What's Happening in Sustainability & ESG (06.10 - 12.10) 🌎

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:

• Greenwashing incidents increased 112% between 2022 and 2026 🔍

• The IPCC remains deadlocked over its next climate-assessment schedule after nearly three years of debate 📑

• More than 40 nonprofits urged the GHG Protocol, SBTi, and ISO to address conflicts of interest and corporate influence 📑

• Companies are increasing sustainability investment while concentrating spending on fewer initiatives with clearer financial returns (Deloitte survey) 📊

• HSBC launched Sustainability Improvement Loans in Europe, linking financing costs for SMEs to changes in external ESG ratings 🏦

• and other news 🌍

Regulatory Oversight & Industry Insights

🔍 RepRisk’s fifth annual Greenwashing Report finds that greenwashing risk is evolving alongside the energy transition, as growing investment and public attention bring greater scrutiny to the companies, technologies and financial institutions driving it. Greenwashing incidents increased 112% between 2022 and 2026, while the number of companies linked to greenwashing reached 1,594 in 2026, up 28% year over year. Oil and gas, utilities, mining and alternative energy all increased their share of exposed companies, showing that involvement in climate solutions does not shield businesses from scrutiny over unsupported transition claims or wider environmental impacts.

Biodiversity and ecosystems overtook climate change and emissions as the environmental issue most frequently associated with greenwashing for the first time in five years. RepRisk recorded 116 biodiversity and ecosystem linkages between 2022 and 2026, compared with 92 related to climate and emissions. Financial services and banks remain particularly exposed, together accounting for one-fifth of sector linkages in 2026 as investors face closer examination of the companies and projects they finance.

Greenwashing allegations are also becoming more serious and persistent: nearly one in four incidents involved severe allegations, up from around one in six in 2022, while three-quarters involved companies previously linked to greenwashing. The Americas overtook Europe in incident volume for the first time, recording 268 cases compared with 242, although Oceania had the highest concentration relative to overall business-conduct risk. RepRisk argues that investors must look beyond low-carbon labels and regulatory compliance, assessing project-level impacts, allegation severity and companies’ previous conduct to determine whether transition claims are credible.

Latest developments, reports, insights, and trends

📑 The IPCC remains unable to agree on a publication schedule for its next climate assessment after nearly three years of debate, creating an unprecedented deadlock within the organisation. The EU, climate-vulnerable nations and more than 30 other countries are pushing for updated research before the 2028 UN climate negotiations to guide emissions targets and climate-finance decisions. Saudi Arabia, India, China and other emerging or fossil-fuel-producing economies support delaying some reports until 2029, citing workload and the representation of scientists from poorer countries. The IPCC’s 195 members will seek to resolve the dispute in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, amid concerns that further delays could leave the 2028 talks reliant on research published in 2021 and 2022.

📋 More than 40 nonprofits called on the GHG Protocol, SBTi and ISO to strengthen how they manage conflicts of interest and corporate influence over sustainability standards. Their proposed Principles for Good Governance call for greater transparency around who participates in standard-setting, how interests are balanced and how significant decisions are reached. The initiative follows disputes over proposed electricity and forest-accounting rules, including concerns that companies subject to the standards may exert disproportionate influence over their development.

📑 Kerstin Lopatta stepped down as chair of EFRAG’s Sustainability Reporting Board only five months into her three-year term. EFRAG did not explain the circumstances, although media reports pointed to disagreements over governance. Germany’s Accounting Standards Committee called for the resignation’s circumstances to be reviewed as part of broader governance reform. The board oversees EFRAG’s sustainability-reporting positions and plays a central role in developing European reporting standards.

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

📊 Companies are increasing sustainability investment while concentrating spending on fewer initiatives with clearer financial returns, according to Deloitte’s 2026 C-suite Sustainability Report. Among more than 2,150 executives surveyed across 29 countries, 78% said their companies increased sustainability investment by over 5% during the past year, while 18% raised it by at least 20%. The average number of initiatives nevertheless fell from five to 3.4, as 51% of respondents now rank financial benefit as their leading investment criterion. 77% reported higher returns from sustainability initiatives than from other investments.

Companies are also embedding sustainability more directly into operations, risk management and technology. Nearly four in five executives reported benefits involving revenue, costs, resilience and reputation, while 83% said sustainability creates a competitive advantage. Climate risks remain material: 63% expect climate change to significantly affect strategy and operations within three years, with extreme-weather supply-chain disruption identified as the leading longer-term threat.

⚛️ Google and Constellation Energy signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement supporting more than $4.3 billion of investment and adding 890 MW of nuclear capacity. Google will anchor upgrades at six operating plants across Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with the additional capacity expected by 2032. The companies also agreed to a 15-year supply arrangement covering another 2,700 MW and a technology partnership using Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise.

🧴 Pulpex opened its first commercial-scale fibre-bottle manufacturing plant near Glasgow, moving its paper-based packaging technology from pilot development into commercial production. The facility can initially produce 40 million bottles annually, with Pulpex targeting one billion units globally over time. Made from sustainably sourced wood pulp without hidden plastic, the bottles can be processed through existing paper-recycling systems. More than 90% of the plant’s initial capacity has already been sold.

Solutions

📊 EY US and Watershed partnered to help companies measure, report and address GHG emissions across their operations and value chains. The offering combines Watershed’s sustainability platform with EY’s advisory, implementation and programme-management capabilities, covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, product carbon footprints and sustainability-data management. The end-to-end toolkit will help companies collect emissions data, automate reporting, develop transition plans and build more scalable sustainability programmes.

