What's Happening in Sustainability & ESG (19.05 - 25.05) 🌎

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:

• The Science Based Targets initiative published a new five-year strategic plan representing a significant organizational shift 📑

• The UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution backing the International Court of Justice’s climate opinion ⚖️

• Forty major food and beverage companies signed a joint declaration to accelerate regenerative agriculture initiatives across global supply chains 🌾

• Global sustainable investment funds attracted $3.5 billion in net inflows in Q1 2026, rebounding from $27 billion in outflows in the previous quarter 📈

• and other news 🌍

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THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS

Regulatory Oversight & Industry Insights

📑 The Science Based Targets initiative published a new five-year strategic plan representing a significant organizational shift, coming one year after David Kennedy took over as CEO. Moving away from a one-size-fits-all model, SBTi is repositioning itself from an "ambition setter" to a "transformation partner," prioritizing sector-specific decarbonization frameworks, with new frameworks under development for industries including aviation, shipping, oil & gas, steel, cement, buildings, and agriculture.

The strategy softens its stance on companies missing targets, signaling a preference for keeping businesses within its framework rather than removing them. SBTi also plans to build private benchmarking tools from corporate data, a move that raises conflict-of-interest questions, given the organization recently removed a clause prohibiting employees from advising companies on their targets.

On the topic of carbon markets, SBTi continues evaluating "book and claim" mechanisms that let companies claim credit for investing in emerging low-carbon technologies within their value chains, with guidance expected by end of 2027. However, carbon credits from projects outside a company's value chain will not count toward emissions goals, though SBTi is consulting on their use as a complement to actual footprint reductions.

Operationally, SBTi Services is streamlining target validation to a 30-day turnaround and exploring a subscription funding model. Geographically, the organization plans to expand into Asia, where it already sees strong growth, targeting China, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia, as well as Africa, where its presence remains limited. Europe currently accounts for more than 60% of companies with science-based targets. Close to 11,000 companies have used SBTi’s guidance for near-term emissions reduction pledges, while roughly 2,600 have set corporate net-zero targets.

MORE INTERESTING NEWS

Latest developments, reports, insights, and trends

⚖️ The UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution backing the International Court of Justice’s climate opinion, affirming that countries have a legal responsibility to address climate change and protect people from environmental harm. The resolution passed with 141 votes in favor, while the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and several others opposed it. Although the ICJ opinion is not legally binding, it strengthens the legal and moral basis for climate action and could influence future climate-related lawsuits and international policy debates.

🚗 Global electric vehicle sales are expected to reach 23 million in 2026, accounting for nearly 30% of all cars sold worldwide, according to a new IEA report, as EV adoption continues to accelerate despite ongoing energy market disruptions. EV sales surpassed 20 million in 2025, representing 25% of global new car sales, while growth in early 2026 remained strong in regions including Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The report also highlighted China’s continued dominance in EV manufacturing and battery supply chains, alongside growing momentum for electric trucks and expanding charging infrastructure globally.

🌍 Global carbon pricing revenues reached a record $107 billion in 2025, up 2% year over year, according to the World Bank, as more countries expanded carbon taxes and emissions trading systems (ETS). Around 30% of global GHG emissions are now covered by direct carbon pricing across 87 policies worldwide, with new systems introduced in countries including India, Japan, Serbia, and Vietnam. The report also found that average carbon prices doubled over the past decade to nearly $21 per ton of CO₂ equivalent, driven largely by rising ETS prices.

🇪🇺 The European Commission approved €1.3 billion in German state aid to support renewable hydrogen production, backing plans to build up to 1,000 MW of electrolyser capacity through the EU Hydrogen Bank’s Auctions-as-a-Service program. The initiative aims to produce up to 10 million metric tons of renewable hydrogen and avoid up to 55 million tons of CO₂ emissions, while helping reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The approval comes amid a difficult market environment for green hydrogen, with companies such as Thyssenkrupp Nucera warning that customers continue to delay investment decisions.

The European Commission also selected 65 projects to receive nearly €400 million in funding through the EU’s first Innovation Fund Heat Auction aimed at scaling clean industrial heat technologies. The projects, spanning 10 European countries and sectors including steel, glass, food, and pharmaceuticals, are expected to avoid more than 6.6 million tons of CO₂ emissions over 10 years and replace around 1.5 billion m³ of natural gas through technologies such as heat pumps, solar thermal, and electric heating systems.

WHAT ARE COMPANIES DOING?

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

🌱 Forty major food and beverage companies, including Carlsberg, Nestlé, Mondelez, Diageo, Unilever, and ADM, signed a joint declaration to accelerate regenerative agriculture initiatives across global supply chains. Coordinated through the SAI Platform nonprofit network, the program aims to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation while improving long term agricultural resilience. The companies said greater collaboration across farmers, NGOs, academics, and supply chain partners is needed to scale regenerative agriculture effectively.

🟢 BioCirc and Microsoft signed a 7-year agreement for the delivery of up to 650,000 tons of carbon removal credits generated from BioCirc’s bioenergy carbon capture and storage operations in Denmark. The deal marks Microsoft’s first major carbon removal purchase since reports that the company was slowing procurement activity, and will support the capture and permanent storage of biogenic CO₂ from BioCirc’s biogas plants beneath the Danish North Sea.

⚡️ Google reaffirmed that its goal to operate entirely on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 remains unchanged, despite the growing energy demands of its AI infrastructure expansion. Speaking at the Ecosperity conference in Singapore, Google executive Ben King said the company remains committed to matching electricity consumption with local clean energy generation every hour of every day, even as Google plans to invest around $190 billion in technical infrastructure this year to support AI growth.

