What's Happening in Sustainability & ESG (Week Recap 04.11 - 10.11) 🌎

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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 (SBTi) released a draft of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard 2.0, expanding flexibility while strengthening accountability for companies 📑

• The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) will end its work by 2026 and hand over nature-related reporting standard-setting to the ISSB 🌳

• COP30 opens in Belém with a push to define adaptation pathways and strengthen climate finance targets 🌎

• EU member states reached a deal to set new climate targets, including cutting GHG emissions 90% by 2040 🇪🇺

• A leaked draft of SFDR 2.0 outlines a major overhaul, replacing existing Articles 8 and 9 with three new mandatory product categories 🇪🇺

• and other news 🌍

Presented by DitchCarbon

Scaling the Impact: Race To Zero Companies’ Journey in Corporate Climate Action

DitchCarbon’s Scaling the Impact report analyzes the climate performance of 3,212 companies in the UN-backed Race to Zero (RTZ) campaign between 2022 and 2024. Despite global uncertainty, participating companies collectively cut 51.1 million metric tonnes of CO₂, equivalent to removing over 500,000 fuel trucks’ worth of emissions. The findings demonstrate that corporate decarbonization is accelerating, though challenges persist—especially in addressing supply chain (Scope 3) emissions.

THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS

Regulatory Oversight & Industry Insights

📑 The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) released a 97-page draft of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard 2.0, expanding flexibility while strengthening accountability for companies. The updated framework introduces multiple emission-reduction pathways, formalizes limited use of carbon credits and certificates, and expands recognition for climate finance and carbon removal investments. It adds clearer rules for Scope 2 and 3 emissions, including intensity-based metrics, supplier-based targets, and insets for value-chain mitigation, while shifting Scope 2 guidance from “zero-carbon” to “low-carbon” energy. Large companies must publish detailed climate transition plans, phase out unabated fossil fuels, and report annual progress with five-year reviews. The consultation runs until December 8, 2025, with the final standard set for release in 2026 and enforcement starting in 2028. SBTi also reported that the number of companies setting SBTi-aligned climate targets has tripled in the past 18 months, nearing 12,000.

🌳 The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) will end its work by 2026 and hand over nature-related reporting standard-setting to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). TNFD will complete its technical work by Q3 2026, after which the ISSB will develop new disclosure standards based on the TNFD framework, with a draft expected ahead of COP17 in October 2026 and final standards likely by 2027. Over 700 companies, representing $9.4 trillion in market value, have adopted TNFD-aligned reporting. ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber encouraged firms to keep using TNFD to stay aligned with future ISSB requirements and ensure consistency in nature-related disclosures. TNFD also released new guidance to help companies integrate nature into their transition plans, aligning business strategies with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Building on GFANZ and TPT frameworks, it outlines how firms can set goals, define actions, and disclose progress toward a net-zero, nature-positive future.

MORE INTERESTING NEWS

Latest developments, reports, insights, and trends

🌎 COP30 started on Monday in Belém, Brazil, bringing together world leaders and negotiators to accelerate global climate action a decade after the Paris Agreement. The talks will focus on finalizing global adaptation indicators, defining a just transition, and shaping future climate finance pathways. One of the summit’s key deliverables will be the adoption of 100 measurable indicators to track progress on climate adaptation, refined from an initial list of 5,000 and set to become one of COP30’s concrete outcomes. Parallel debates will continue around adaptation finance, the “Baku to Belém” roadmap to mobilize $1.3 trillion in climate finance, and how to ensure equitable support for developing nations. Beyond formal talks, new 2035 climate pledges (NDCs) and discussions on reforming the COP process, from streamlining agendas to limiting participation and formalizing accountability for pledges, will shape the tone of COP30.

🇪🇺 EU member states reached a deal to set new climate targets, including cutting GHG emissions 90% by 2040. The agreement, achieved after lengthy negotiations, introduces key compromises such as allowing up to 5% of reductions through international carbon credits and delaying the new ETS2 carbon pricing system to 2028. It also establishes a 2035 emissions target of 66–72.5% cuts (based on 2019 levels).

🛩️ The European Commission also reached an agreement with over 20 major airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa, and KLM, to stop using misleading environmental claims about carbon neutrality and “green” flights. Under the new commitments, airlines must avoid vague green terms, substantiate any SAF claims, and provide transparent, evidence-based emissions data. Authorities will monitor compliance and may enforce sanctions for violations.

🇺🇸 16 US state attorneys general urged companies including Microsoft, Google, and Meta not to comply with the EU’s CSRD and CSDDD regulations. The letters warned that following the EU’s sustainability and due diligence rules could violate US law and expose firms to lawsuits, framing the measures as unlawful ESG and DEI mandates. The move extends Republican opposition to EU sustainability policies despite a recent US–EU agreement to ease regulatory burdens under the Trump administration.

🇪🇺 Meanwhile, over 100 lawyers and law professors warned that the EU’s Omnibus proposal could face legal challenges and heighten business uncertainty. The open letter urges the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee to seek an internal legal opinion before proceeding, citing the absence of an impact assessment needed to evaluate proportionality under EU law. The signatories argue that raising CSRD thresholds and excluding listed SMEs lacks evidence that such changes would offer relief without undermining reporting scope, leaving legal uncertainty likely even after a final agreement.

📑 The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) launched the Integrity Matters Checklist to help companies report credible climate actions in line with UN guidance on net zero. Built around the new GRI 102: Climate Change Standard, the tool helps organizations disclose emissions cuts, transition plans, and fossil fuel reductions transparently. Backed by the UN, it aims to make corporate climate targets more consistent, science-based, and accountable, ensuring businesses match their promises with real progress.