📋 The Institute of Sustainability & Environmental Professionals (ISEP) launched a multi-tier register intended to establish a professional benchmark for carbon accountants and auditors. Developed with the Carbon Accounting Alliance, the system responds to growing demand for reliable emissions data as climate-reporting requirements expand. Its levels range from Technical Associate to Registered Practitioner and Principal Carbon Accountant, with an auditor grade planned later.

🌏 EY launched a Climate Resilience Centre of Excellence in Singapore to help organisations address climate, energy and nature-related risks across assets, operations, supply chains and investment decisions. The centre combines engineering, climate, biodiversity, policy and sustainable-finance expertise. Its work will focus on energy resilience, climate adaptation, and nature and biodiversity.

Sustainable finance, funding rounds, acquisitions & private equity deals

🏦 HSBC launched Sustainability Improvement Loans in continental Europe, linking financing costs for small and medium-sized businesses to changes in external ESG ratings. Borrowers can receive preferential pricing when scores from providers such as EcoVadis, CDP or Inrate improve, while rates may rise if performance deteriorates. The product offers SMEs a simpler, scalable structure that avoids the customised performance indicators typically required for conventional sustainability-linked loans.

⚖️ The US Securities and Exchange Commission ended its investigation into BlackRock and State Street’s participation in Climate Action 100+ without pursuing enforcement action. The investigation did not find evidence that the firms agreed on how to vote in the 2021 ExxonMobil proxy contest. However, the SEC warned that coordinated engagement through climate groups could cause passive investors to be treated as a group seeking corporate influence, potentially triggering more demanding ownership disclosures and regulatory obligations.

🌐 BNP Paribas Asset Management launched a global sustainability strategy for 2026–2030 following its acquisition and integration of AXA Investment Managers. The strategy will guide more than €1.7 trillion in assets and embed sustainability across research, due diligence, investment decisions, stewardship and governance. It is structured around four long-term forces: environment, innovation, demographics and geopolitics, and aims to strengthen portfolio resilience while expanding sustainability capabilities across listed and alternative investments.

💶 MUFG Bank launched its Green Deposits product in the EU, allowing corporate clients to direct term deposits towards environmentally sustainable assets. Eligible activities include renewable energy, clean transportation, green buildings, biodiversity, sustainable water management, circular-economy technologies and climate adaptation. Subaru Europe became the first client to place funds through the EU product.

🌍 BlueOrchard and the IFC launched an evergreen private-debt vehicle targeting up to $2 billion for businesses in emerging markets. The fund reached a $300 million first close, with Tokio Marine participating as an anchor investor, and is designed to attract long-term capital from pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds.

📈 British International Investment (BII) plans to mobilise $1.6 billion for climate projects in Southeast Asia over the next five years. The strategy will focus on renewable power, transmission networks, electric-vehicle infrastructure, waste management and water systems across Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, adding an estimated 1.8 GW of clean-energy capacity and avoiding approximately 1.7 million tonnes of emissions.

M&A

🚰 Eurazeo agreed to acquire a majority stake in Miya Water, supporting the company’s international expansion and work helping utilities reduce water loss. Miya targets non-revenue water lost through leaks, theft and metering errors, estimated globally at 126 billion cubic metres annually. The company has completed more than 200 projects across five continents.

Funding rounds

♻️ Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners made its first Advanced Bioenergy Fund II investment by backing Italian biomethane developer Via Verde. The platform comprises 20 projects across several Italian regions, with each plant expected to process between 60,000 and 100,000 tonnes of agricultural waste annually. Once operational, the portfolio could produce approximately 1 TWh of biomethane each year.

☀️ Zelestra secured $350 million in green financing for a 203 MW solar project in Indiana supported by a long-term power-purchase agreement with Meta. Reclamation Solar will be constructed on former coal-mining land and use approximately 325,000 bifacial panels while supporting soil restoration, native vegetation and biodiversity.

🔋 Voltus raised $225 million to expand its distributed-energy platform and increase its managed capacity to 20 GW by 2030. The company connects batteries, cooling systems and industrial processes across businesses and homes to electricity markets, allowing users to shift or supply power while improving grid flexibility.

⚛️ Type One Energy raised $200 million to advance its stellarator technology and plans for what it aims to make the world’s first commercial fusion-power plant. The funding will support Project Infinity in Tennessee, comprising an engineering prototype and a planned 400 MW commercial facility.

🏗️ Aviva Investors and ABN AMRO invested €100 million in SL Materials to expand its circular, low-carbon concrete platform. The Netherlands-based company recovers sand, gravel and cement from demolished concrete and processes them into materials designed to match the quality of primary inputs.

🏭 Reclinker raised £10 million to commercialise technology that converts construction waste into low-carbon cement. Its process uses electric-arc furnaces from steel production to turn recovered cement paste back into clinker, avoiding conventional kilns, quarried limestone and fossil-fuel heat.

🚢 Blaze Energy raised $6.5 million to accelerate the commercial deployment of technology enabling existing ship engines to operate on multiple alternative fuels. Its Flex-Fuel Reformer System converts ammonia, methanol or LNG into a hydrogen-rich mixture onboard, allowing operators to reduce emissions without replacing engines or committing to one fuel.

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