Regulations


  • whistleblower program, Peirce, Uyeda, confidentiality
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    The SEC has requested to delay climate rule arguments. What’s next?

    Sustainable investing experts are not surprised by the delay and say it is expected to have minimal immediate impact.

    By Feb. 13, 2025
  • Accenture CEO Julie Sweet speaks onstage at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on October 25, 2017 in New York City.
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    Cindy Ord / Stringer via Getty Images
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    Accenture rolls back DEI goals to comply with Trump’s EOs

    CEO Julie Sweet said the company would end its employee diversity representation goals and put “a greater focus on inclusion and a sense of belonging for all,” in an internal memo.

    By Feb. 12, 2025
  • 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, both on the regulatory and financial front, with the SEC’s climate disclosure rule and the battle over shareholder rights and proposal approvals.

    By ESG Dive staff
  • Former EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum speaks at podium
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    Cheung, Lance. (2017). [Photograph]. Retrieved from Flickr.
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    Former EEOC commissioner weighs in on feds targeting private sector DEI

    Chai Feldblum said employers may consider framing their programs on inclusion and preventing discrimination, but she also expressed confusion over some of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s enforcement priorities.

    By Ryan Golden • Feb. 12, 2025
  • Mark Toshiro Uyeda testifies at a Senate hearing.
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    Tasos Katopodis via Getty Images
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    Acting SEC chair asks court not to schedule climate rule arguments

    “The Commission’s briefs previously submitted in the cases consolidated in the Eighth Circuit do not reflect my views,” Acting Chair Mark Uyeda said.

    By Feb. 11, 2025
  • Roger Garbey (top) and Andres Hernandez, from the Goldin Solar company, install a solar panel system on the roof of a home a day after the Trump administration announced it will impose duties of as mu
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    EPA funding freeze endangers $7B Solar For All program

    “We don't know how much money got out the door, we don't know how much money the administration can seek to claw back,” said Vote Solar’s executive director, Sachu Constantine.

    By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 11, 2025
  • A large building with a ref roof is flanked by two square buildings in front of it. Two flags on flagpoles stand in the foreground.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    US state legislatures take aim at fashion’s sustainability and safety concerns

    The new regulations are designed to protect workers, consumers and the environment, but there are still hurdles to face between passing the bills and implementing them.

    By Siera Nezaj • Feb. 10, 2025
  • Google, Chrome, Mehta, DOJ, antitrust
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Google moves away from aspirational diversity hiring goals

    This move is on par with what attorneys have been recommending in a tense political landscape around DEI and compliance.

    By Caroline Colvin • Feb. 10, 2025
  • The dome of the U.S. Capitol Building as seen at dawn.
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    Win McNamee via Getty Images
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    Clean energy stakeholders descend on Capitol to lobby for IRA tax credits

    Groups participating in the lobbying blitz in Washington, D.C. represent over 2,000 companies and hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

    By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 6, 2025
  • Snow seen melting in front of the New York State Capitol building.
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    Matthew Cavanaugh via Getty Images
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    New York reintroduces bills seeking climate risk, emissions disclosures

    Senate Bills 3456 and 3697, if approved, would mandate climate-related disclosures from large companies operating in the Empire State as early as 2027.

    By Feb. 6, 2025
  • DEI, Fisher Phillips, Latham & Watkins
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    James Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Meta’s HR changes reflect widely touted aspirational approach to DEI

    Eliminating hard inclusivity goals won’t protect against reverse discrimination complaints but it will help, legal specialists say.

    By Robert Freedman • Feb. 4, 2025
  • Group of executives looking over finances
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    AmnajKhetsamtip via Getty Images
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    Republican officials urge SEC, DOL to adopt anti-ESG, DEI rules

    The letter signed by 22 Republican state finance officials cited American Airlines’ recent legal loss as evidence that fiduciaries are breaching their duty to loyalty with regards to ESG and DEI.

    By Feb. 3, 2025
  • A ship is seen on a sparkling ocean with offshore wind turbines in the background.
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    Permission granted by Bob Brewer/Unsplash
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    Trump’s executive orders cause hesitation, confusion for clean energy developers

    “There are daily developments, and I think people are just doing the best they can with the limited information we have at the moment,” said Felisa Sanchez, a partner with law firm K&L Gates.

