What's Happening in Sustainability & ESG (24.03 - 30.03) 🌎

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:

• Sustainability reporting reflects both pullback and continued momentum across regions 📑

• CERAWeek signals a multipolar energy system shaped by AI demand and execution bottlenecks ⚡️

• GRI released new exposure drafts to strengthen corporate reporting on pollution 📑

• The ISSB released exposure drafts proposing updates to three SASB sector standards covering agriculture, meat and dairy, and utilities 📑

• Nasdaq and Adyen backed the first EU-certified carbon removal credit transaction 🇪🇺

• and other news 🌍

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THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS

Regulatory Oversight & Industry Insights

📑 A survey of 3,000 US companies found a 17% drop in sustainability reporting in 2025, the first decline in five years, with nearly 300 companies stopping publication. While most large firms delayed rather than cancelled reports, the decrease was driven mainly by small and mid-sized companies, with total reports across the Russell 3000 falling from 1,739 to 1,444.

The decline reflects reduced investor pressure and rising legal risks around greenwashing and carbon claims, prompting companies to question the value of reporting. Executives are increasingly weighing costs against benefits, leading a significant minority to step back from sustainability disclosures.

Earlier this month, a survey found that 90% of companies removed from the scope of the EU CSRD still plan to maintain or expand sustainability reporting, with 86% able to continue at CSRD-level standards, highlighting diverging trends between the US and EU.

Staying on this topic, California’s CARB is considering three approaches for implementing Scope 3 emissions reporting under SB 253, which will require large companies operating in California to disclose value chain emissions starting in 2027. The options include broad applicability across all categories, a sector-based phase-in prioritizing high-emission industries, or a category-based phase-in focusing on commonly reported areas like business travel and procurement, alongside flexible accounting methods. CARB indicated that 2026 will serve as a transition year, with companies encouraged to report on a “best efforts” basis as the system develops. Estimated compliance costs range from $135,000 to $152,000 annually per entity.

Meanwhile, EU’s EFRAG launched a call for interest to engage companies and stakeholders on the upcoming voluntary sustainability reporting standard for firms outside the CSRD scope. Following the Omnibus changes that removed ~90% of companies from mandatory reporting, the new standard will build on the SME-focused VSME framework and target larger non-SME companies below the new thresholds. The initiative aims to gather insights on practical application and evolving reporting practices, as many excluded companies continue sustainability reporting voluntarily.

MORE INTERESTING NEWS

Latest developments, reports, insights, and trends

⚡️ CERAWeek, often called the “Super Bowl of Energy,” brought together more than 11,000 leaders from energy, tech, finance, and government in Houston, Texas, US, highlighting a world where disruption is becoming the norm. Set against the backdrop of the Iran war and rising energy prices, the event underscored a shift toward energy security and affordability over environmental priorities, with strong crossover between energy and AI players.

A key theme was the emergence of a “multipolar” energy system, where countries increasingly prioritize domestic resilience amid volatile fossil fuel markets. At the same time, AI is accelerating the convergence of power and technology, with hyperscalers driving massive energy demand and partnering with utilities and energy companies, while gas remains central but faces cost and deployment challenges.

Despite this, momentum for next-generation clean energy remains strong, with nuclear, geothermal, and fusion gaining traction. However, the biggest constraints are no longer technology but execution, as permitting delays, labor shortages, and grid limitations create significant bottlenecks, reinforcing that scaling energy systems fast enough remains the core challenge.

For example, delays in Pentagon reviews are stalling over 30 US onshore wind projects, holding up around 7.5 GW of capacity that could power cities or data centers. The backlog of approvals is raising concerns of deliberate obstruction amid broader Trump administration efforts to slow wind development, even as energy demand rises from AI and data centers, with industry groups warning of higher costs and potential legal action.

📑 GRI released new exposure drafts to strengthen corporate reporting on pollution, including air, soil, and critical incidents like oil spills. The proposals introduce a new soil pollution standard and expand existing disclosures on air emissions and waste, aiming to improve transparency and consistency in addressing a major yet underreported environmental issue, with final standards expected in 2027.

📑 The ISSB released exposure drafts proposing updates to three SASB sector standards covering agriculture, meat and dairy, and utilities to improve alignment with its global sustainability reporting framework. The amendments aim to enhance international applicability, add new disclosure topics such as food waste, supply chain impacts, and ecological risks, and ensure consistency with IFRS S1 and S2, with feedback open until July 2026.

🇩🇪 Germany adopted a new Climate Protection Program to cut emissions by 65% by 2030, backed by €8 billion and 67 measures across key sectors. The plan focuses on expanding renewables, electrifying industry, boosting EV adoption, and improving heating systems to reduce fossil fuel dependence and strengthen economic resilience.

🇮🇳 India unveiled new interim climate targets, aiming to cut emissions intensity by 47% and reach 60% non-fossil power capacity by 2035. While aligned with its 2070 net-zero goal, critics say the targets lack ambition, noting they are only slightly stronger than existing goals and may still allow overall emissions to rise.

India also launched its Carbon Market Portal to manage its Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, with trading set to begin within four months. The platform will handle registration, monitoring, and verification across industries, enabling companies to trade carbon credits based on emissions performance. Covering major industrial sectors and voluntary projects, the system aims to incentivize emissions reductions and support compliance with mechanisms like the EU’s CBAM.