⚡️ Enbridge announced a new $1.2 billion solar and battery storage project in Wyoming to support Meta’s growing data center operations, expanding the companies’ clean energy partnership to around 1.6 GW across North America. The Cowboy Project will combine 365 MW of solar capacity with a 200 MW/1600 MWh battery storage system, with Tesla supplying the batteries, and is designed to deliver reliable, dispatchable renewable power while strengthening grid resilience.

🔋 Ford Energy and EDF power solutions North America signed a new agreement for Ford to supply up to 20 GWh of battery energy storage systems over five years, marking the first major deal for Ford’s newly launched BESS business. Under the agreement, EDF will procure up to 4 GWh annually of Ford’s grid-scale battery storage systems to support its growing U.S. energy storage portfolio, with deliveries expected to begin in 2028.

✈️ Lufthansa Group expanded its portfolio of climate protection projects, increasing its focus on permanent carbon removal and technology-based solutions such as Direct Air Capture (DAC). The airline said passengers contributed to projects covering more than 710,000 metric tons of CO₂ in 2025, up around 20% year-over-year. Lufthansa also doubled the share of projects focused on permanent carbon removal, which now accounts for roughly 20% of its portfolio.

Solutions

📊 Datamaran announced upgrades to its AI-powered Core platform, aimed at helping companies continuously identify, prioritize, and monitor non-financial risks, ESG topics, and emerging issues. New features include real-time external signal monitoring, AI-generated recommendations for impacts, risks, and opportunities (IROs), enhanced stakeholder intelligence tools, and peer benchmarking against audited CSRD reports.

📊 Novata launched Risk Atlas, a new AI-powered platform designed to help private market investors identify, prioritize, and monitor emerging risks across portfolios and supply chains. The tool tracks risks across areas including reputational, cyber, geopolitical, and climate exposure, using AI-driven data and analytics to support investment screening, portfolio monitoring, and risk management throughout the investment lifecycle.

📑 ISS-Corporate launched a new ISSB IFRS program designed to help companies comply with the ISSB’s IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability disclosure standards. The solution combines consulting services, carbon accounting, climate risk assessment, and reporting software to support areas including Scope 1–3 emissions inventories, climate risk analysis, transition planning, and gap assessments, as global adoption of ISSB standards continues to expand.

EVERYTHING FINANCE

Sustainable finance, funding rounds, acquisitions & private equity deals

📈 Global sustainable investment funds attracted $3.5 billion in net inflows in Q1 2026, rebounding from $27 billion in outflows in the previous quarter, according to Morningstar. The recovery was driven primarily by Europe, which recorded $9.1 billion in inflows, while US sustainable funds continued to see outflows for the 14th consecutive quarter, losing $4.3 billion. Despite the inflow rebound, total global sustainable fund assets fell 10% to $3.51 trillion amid broader market volatility.

⚖️ ISS is facing new lawsuits from the Attorneys General of Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, and West Virginia, alleging that the proxy advisory firm misled investors by incorporating ESG and DEI considerations into its voting recommendations. The lawsuits claim ISS marketed its advice as objective while promoting climate and diversity-related policies not directly tied to financial returns, and also raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest linked to its ESG consulting activities.

🌏 Temasek said it is likely to miss its 2030 portfolio decarbonization target, citing geopolitical shifts, rising AI-driven energy demand, and challenges decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and power generation. Despite the setback, the Singapore-based investment firm said it remains committed to achieving net zero by 2050 and will continue investing in areas including renewable energy, industrial decarbonization, and climate technologies while embedding climate considerations into investment decisions.

🌱 Schroders Greencoat acquired Dutch biomethane platform APF Energy, expanding its renewable gas portfolio in Europe. APF Energy produces biomethane from agricultural manure and food waste and currently operates six assets across the Netherlands, supporting the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors while also addressing agricultural nitrate challenges and reducing reliance on fossil fuel imports.

Funds

📈 Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) launched Advanced Bioenergy Fund II, a new fund targeting biomethane and advanced bioenergy projects across Europe, with an initial €200 million commitment from the European Investment Fund. The fund aims to scale industrial biogas plants converting agricultural and organic waste into biomethane for sectors such as heavy industry and maritime transport, with a target fund size of €1.5 billion and projects focused on countries including Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, and Finland.

CIP, together with British International Investment, also launched North Star, a new $300 million renewable energy platform focused on scaling solar, wind, hybrid, and energy storage projects in India. The initiative aims to help accelerate renewable energy deployment, close financing and development gaps, and support India’s clean energy targets, with the platform expected to generate more than 4 million MWh of clean electricity annually.

📈 Pentagreen Capital announced the second close of the Green Investments Partnership (GIP), bringing total committed capital for the blended finance platform to $800 million to support sustainable infrastructure projects across Southeast and South Asia. The fund, part of Singapore’s FAST-P initiative, will provide debt financing for areas including renewable energy, EV infrastructure, energy storage, and water management, aiming to help mobilize private capital for Asia’s energy transition.

Startup funding rounds

📊 La Caisse announced a new investment in sustainability reporting software provider Novisto to support the company’s growth. Montreal-based Novisto provides ESG data management and reporting tools for large enterprises, helping companies manage sustainability data and comply with frameworks such as CSRD and California climate disclosure laws.

⚡️ Grid intelligence startup GridCARE raised $64 million in Series A funding to scale its platform designed to accelerate electricity access for AI data centers. The company’s GridCARE Energize platform uses physics-based AI to identify underutilized grid capacity and reduce interconnection timelines from years to months, helping address growing power constraints linked to AI infrastructure expansion.

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