Regulation dominated the past fortnight. Brussels pressed ahead with simplification across sustainability reporting, the taxonomy, chemicals and green claims rules, while a French court handed down a landmark verdict pulling customer emissions into corporate climate duties. Standard setters kept moving too, with the SBTi’s new net zero standard and China’s 2030 clean power target. Below, the developments that matter, each with a clear source.
Top story
French court orders TotalEnergies to bring customer emissions into its climate plan
The Paris Judicial Court’s ruling against TotalEnergies is the first to confirm that duty of vigilance obligations extend beyond a company’s own operations to the emissions its products create once sold. TotalEnergies must now fold Scope 3 into its plan, but the real signal is for every company relying on a narrow reading of “vigilance”: courts are starting to close that gap, not widen it.
Source: Courthouse News
Regulation and policy spotlight
EU Commission adopts revised ESRS, cutting datapoints by over 60%
The Commission’s 3 July adoption of revised ESRS, plus a new voluntary standard for smaller companies, marks the most concrete output yet of the Omnibus simplification drive. The voluntary standard also caps what CSRD-covered firms can now demand from SME suppliers in their value chain, a detail worth flagging to procurement teams before the two-month Parliament and Council scrutiny period closes.
Source: European Commission
EU regulators propose further taxonomy simplification
This is a near-term window for companies to shape which metrics survive before they’re locked in.
Source: ESG Today
Country and market spotlight
China targets 50% non-fossil power generation by 2030
China’s 15th Five-Year energy plan underscores the pace of the country’s clean power build-out even as coal remains a supply security backstop.
Source: ESG Today
Standards, reporting and frameworks
SBTi releases Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0
The Science Based Targets initiative published Version 2.0 of its flagship Corporate Net-Zero Standard, shifting its role toward implementation partner rather than target setter alone. Changes include a stronger focus on transparent progress reporting, a clear hierarchy prioritising direct emissions cuts, and a ‘best efforts’ assessment.
Source: SBTi
Trends, research and insights
Most companies still struggle to quantify sustainability risk: KPMG
A KPMG survey found that while most executives say they understand their sustainability risks and opportunities, a significant majority still cannot reliably quantify their financial impact, a gap that limits integration into mainstream strategy and capital allocation as reporting expectations mature.
Source: ESG Today
Amazon signs 2 million tonne nature-based carbon removal deal
Amazon’s purchase, from a South African spekboom restoration project, goes beyond carbon and underpinned the World Bank’s recent Spekboom Outcome Bond, a model worth watching for how removal deals can be structured to carry development finance alongside them.
Source: ESG Today
To know more:
- First companies prepare to set SBTN’s expanded freshwater targets: A new cohort is setting science-based freshwater targets under SBTN’s expanded methodology, signalling corporate nature commitments moving beyond climate. Source: SBTN
- EFRAG publishes second edition of SME reporting tools mapping: An updated mapping of tools and platforms to help smaller companies navigate voluntary reporting as CSRD scope narrows. Source: EFRAG
- World Bank drops its 45% climate finance target: Under US pressure, the Bank retired its 45% climate finance commitment despite exceeding it last year at 48%, exposing how exposed multilateral climate finance is to political shifts. Source: ESG Today
- Industrial firms warn EU carbon overhaul could reward polluters: Ahead of the 15 July ETS revision, decarbonisation leaders like SSAB and Heidelberg Materials are lobbying against extra free CO2 permits, arguing it undermines the price signal that justified their own investments. Source: Reuters
- EU strikes deal to simplify chemical product rules: Provisional ‘Omnibus VI’ agreement simplifies CLP, cosmetics and fertilising rules, aligning all three to a single 1 January 2030 application date. Source: Council of the EU
- EU clarifies rules on forward-looking green claims: Ahead of the Green Transition Directive (27 September 2026), the Commission’s updated FAQ tightens expectations on future-tense claims, now including annual report content aimed at consumers. Source: European Commission FAQ
- UK introduces a national version of the EU Deforestation Regulation: The UK’s new due diligence rules for forest-risk commodities mirror the EUDR to avoid duplicate compliance, with UK consumption linked to roughly 29,000 hectares of deforestation a year. Source: GOV.UK
- California delays first corporate climate disclosure deadline: CARB has pushed back the SB 253/261 reporting deadline by roughly three months while finalising technical amendments, adding to timeline uncertainty from ongoing litigation. Source: JD Supra
- TNFD publishes guidance on ‘asking better questions’ for CFOs: A new guide helps CFOs interrogate nature-related risks and dependencies more precisely as nature moves onto the finance agenda. Source: TNFD