What's Happening in Sustainability & ESG (02.06 - 08.06) 🌎

This week’s read time: 8 minutes

Welcome to this edition of Green Digest, where you will get updated about everything happening in the Sustainability & ESG space in less than 10 minutes. 🌎

We go through tons of articles and data from the most reliable sources, filter & simplify them, and serve them to you in bite-sized chunks every week. 🍀

In this edition, we’ll cover:

• Companies and trade bodies call for better alignment of ESRS with global standards 🌍

• CDP is facing growing questions about its future relevance 📑

• EU launches action against 20 states for missing greenwashing law deadline 🇪🇺

• A new UN report warns that AI-driven data centre expansion could double global electricity and water consumption by 2030 🤖

• ISO launches global net zero transition planning standard for financial institutions 🏦

• and other news 🌍

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THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS

Regulatory Oversight & Industry Insights

🇪🇺 Hundreds of companies and industry bodies responded to the EU consultation on revised ESRS standards, calling for closer alignment with other EU legislation and global frameworks such as ISSB, the GHG Protocol, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Many stakeholders also requested a more reasonable deployment pace, stronger protections around the new value chain cap to prevent excessive supplier data requests, and enforcement mechanisms for companies and banks that fail to respect those limits. Companies including Exxon, IKEA’s Ingka Group, and Nokia supported further simplification, interoperability, and reduced reporting burdens, while others argued for a more flexible, trust-based approach focused on addressing specific infringements rather than expanding full-documentation requirements.

Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund manager, NBIM, urged closer alignment with ISSB standards, arguing that companies should be able to meet both frameworks through a single report. While supporting the EU’s simplification efforts under the Omnibus initiative, NBIM said closer alignment would improve comparability for investors, reduce dual reporting burdens, and strengthen European capital markets. The fund manager proposed targeted changes, including a “non-obscuring principle” for investor-relevant information and greater flexibility in disclosure presentation, while maintaining the EU’s double materiality approach alongside the ISSB’s global baseline, now adopted across 42 jurisdictions representing around 60% of global GDP.

GRI welcomed the revised ESRS proposals and the EU’s decision to preserve double materiality, while also calling for stronger alignment with international standards to reduce duplication and reporting burden. In its response to the European Commission, GRI urged closer interoperability with global frameworks, removal of the proposed exemption for assets under management, fewer restrictions on sustainability data sharing across value chains, and the inclusion of double materiality disclosures in the proposed voluntary standard for mid-sized companies. GRI said maintaining both impact and financial materiality helps companies assess risks, strengthen strategy, remain competitive, and support the development of a more coherent global sustainability reporting system.

MORE INTERESTING NEWS

Latest developments, reports, insights, and trends

📊 CDP, one of the sustainability sector’s most influential organizations, is facing growing questions about its future relevance as mandatory climate disclosure requirements proliferate globally, according to Trellis. More than 22,000 organizations disclosed through CDP last year, and its success in persuading companies to voluntarily report emissions has helped pave the way for mandatory reporting regimes in more than 40 jurisdictions. However, for the first time since its founding in 2001, the number of companies disclosing to CDP declined in 2025, as some organizations increasingly question the need for voluntary reporting alongside new regulatory requirements.

At the same time, CDP has faced criticism over bureaucracy, fees, and technical issues, including disclosure scoring errors that frustrated some participants. Several sustainability professionals cited concerns over the platform’s complexity and value, while others noted that investors are increasingly relying on mandatory disclosures aligned with standards such as those developed by the ISSB. Research cited in the article found that the likelihood of a company disclosing to CDP fell by 5.5% following the introduction of mandatory reporting requirements, prompting suggestions that regulation has fundamentally reshaped the sustainability reporting landscape.

Despite these challenges, many experts argue that CDP still has an important role to play by improving data quality, enabling comparability, and providing more holistic assessments of corporate sustainability performance. Unlike fragmented disclosures published across company websites, CDP offers a centralized dataset that remains valuable for investors and other stakeholders. As sustainability reporting evolves, CDP may increasingly focus on broader issues across climate and nature, helping organizations assess impacts, risks, dependencies, and opportunities while continuing to drive best practice and support “Earth-positive decisions” beyond the requirements of regulation alone.

