ENVIRONMENTAL
The Sustainability Business Case Debate Is Over. Here’s Why
October 27, 2025
New data show sustainability, when done well, leads to superior financial performance including boosting profitability by 21 percent.
Companies often define value propositions for customers, but don’t do it for the board, C-suite or business line leaders.
By using value propositions of sustainability as a feature, sustainability as a driver of reduced costs and sustainability as a way to grow, businesses can boost their bottom line and value creation.
Source: Trellis Group
2025 C-suite Sustainability Report
October 21, 2025
83% of companies continued to increase their sustainability-related investments over the past year despite reduced pressure from some stakeholder groups, according to Deloitte’s 2025 C-suite Sustainability Report. The survey of over 2,100 executives across 27 countries found that 83% of companies boosted sustainability spending, with 14% increasing by more than 20%, even as regulatory and investor pressure declined. Executives cited tangible business benefits such as revenue growth (66%), cost reduction (55%), and resilience gains, while 81% reported using AI to enhance sustainability performance.
Source: Deloitte
The Next Era of Sustainability Leadership: CEO Survey Shows the Business Case is Now
October 21, 2025
Sustainability has undergone a profound transformation over the past two decades. What began as a moral movement—rooted in reputation management and risk mitigation—has increasingly become a strategic business imperative. The latest annual report published by the UN Global Compact and Accenture [1] underlines how the business case for sustainability leadership to be at the core of a company’s strategy is stronger than ever. The report highlights the acceleration and complexity of global sustainability regulations, draws on the insights of nearly 2,000 CEOs across 128 countries, and outlines some of the compliance challenges presented by regulatory fragmentation.
Source: Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance
RELEASE: GHG Protocol Opens Public Consultations on Scope 2 and Electricity Sector Consequential Accounting
October 20, 2025
Washington, D.C., October 20, 2025 — Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) today announced the launch of a 60-day period for two public consultations. One consultation focuses on updates to the Scope 2 Guidance (2015) which addresses inventory accounting, while the other seeks feedback on consequential accounting methods for estimating avoided emissions from electricity-sector actions. These are the first public consultations in a broader effort to update GHG Protocol’s suite of corporate standards and guidance. Source: Greenhouse Gas Protocol
The World’s First International Standard Dedicated to Helping Organizations Take Action on Biodiversity Launched Today in Rwanda
October 7, 2025
ISO launched “ISO 17298: Biodiversity for organizations,” a new global standard to help organizations assess and address their biodiversity impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities. The standard provides a structured framework to embed biodiversity into governance, risk management, and strategy, aligning with global frameworks such as the SDGs, ISO 14001, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It enables organizations to evaluate biodiversity interactions, set measurable objectives, and produce comparable data for improved disclosure and investment decisions.
Source: ISO
EPA Proposes Targeted Regulatory Relief from HFC Technology Transitions Rule Requirements
October 6, 2025
On October 3, 2025, EPA published a proposed rule providing regulatory relief from certain requirements of the Agency’s 2023 Hydrofluorocarbon Technology Transitions Rule, which implements subsection (i) of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, 42 U.S.C. § 7675(i).
Source: Beveridge & Diamond PC
Current Trends in Scope 3 Disclosure Rates
October 3, 2025
Reporting on Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains a complex undertaking for companies, requiring calculation, estimation, and assumptions – particularly concerning factors outside of direct operational control. However, significant progress has been observed in recent years in the quality and prevalence of Scope 3 disclosures, especially amongst larger, more mature organizations.
Currently, approximately 29% of the 8,231 publicly traded companies in ISS’s global coverage report Scope 3 emissions; this figure rises to 48% for large-cap firms (market cap exceeding $10 billion). As illustrated below, Scope 3 disclosure rates vary considerably by sector, with Utilities, Consumer Staples, and Real Estate leading the way.
Source: Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance
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SOCIAL
Hazmat Rules to Watch for 2026
October 17, 2025
The Federal government remains “shut down” as of this morning. When it re-opens, regulatory agencies will have their work cut out for them. This is especially true for US DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), who proposed about 20 hazmat-related rulemakings in July 2025 that now wait to be finalized and enshrined in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR).
Many of these rules will directly impact shippers of hazardous materials nationwide. In the recently published Unified Agenda of Regulatory and De-regulatory Actions, PHMSA shares its road map to revise and update the HMR to clarify the regulations, provide new reliefs, and (hopefully) streamline compliance for stakeholders in several key areas.
Source: Lion
GOVERNANCE
ESG Shareholder Resolutions: Signal Failure?
October 7, 2025
Key Observations
- After new Securities and Exchange Commission guidance on environmental, social, and governance shareholder resolutions, the number of voted proposals fell 22% in the 2025 proxy year.
- However, average support for conventional ESG resolutions (excluding those by “anti-ESG” filers) has held steady for three years at around 26%–27%.
- The gap in voting support between governance and E&S proposals grew further. Average support for conventional governance proposals stood at 35% in the 2025 proxy year (36% in 2024), compared with 16% for conventional E&S proposals (20% in 2024).