WHAT ARE COMPANIES DOING?

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

🌳 Google signed its largest carbon removal deal yet, agreeing to purchase 200,000 tons of CO₂ offsets from Brazil’s Mombak through Amazon reforestation projects. The agreement, four times larger than their 2024 pilot, underscores Big Tech’s drive to secure high-quality offsets to balance rising data center emissions while avoiding low-credibility REDD credits. Mombak, which restores degraded pastureland into biodiverse forest, became the first project approved by the Symbiosis Coalition (a buyer alliance including Google, Microsoft, and Meta), aimed at contracting 20 million tons of rigorously verified, nature-based carbon removals by 2030.

🏦 HSBC released its 2025 Net Zero Transition Plan, reaffirming its goal to reach net zero across its financed emissions, operations, and supply chain by 2050. The update reinstates 2030 sector targets, introduces revised reduction ranges, and shifts focus toward supporting clients’ transition strategies amid uneven global decarbonization. HSBC reported $54.1 billion in sustainable finance in H1 2025, bringing its total to $448 billion toward its $750B–$1T goal by 2030. The bank said its new approach reflects current economic realities while aiming to mobilize capital and deepen customer partnerships in the transition to net zero.

 🇺🇸The Trump administration approved a $1.4 billion deal with rare earth startups Vulcan Elements and ReElement Technologies to strengthen US supply chains in materials vital for defense and tech industries. The package includes $620 million from the Defense Department, $50 million from the Commerce Department, and $550 million in private capital, aimed at scaling domestic magnet production and mineral processing.

🟢 Shell and Mitsubishi invested $17 million in US startup Avnos to build its first commercial-scale hybrid direct air capture (HDAC) facility. The plant, set to open by late 2026, will capture 3,000 tons of CO₂ and produce 6,000 tons of clean water annually. Avnos’ technology removes both carbon and water from the air without using heat, overcoming key energy and water constraints of conventional DAC systems.

🌳 IKEA’s Inter IKEA Group partnered with BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group to restore and manage 4,000 hectares of degraded land in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The project, part of IKEA’s €100 million carbon removal commitment, will combine native forest restoration with sustainably managed pine plantations to balance ecosystem recovery and local economic activity.

EVERYTHING FINANCE

Sustainable finance, funding rounds, acquisitions & private equity deals

🇪🇺 A leaked draft of the European Commission’s upcoming SFDR 2.0 proposal reveals sweeping reforms aimed at simplifying and strengthening the EU’s sustainable finance framework. The overhaul would scrap the existing Article 8 and 9 regime and introduce three new mandatory product categories: Article 7 – Transition funds (at least 70% of assets tied to measurable transition goals), Article 8 – Sustainability Integration funds (focused on strong ESG performance or proven sustainability track records), and Article 9 – Sustainable Objective funds (at least 70% invested in sustainable economic activities, excluding companies expanding fossil fuels or coal without phase-out plans). The EU Commission claims the reforms are intended to reduce reporting burdens, curb greenwashing, and create clearer, more comparable sustainability categories for investors. Formal adoption is expected to be discussed by the College of Commissioners on 19 November 2025.

📈 The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) faces growing questions about its direction, leadership, and relevance amid political backlash and member attrition. Once a booming ESG powerhouse with over 5,000 signatories, the organization now contends with governance turmoil, a leadership vacuum, internal morale issues, and a $6.2 million lawsuit from a former US head. Major founding members such as British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and NEST have departed, citing unclear value and high costs, raising concerns that PRI’s size has diluted its purpose. Observers warn that without stronger leadership and clearer impact, the world’s largest responsible investment coalition could drift toward irrelevance.

📑 The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) introduced new Climate Transition Bond (CTB) guidelines, creating a dedicated bond category to finance decarbonization in high-emitting sectors. The guidance defines eligible activities such as carbon capture, fossil-fuel switching, methane abatement, and early asset decommissioning, and sets safeguards to ensure alignment with transition strategies, decarbonization pathways, and disclosure of carbon lock-in risks.

Acquisitions

🤝🏻 Carbon Direct acquired climate tech pioneer Pachama to strengthen its digital monitoring, reporting, and verification capabilities for forest carbon projects. The deal combines Carbon Direct’s scientific and advisory expertise with Pachama’s advanced technology to improve transparency, project quality, and scalability in the voluntary carbon market.

🤝🏻 Denominator acquired gender equality data provider Equileap to form a global leader in human capital data. The merger combines Denominator’s broad workforce analytics with Equileap’s leading diversity and inclusion datasets, expanding coverage to 5.5 million companies and 1,800 data points.

New funds

📈 Forbion raised €200 million for its BioEconomy Fund I to invest in biology-based industrial sustainability solutions. Exceeding its €150 million target, the fund will back 12–14 companies in Europe and North America developing scalable biotech and green chemistry innovations in food, agriculture, materials, and environmental tech.

📈 The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) raised $100 million through its first Amazonia Bond to fund sustainable development projects across the Amazon region. Amazonia Bonds will finance projects that improve livelihoods, restore ecosystems, and support inclusive, climate-resilient growth.

📈 Rubio Impact Ventures raised over €70 million for its new fund, Rubio Fund III, to back around 30 companies tackling climate change and social inequality. The Amsterdam-based impact investor, now managing €220 million, focuses on scalable solutions across climate, circularity, education, and well-being.

Startup funding rounds

⚡️ Infravision raised $91 million in Series B funding to scale its aerial robotics technology for power grid construction and maintenance. The Texas-based startup’s TX System combines drones, smart ground equipment, and stringing hardware to help utilities build transmission lines faster, safer, and at lower cost.

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