🌊 In related news, CDP expanded its environmental disclosure platform to include ocean-related reporting, enabling companies to disclose information on ocean-related risks, opportunities, dependencies, and impacts. The new disclosure category aims to address a key data gap for investors and decision-makers by providing insight into how ocean issues influence corporate strategy, financial planning, and environmental policies.

🇪🇺 The European Commission launched infringement procedures against 20 EU member states for failing to transpose the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT), a new anti-greenwashing law designed to protect consumers from misleading environmental claims. The directive bans unsubstantiated claims such as “environmentally friendly” or “biodegradable,” regulates sustainability labels, strengthens product durability and repairability requirements, and aims to improve transparency around guarantees and environmental performance. Member states had until March 27, 2026, to implement the rules into national law, and now have two months to respond before the Commission may escalate the process, potentially leading to legal action and financial penalties.

🤖 A new UN report warns that AI-driven data centre expansion could double global electricity and water consumption by 2030, with annual power demand rising from 448 TWh in 2025 to 945 TWh and water use increasing from 4.5 trillion to 9.3 trillion litres. Researchers estimate AI currently accounts for 20% of data centre electricity use, but that share could reach 40% by 2030, while carbon emissions are projected to more than double to 399 million tonnes. The report highlights that AI relies on extensive physical infrastructure, including data centres, cooling systems, minerals, land, and water, and warns that poorly planned expansion could intensify local resource pressures, despite AI’s potential to improve efficiency and reduce waste.

The EU is already planning to introduce minimum energy-efficiency standards and a sustainability label for data centres due to such concerns. Data centre capacity in the EU is expected to more than double from 12 GW in 2025 to 28 GW by 2030, increasing its share of electricity consumption beyond the current 2.5%. The EU Commission will assess efficiency requirements for both new and existing facilities by 2027, while also developing a sustainability label covering criteria such as water use and clean energy supply.

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WHAT ARE COMPANIES DOING?

Corporate sustainability, new tools and services & companies in the news

💧 Google announced new water stewardship commitments, including a goal to become water positive across its data center operations by 2030 by replenishing more water than it consumes. The company also pledged to invest in water infrastructure, watershed protection, alternative water sources, and greater transparency, including annual disclosure of data center water consumption. Google currently supports 165 water stewardship projects across 97 watersheds and expects them to replenish more than 19 billion gallons of water annually by 2030, more than double its 2024 water consumption, while committing $17 million to new water projects across seven US states.

🌱 Carbon removal company Charm Industrial signed a new agreement with JPMorganChase for the purchase of 61,500 tons of CO₂ removal credits from its bio-oil projects, while also securing a $20 million venture debt facility to support growth. The deal brings JPMorganChase’s total carbon removal commitment with Charm to 90,000 tons, making it one of the largest bilateral bio-oil CDR offtakes to date. The financing will help Charm expand operations in Colorado and scale the processing of forest residues from wildfire mitigation projects, further supporting the development of permanent carbon removal infrastructure.

🏦 TD Bank Group signed a 10-year carbon dioxide removal (CDR) offtake agreement with Canadian carbon removal developer Deep Sky to purchase more than 18,000 carbon removal credits from its direct air capture facilities. The deal will support the development of permanent carbon removal infrastructure in Canada and help scale the country’s emerging carbon removal market.

🔋 Alphabet-owned Waymo and B2U Storage Solutions partnered to repurpose retired batteries from Waymo’s all-electric autonomous vehicle fleet into stationary battery energy storage systems, extending battery life and supporting the circular economy. Under the agreement, B2U will use retired EV batteries for grid-scale energy storage projects in Texas and California before ensuring they are ultimately recycled.

