Sustainability: Page 35


  • A vehicle's tailpipe emitting exhaust.
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    Justin Smith/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
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    EPA softens vehicle emissions standards in win for automakers

    The final rule steadily tightens the requirements, giving automakers more time to ramp up EV sales.

    By Michael Brady • March 21, 2024
  • Building and assembling a construction wind turbines farm by a crane
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    Olya Solodenko via Getty Images
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    Morningstar launches indexes on companies’ transition to low carbon economy

    The financial services firm believes the indexes offer “a very different way” for investors who want to target the climate transition, while “maintaining exposure to high carbon-intensive sectors.”

    By March 20, 2024
  • Visual displaying components of ESG. Explore the Trendline
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    TarikVision via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Top 5 stories from ESG Dive

    This year has shaped up to be a formative one for ESG, from the U.S. pulling out of major climate agreements to federal agencies recalibrating their approach to sustainability under the new administration.

    By ESG Dive staff
  • Offshore wind turbines are seen standing in the ocean against a blue sky.
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    Fokkebok via Getty Images
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    South Fork Wind becomes first US utility-scale offshore wind farm to complete construction

    The completion of Ørsted and Eversource’s 130-MW project gets New York closer to its goal of deploying 9 GW of offshore wind by 2035.

    By Diana DiGangi • March 20, 2024
  • Carbon capture plant seen on a filed.
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    Courtesy of Spiritus
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    Los Alamos-based Spiritus to launch large-scale carbon capture facility

    The Orchard One facility aims to capture and sequester up to 2 megatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, once operational.

    By March 19, 2024
  • SEC Chair sits with an even expression
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    Federal appeals court pauses SEC climate rule implementation

    The climate disclosure regulation is now on pause pending a review from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, as the first of multiple challenges yields action.

    By March 19, 2024
  • Solar project
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    Courtesy of The Rockefeller Foundation
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    Q&A

    Rockefeller Foundation’s new CFO: Climate crisis is a ‘big motivator’

    Keith Olson took the finance reins of the 111-year-old philanthropic powerhouse earlier this month. He is an alum of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    By Maura Webber Sadovi • March 19, 2024
  • Google logo displayed in front of building.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Google pledges to buy $35M in carbon removal credits, matches DOE

    The tech giant’s commitment builds on the Department of Energy’s initiative to scale the carbon removal purchase sector.

    By March 18, 2024
  • An aerial view of German solar and onshore wind farm
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    KKR announces $3B takeover of European renewable energy producer Encavis

    The independent power producer said it will also up its 2027 operating capacity target to 7 gigawatts.

    By March 18, 2024
  • A fuel pump in focus in front of a line of waste trucks.
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    Permission granted by Clean Energy Fuels
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    Deep Dive

    How a new wave of clean fuels bills could spur a biogas boom

    New Mexico just became the fourth state to enact a program, which has the potential to give biogas projects from landfills and on-farm digesters a boost. Could more states soon follow?

    By Jacob Wallace • March 18, 2024
  • A Shell tanker is seen in front of an oil station.
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    Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images
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    Shell dilutes energy transition strategy, scraps 2035 decarbonization goal

    Despite scaling back some of its targets, the oil major said its goal to attain net-zero status by 2050 “remains at the heart of [its] strategy.”

    By March 15, 2024
  • CEO leads a discussion among executives at the company
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    Caiaimage/Caiaimage/Robert Daly via Getty Images
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    Support for ESG proposals fell by a third since 2021 record: Report

    “Politics clearly had a role to play and cast a chill on the top end of proposal voting,” according to Sustainable Investments Institute Executive Director Heidi Welsh.

    By March 15, 2024
  • Gerald Johnson and UAW Vice President Mike Booth shake hands at GM's Arlington Assembly plant in June 2023.
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    Courtesy of General Motors
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    GM hires former Tesla exec as head of manufacturing and sustainability

    Jens Peter Clausen led efforts to scale the production of EV propulsion systems at the electric automaker’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada.

