Vanguard’s antitrust coal settlement and what it signals for ESG litigation

The asset manager’s move to settle litigation with 11 Republican-led states represents “a significant development,” according to a Shinder Cantor Lerner attorney, but “is hard to interpret.”

By Lamar Johnson • March 6, 2026

Real estate firm hit with class-action lawsuit over climate risk in retirement plan

A former employee at Cushman & Wakefield alleged in her suit the firm failed to properly monitor and protect its employee 401(k) plan from “material climate-related financial risks.”

By Lamar Johnson • Updated March 5, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from ESG Dive

The landscape for ESG continues to shift, as U.S. exits from major climate agreements and organizations are juxtaposed with states forging ahead with their own climate disclosure laws.

By ESG Dive staff

Trump’s anti-DEI orders stand for now, but future challenges can’t be ruled out

The White House is emboldened to act “aggressively,” making it important for employers to audit their DEI programs, management-side attorneys say.

By Ryan Golden • March 5, 2026

Solar and wind PPA prices up 9% in 2025, set to continue rising with energy demand

Meanwhile, energy storage agreements have emerged as a fast-growing new product category.

By Emma Penrod • March 3, 2026

Vanguard settles coal antitrust suit with Republican states for $29.5M

The settlement severs the asset manager from the litigation alleging it conspired with BlackRock and State Street to “artificially constrict the coal market.”

By Lamar Johnson • March 2, 2026

CARB approves California’s climate disclosure regulations

The California Air Resources Board, tasked with enforcing the state’s climate disclosure laws, will require companies to report scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by August this year.

By Lamar Johnson • Feb. 27, 2026

European Council adopts simplified sustainability reporting laws

The changes to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive now need to be integrated at the national level in the European Union.

By Lamar Johnson • Feb. 25, 2026

States sue Energy Department for terminating $8B in clean energy funding

The Trump administration unlawfully bypassed Congress and made politically motivated cuts to programs created through the IRA and IIJA, the lawsuit claims.

By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Feb. 23, 2026

EPA sued over rescission of greenhouse gas endangerment finding

Several groups are fighting the rollback of the 2009 finding, which determined that climate pollution threatens public health and welfare. The finding provided a legal basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

By Jeffrey Kinney • Feb. 20, 2026

Waste, recycling industry expected to dodge federal climate rollback effects, for now

Regulations surrounding landfills are unlikely to be affected by Thursday’s “endangerment finding” rollback. But a warming climate brings broader dangers for the industry and its workers.

By Jacob Wallace • Feb. 18, 2026

Companies prioritizing scope 3 disclosures, despite regulatory uncertainty

The vast majority of sustainability leaders are accelerating their scope 3 reporting, according to a new survey from sustainability services company Sphera.

By Lauren Schenkman • Feb. 17, 2026

New York Senate passes bill targeting corporate climate disclosures

The Empire State’s Senate greenlit a bill that would require large companies doing business in the state to disclose their emissions. The bill is similar to California’s SB 253.

By Zoya Mirza • Feb. 13, 2026

Trump secures legal victory on anti-DEI directives

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals let stand two executive orders that target diversity, equity inclusion.

By Natalie Schwartz • Feb. 12, 2026

Legal group claims victory after EEOC ‘retreated’ on law firm DEI letters

Most of the 20 major law firms that received letters declined to provide the requested information, and the agency said it “considers the matter of responding to those letters closed.”

By Emilie Shumway • Feb. 11, 2026

Can reshoring deliver manufacturing sustainability benefits?

Manufacturers may be weighing tariff costs, but they’re also assessing whether domestic production investments can help achieve supply chain resilience, procurement and labor goals.

By Keesa Schreane • Feb. 9, 2026

EPA reconsiders Good Neighbor Plan that limited industrial emissions

The agency seeks to roll back the Biden-era program, which sought to cut ozone-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides from power plants and industrial facilities. 

By Jeffrey Kinney • Feb. 6, 2026

Federal court rules Texas’ fossil fuel ‘boycotting’ law unconstitutional

The 2021 Texas law that required state entities to divest from firms and funds deemed to “boycott fossil fuels” was found to be overbroad and unconstitutionally vague.

By Lamar Johnson • Feb. 5, 2026

Trump administration is now 0-5 in latest effort to halt offshore wind

Ørsted’s 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind was the fifth and final affected project to win a preliminary injunction. Like others, it said the government refused to share information about alleged national security risks invoked in the blanket ban.

By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 4, 2026

FTC fires warning shot at law firms that pursued DEI certification

Under President Donald Trump, the agency has said it will target “collusion or unlawful coordination on DEI metrics” that diminishes labor competition.

By Ryan Golden • Feb. 3, 2026

New Mexico finalizes rules for clean fuel program, boosting biogas potential

Regulators approved the structure of New Mexico's Clean Transportation Fuel Program on Thursday. It will be the fourth state clean fuel program in the country when it goes into effect on April 1.

By Jacob Wallace • Jan. 30, 2026

Keeping tabs on the state of ESG in 2026

A closer look at some of the biggest trends impacting the ESG space this year, from how companies talk about sustainability to their plans on navigating a complex disclosure landscape.

By Zoya Mirza , Lamar Johnson • Jan. 29, 2026

Companies face fragmented climate risk disclosure landscape in 2026

After the U.S. and European Union signaled an end to a growing regulatory consensus in 2025, businesses are bracing for a more complex environment this year.

By Lamar Johnson • Jan. 29, 2026

With Vineyard Wind ruling, four of five offshore wind projects win relief from Trump freeze

Project developers said despite their outreach, the government “refused to discuss the supposedly new information about national security impacts” cited as the reason for halting construction, or what they might do to mitigate them.

By Diana DiGangi • Jan. 29, 2026

GHG Protocol proposal risks slowing clean energy expansion

Proposed changes to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol would make it more difficult for companies to report renewables use and could discourage procurement, according Lesley Hunter and Jeffrey Gorham of the American Council on Renewable Energy.

By Lesley Hunter and Jeffrey Gorham • Jan. 28, 2026

Target, Best Buy CEOs sign letter calling for ‘deescalation of tensions’ in Minnesota

Michael Fiddelke joined about 60 other CEOs, including Best Buy's Corie Barry, in signing a letter about "recent challenges" in the state.

By Dani James • Jan. 27, 2026