concern that nonetheless there would be any potential heightened liability associated with anything contained in the linked comments? Any other concerns with removing the links?
09/15/2025, Question #30463