ESG News Week In Review

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ESG News Week In Review: : 09 November – 16 November

by ESG News • November 16, 2025

In this week’s ESG News Week In Review, the global sustainability landscape entered a phase of recalibration — not retreat — as governments, markets, and corporates aligned around a more pragmatic, technology-driven transition.

Across policy, the EU moved to scale back elements of its sustainability reporting and due diligence regime while simultaneously backing a 90% emissions-cut target for 2040 and securing airline pledges to end misleading environmental claims. China’s emissions held steady for the 18th consecutive month, Singapore launched its Article 6.2 protocol with Verra and Gold Standard, and the UK and EU took steps toward linking carbon markets and unified agri-food rules. Hong Kong issued a $1.2 billion digital green bond package, signaling continued financial innovation even as regulations evolve.

Carbon markets accelerated as Verra’s VCS program gained full CORSIA Phase II eligibility, Samsung entered the carbon capture sector, Singapore appointed new carbon-rating agencies, and Carbon Direct acquired Pachama to expand global MRV capabilities.

In the energy transition, Ørsted became the world’s first energy major to complete a full green transformation, while Google expanded clean-energy procurement with major solar deals. COP30 opened with adaptation, industrial decarbonization, and large-scale finance commitments at the center, underscoring Brazil’s position as a rising climate power.

On the finance front, AIIB approved a $1 billion climate loan for Brazil, the OPEC Fund committed $1 billion to Azerbaijan, and Meta continued its massive U.S. data-center expansion with new billion-dollar investments designed to power AI growth sustainably.

Across nature, technology, and industry, new alliances — from regenerative agriculture and super-pollutant elimination to AI-driven farm resilience — signaled a week where the transition advanced not through rhetoric, but through systems-level redesign.

GOVERNMENT, POLICY & REGULATION