This week in ESG news: Sustainability software provider osapiens raises $100 million at “unicorn” $1 billion valuation; investors say simplified EU CSRD sustainability reporting standards will reduce quality of information; Microsoft starts off year with series of major carbon removal deals; court rulings allow work to resume on building clean energy projects after Trump orders halt; L’Oreal’s €100 million sustainability solutions fund backs 13 startups; CDP sees major jump in companies awarded top sustainability reporting scores; bp Chief Sustainability Officer exits for new sustainability role at Rolls-Royce; Diginex acquires carbon accounting platform Plan A for $64 million, and more.
See below for the highlights of the past week, and get all your ESG news at ESG Today:
Sustainability Goals, Initiatives and Achievements
Google Buys 1.2 GW of Carbon-free Energy to Power Data Centers Across U.S.
U.S. Court Allows Equinor to go Back to Work Building $5 Billion Offshore Wind Project Halted by Trump
Microsoft Kicks Off 2026 With Flurry of Large-Scale Carbon Removal Purchase Deals
Salesforce Signs Deals to Purchase Carbon Removal from 19 Early-Stage Suppliers
Microsoft Signs Deal for 2 Million Tons of Carbon Removal from Uganda-Based Forestry Project
Bain Signs its First DAC-Based Carbon Removal Purchase Deal with Oxy’s 1PointFive
Microsoft Pledges New Datacenters Won’t Increase Electricity Prices or Impact Water Supply
U.S. Court Allows Ørsted, GIP’s $5 Billion Offshore Wind Project to Restart After Halt Ordered by Trump Administration
Green Steel Startup Stegra Signs Multi-Year Supply Deal with thyssenkrupp
Meta Unveils Series of Major Nuclear Energy Deals to Power U.S. Data Centers, Support Clean Energy Goals
Government & Regulators
ESMA Guides Investment Firms on Expectations to Avoid Greenwashing in ESG Strategies
Guest Post: CBAM Goes Live, and the Impacts Won’t Stop at Europe’s Borders
EU Financial Regulators Release Guidelines for Integrating ESG Risks Into Stress Tests
UK Completes Largest-Ever Offshore Wind Auction in Europe
Sustainability Reporting
Most Investors Concerned Simplified EU Sustainability Reporting Standards will Reduce Information Quality: EFRAG Study
CDP Reports 70% Jump in Companies Awarded Top Sustainability Reporting Scores
ESG Services and Tools
Sustainability Software Provider osapiens Raises $100 Million Led by BlackRock, Temasek Decarbonization Fund
Diginex Acquires Carbon Accounting Platform Plan A for $64 Million
Sustainable Finance
Canaccord Acquires Energy Transition-Focused Investment Bank CRC-IB
U.S. Clean Energy Platform Aspen Power Raises $200 Million from Deutsche Bank
Sustainable Investing
ALTÉRRA, BBVA to Launch New $1.2 Billion Climate Fund
Guest Post: Defying the Headwinds, Investors Intensified their Focus on Deforestation in 2025
Private Equity & Venture Capital
L’Oreal Backs 13 Climate, Nature and Circularity Solutions Startups
Impact Investor Blue Earth Capital Raises $100 Million to Launch New Secondaries Strategy
Biodiversity Solutions VC Investor Superorganism Raises $26 Million for Debut Fund
Aether Fuels Raises $15 Million to Build New SAF Plant in Singapore
Exec Moves
Rolls-Royce Appoints Former bp CSO Ivanka Mamic as New Chief Sustainability Officer
Ørsted Appoints Anders Johannes Enghild as Head of Global Sustainability