    By Eric Walz • March 15, 2024
  • Flags fly at full staff outside the NYSE with the Wall ST sign in the foreground
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    Kena Betancur via Getty Images
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    Net-Zero Banking Alliance updates disclosure guidance, extends to capital markets

    The UN-aligned group also stressed that all member banks should act and set climate targets independently, following a flurry of antitrust allegations.

    By March 14, 2024
  • Plastic waste on a sandy beach. Pollution of the waters of the world ocean by plastic. Polluted beach in Los Angeles, USA
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    Konoplytska via Getty Images
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    As You Sow stays the course with plastic reduction resolutions despite ESG headwinds

    “I think this is a really difficult year for shareholder resolutions,” said Kelly McBee, circular economy manager at As You Sow. To date, its 2024 consumer packaging efforts target Altria, Amazon and others.

    By Maria Rachal • March 14, 2024
  • Analyst working with business analytics and data management system to generate report with metrics.
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    NicoElNino via Getty Images
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    Determining if GHG is material to your company: KPMG’s ESG audit leader

    Maura Hodge said companies will need to take a quantitative and qualitative approach to gauge whether to disclose scope 1 and scope 2 emissions.

    By March 13, 2024
  • A rooftop solar installation against the backdrop of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan.
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    FernandoAH via Getty Images
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    New York City bill would mandate solar panels on public buildings

    The legislation would require 100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic systems to be installed on the roofs of city-owned buildings by the end of 2025, with a broader goal of 150 MW by 2030.

    By Nish Amarnath • March 13, 2024
  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seal hangs on the facade of its building.
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    SEC’s climate disclosure rule: from proposal to approval

    A look at the agency’s two-year journey to finalizing the rule amid a backdrop of conflicting opinions on its authority.

    By , March 13, 2024
  • A close up of Unilever's logo.
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    Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
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    Unilever updates climate action plan, targets scope 3 emissions reduction

    The consumer goods company said it plans to completely eliminate direct emissions and reduce indirect emissions by 42%, compared to a 2021 baseline, by the end of the decade.

    By March 12, 2024
  • Boston skyline with a view of Prudential Center
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    Maddie Meyer via Getty Images
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    Massachusetts pension fund updates ESG proxy voting policies

    The updates include additional information on how the state pension fund will vote on the “most important and scrutinized corporate governance topics among institutional investors.”

    By March 12, 2024
  • Cameras set up outside the U.S. Supreme Court
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    Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
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    Renewable energy M&A is entering a new paradigm, LevelTen Energy says

    The latter half of 2023 saw a significant slowdown in M&A transactions, which LevelTen Energy believes signals a shift in strategy among renewable energy developers.

    By Emma Penrod • March 12, 2024
  • Solar panels are mounted on the west wing roof of the Oregon State Capitol.
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    Melanie Conner via Getty Images
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    Oregon retirement fund to divest $1B from coal industry under new bill

    Alongside its decarbonization directives, the bill also states that divestments “must be accomplished without monetary loss to the investment funds.”

    By March 11, 2024
  • Oil rigs at sunset
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    David McNew via Getty Images
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    Appeals court upholds oil permitting pause in California’s Kern County

    The ruling sends the county back to the drawing board on both its environmental report and amendments to its permitting process for new oil and gas wells.

    By March 11, 2024
  • A tractor turns hay in a field under a partly cloudy sky.
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    David Silverman via Getty Images
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    USDA counters claims over misuse of climate funds

    An Environmental Working Group report says the majority of climate-smart agriculture funding go toward projects with no proven sustainability benefits.

    By Nathan Owens • March 11, 2024
  • People seen protesting for climate change.
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    David McNew via Getty Images
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    SEC faces legal action from environmental groups over ‘significantly weaker’ climate rule

    Sierra Club said it will also take action to defend the SEC’s authority to implement such a rule.

    By March 8, 2024
  • West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey
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    Patrick Smith via Getty Images
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    10 Republican-led states file lawsuit to block SEC’s climate disclosure rule

    The challenge, led by West Virginia, was announced before the ink could dry on the agency’s final rule.

    By March 8, 2024