    By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 3, 2025
  • Wildfire smoke casts a haze over the National Mall.
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    Developments driving the ESG, sustainability industry in 2025

    The change in U.S. presidential leadership has triggered drawbacks of ESG and DEI commitments, as the private sector braces for a change in political direction.

    By , Jan. 31, 2025
  • Lee Zeldin sits at a desk
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Zeldin is confirmed as the new EPA administrator. What’s next?

    The former New York representative will helm the agency as it navigates executive orders pausing climate programs and reviews pending regulations that could affect the waste and recycling industries.

    By Megan Quinn , Jacob Wallace • Updated Jan. 30, 2025
  • Wind turbines operate at a wind farm near solar panels on March 06, 2024 near Palm Springs, California.
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    Trump pauses renewable projects leasing on federal lands, waters

    The Department of the Interior issued the order on Donald Trump’s first day in office, though just a small portion of the nation’s renewable energy capacity is located on government land.

    By Jan. 29, 2025
  • A fuel plant is seen
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    Courtesy of LanzaJet
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    USDA releases guidance on climate-smart crops in biofuels

    The interim rule gives insight into how farmers can access renewable fuel tax credits, though a Trump administration freeze on recent federal regulations is creating more uncertainty.

    By Sarah Zimmerman • Jan. 28, 2025
  • The exterior of LinkedIn headquarters in San Francisco
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    Justin Sullivan / Staff via Getty Images
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    Companies continue to pursue scope 3 reporting, despite regulatory and data collection challenges

    Mejuri and Kontoor Brands are working with supplier networks to improve transparency of scope 3 reporting, while LinkedIn is using an internal carbon fee as an oversight mechanism.

    By Suman Bhattacharyya • Jan. 27, 2025
  • Ken Paxton shakes Donald Trump's hand at a campaign rally
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    State AGs threaten financial institutions over ESG, DEI policies

    Bank of America, BlackRock, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley were all asked about how they plan to implement or have implemented hiring or supplier diversity goals.

    By Jan. 27, 2025
  • Closeup of president donald trump's signature on an executive order.
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Trump freezes Inflation Reduction Act funding

    The White House later issued a memo to clarify the funding pause, specifying that it pertains only to aspects of the law mentioned in Section 2 of the executive order.

    By Kate Magill • Jan. 24, 2025
  • Trump signs an executive order at the Oval Office.
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Trump orders agencies to target private-sector DEI

    In a Tuesday executive order, President Trump asked members of his administration to develop a strategic enforcement plan to deter “illegal” DEI programs and principles.

    By Emilie Shumway • Jan. 23, 2025
  • A man walks into a BlackRock office building.
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    Andrew Burton via Getty Images
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    BlackRock and Tennessee reach settlement on ESG suit

    “We’re pleased to resolve this matter,” a BlackRock spokesperson told ESG Dive. The agreement dismisses the state’s 2023 lawsuit and does not find that the investment firm violated any laws.

    By Jan. 22, 2025
  • The sun sets behind the wind turbines of Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm in the Irish Sea on May 23, 2018 in Wallasey, England.
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    Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
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    Trump executive orders halt wind development, declare energy emergency

    The orders pause wind lease sales and permitting on federal lands while taking steps to accelerate other forms of energy production.

    By Diana DiGangi • Jan. 22, 2025
  • Trump holds up an executive order after signing it on at a post-inauguration parade in Capital One Arena
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Trump pulls US from Paris Agreement — again — in packed day one slate

    The president’s executive order freezes all funding related to the 2015 global climate treaty and also rescinds the nation’s International Climate Finance plan.

    By Jan. 21, 2025
  • Donald Trump takes oath of office before Chief Justice John Roberts in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    Trump executive orders torch Biden’s DEI initiatives

    The 47th president promptly axed federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs after repeatedly promising to do so on the campaign trail.

    By Ryan Golden • Jan. 21, 2025
  • President Joe Biden speaks at the White House on Dec. 8, 2024.
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    Pete Marovich via Getty Images
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    Biden orders Energy, Defense departments to lease sites for AI data centers, clean energy generation

    The executive order calls for using “categorical exclusions” to rapidly site data centers and power generation.

    By Robert Walton • Jan. 17, 2025