WHAT ARE COMPANIES DOING?

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

🟢 Nasdaq and Adyen backed the first EU-certified carbon removal credit transaction, supporting a BECCS project in Stockholm (operated by Stockholm Exergi) as part of the bloc’s new CRCF framework. The deal follows the EU’s rollout of standardized methodologies for high-quality carbon removals and aims to build trust, transparency, and market infrastructure, with the Stockholm project expected to capture up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually once operational.

🟢 Microsoft signed a deal with Liferaft to supply one million carbon removal units over 10 years through biochar projects in the US Midwest. The agreement, one of the largest of its kind, uses biomass waste to produce biochar for long-term carbon storage while improving soil health and supporting rural jobs.

🛢️ TotalEnergies said global carbon neutrality by 2050 is no longer achievable under current conditions, signaling it may need to adjust its climate ambitions. The company cited the slow pace of the energy transition, technological limits, and policy gaps, noting that a 1.5°C-aligned pathway is now out of reach. It emphasized that its own targets depend on broader societal change, while continuing to reduce emissions within existing goals.

💧 PepsiCo achieved its goal of replenishing 100% of the water used at company-owned facilities in high water-risk areas, restoring water through conservation, infrastructure, and efficiency projects. The milestone, part of its pep+ sustainability strategy, also includes adopting global water stewardship standards and supporting broader initiatives, with nearly 29 billion liters replenished to date.

Solutions

📊 Watershed launched new platform capabilities to help companies manage ESG data and streamline sustainability reporting across all frameworks. The update expands its platform beyond emissions to cover full ESG metrics, adding tools like a flexible report builder, data automation, and AI-powered drafting and gap analysis.

📊 Clarity AI partnered with RiskThinking.ai to integrate asset-level physical climate risk data into its platform, aiming to enhance transparency and decision-making for financial institutions. The collaboration combines geospatial data and advanced risk modeling to provide detailed insights into climate hazards, biodiversity impacts, and asset-level vulnerabilities, supporting regulatory compliance and enabling more precise, audit-ready climate risk analysis across portfolios.

EVERYTHING FINANCE

Sustainable finance, funding rounds, acquisitions & private equity deals

⚡️ Some of the largest renewable energy investors remain bullish on the US market despite policy antagonism from the Trump administration. Brookfield and La Caisse agreed to acquire Boralex in a $6.5 billion deal, while EDP Renewables plans to increase the US share of its global capex from 45% to 60%, representing around $5 billion in new investments, largely driven by data center demand. “I’ve never seen demand this good,” said CEO Sandhya Ganapathy. Furthermore, RWE Americas said it will invest $20 billion in new US projects, emphasizing a long-term approach and noting that short-term policy shifts are not enough to change the market’s underlying attractiveness. Executives pointed to permitting delays and grid constraints as the main bottlenecks to deployment.

📊 Ecolab agreed to acquire data center cooling firm CoolIT for $4.75 billion to strengthen its capabilities in energy- and water-efficient cooling solutions. The deal expands Ecolab’s Cooling-as-a-Service offering, combining CoolIT’s technology with its own expertise to improve performance while reducing resource consumption.

⚡️ Octopus Energy acquired a majority stake in Uplight to help US utilities manage rising electricity demand from AI, data centers, and electrification. Uplight’s platform enables demand response and flexible load management across 85+ utilities, and the deal combines Octopus’s flexibility expertise, Schneider Electric’s grid technology, and Uplight’s customer engagement capabilities to unlock grid capacity and support a more resilient, affordable energy system.

Funds

📈 Decarbonization technology investment firm Climate Investment raised $450 million for its Decarbonization Acceleration Fund to scale commercially proven climate technologies across sectors like energy, industry, and transport. The fund targets the “missing middle” between venture and large-scale capital, helping mature solutions expand deployment, with investments already in areas such as emissions control, data center cooling, and AI-driven infrastructure.

📈 LaSalle, the global investment management business of JLL, raised $370 million for a new fund focused on decarbonizing commercial real estate through retrofit-led “brown-to-green” upgrades. The fund will target energy use reductions of over 30% while delivering value through improved asset performance, combining deep retrofits and lighter upgrades.

Startup funding rounds

♻️ Epoch Biodesign raised $12 million to scale its enzymatic recycling technology for nylon, bringing total funding to over $50 million. The company uses AI-driven enzymes to break down materials like nylon and PET into virgin-quality outputs with up to 80% lower emissions, targeting hard-to-recycle waste streams.

👕 Renasens raised €10 million to scale its waterless, chemical-free textile recycling technology using supercritical CO₂ to recover high-quality fibers from mixed waste. Its modular system enables cost-effective, scalable circular solutions for the fashion industry without requiring new equipment.

⚡️ Pranos Fusion raised $6.8 million to advance its tokamak-based technology aimed at accelerating the commercialization of fusion energy. The India-based startup is developing compact reactor designs using advanced plasma control and high-temperature superconducting magnets to improve performance and reduce size.

🟢 Fairglow raised €3 million to scale its SaaS platform that helps cosmetics companies measure and reduce product-level environmental impacts. The platform integrates LCA, carbon accounting, and eco-design tools, using AI to fill data gaps across thousands of ingredients.

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