Solutions

🌾 Sweep and HowGood launched a partnership to help food and agriculture companies track and report product-level emissions, combining HowGood’s database of more than 12 million product carbon footprints with Sweep’s sustainability reporting platform. The integrated solution aims to address growing pressure from regulations such as the EU’s CSRD and California’s SB 253 by providing ingredient- and product-level emissions data for Scope 3 accounting, regulatory reporting, and supplier engagement.

🔍 Brightest announced a partnership with TÜV SÜD to integrate independent supplier auditing and sustainability assurance services directly into its sustainability management platform. The collaboration enables companies to initiate supplier audits within Brightest and receive TÜV SÜD’s audit findings in the same system, while also allowing organizations to move seamlessly from preparing sustainability disclosures to requesting third-party assurance engagements.

EVERYTHING FINANCE

Sustainable finance, funding rounds, acquisitions & private equity deals

🏦 ISO launched ISO 32212, a new global standard providing a common framework for banks, insurers, asset managers, and investors to develop and integrate net zero transition plans into their activities. The standard sets out requirements and recommendations for assessing climate-related risks and opportunities, setting transition objectives and targets, integrating them into lending, investment, and insurance decisions, engaging with clients and investees, and monitoring progress.

🇬🇧 The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) proposed removing TCFD-based climate reporting requirements for investment products and replacing them with simpler, more targeted disclosures. The regulator found that while the current rules improved climate risk management and transparency, the detailed product-level reports were often too complex for retail investors and rarely used. Under the proposal, firms would instead provide clearer information on material climate risks and opportunities affecting investment performance, while institutional clients could request Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data on demand. The FCA estimates the changes could save investment firms around £20 million annually and has opened a consultation running until July 13, 2026.

🏗️ Goldman Sachs Alternatives raised more than $3 billion at the first close of its fifth flagship infrastructure fund, West Street Infrastructure Partners V. The fund will invest across energy transition, digital infrastructure, transportation & logistics, and the circular economy, targeting opportunities driven by rising AI-related power demand, geopolitical shifts, and deglobalization.

M&A

🌊 Sustainability consultancy SLR acquired South Africa-based marine and natural capital specialist Anchor Environmental Consultants, expanding its capabilities in marine and coastal development, biodiversity, natural capital, and environmental advisory services. Anchor’s team of 45 specialists supports governments, NGOs, financial institutions, and industries, including energy, mining, fisheries, and ports.

🎓 International risk management group Apave acquired Climate School, AXA Climate’s employee sustainability training business, to strengthen its new sustainability-focused subsidiary, Apave Impact. Climate School supports more than 250 major organizations and has trained more than 8 million employees globally through digital and hybrid programs focused on climate, sustainability, decarbonization, and adaptation.

Funding rounds

⚡ Fusion energy company Helion raised $465 million in a Series G funding round. The funding will support the commercial deployment of fusion energy and expansion of operations as Helion advances construction of Orion, its first fusion power plant, which is expected to supply carbon-free electricity to Microsoft by 2028.

🏍️ Kenya-based electric mobility platform Spiro raised $215 million to scale its electric motorcycles, battery-swapping network, manufacturing footprint, and next-generation EV infrastructure across Africa. The company currently operates 100,000 electric motorcycles and more than 2,500 swapping stations, with over 30 million battery swaps completed.

🏭 Gigaton raised $26 million in a Series A funding round to expand its AI-powered plant optimization platform and accelerate decarbonization in energy-intensive industries. The company’s autonomous software is already deployed by major cement producers, including Holcim, Heidelberg Materials, and Adani Cement, delivering $1–3 million in savings and cutting up to 30,000 tonnes of CO₂ per plant.

🥬 Freshflow raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. The platform optimizes forecasting, replenishment, and inventory decisions for fresh products, enabling retailers to cut spoilage by up to 30% while increasing revenue by 2–4%.

⚡ Companion.energy raised €7.8 million in seed funding. The platform connects energy contracts, operational systems, and distributed energy assets into a single optimization layer that forecasts demand, models market exposure, and automates energy decisions in real time.

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