Deep Dive

Industry insights from our journalists

  • People in a bar watch a TV screen with former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harrris debating.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Alex Wong via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Election 2024: Harris, Trump present ‘diametrically opposed’ impacts on ESG

    “A Harris administration would be more favorable for the interests of ESG investors whereas a Trump administration would be antagonistic,” according to Morningstar Indexes’ head of strategy.

    Lamar Johnson and Zoya Mirza • Nov. 1, 2024
  • A young Black girl during the March for Jobs and Freedom to the Lincoln Memorial
    Image attribution tooltip
    MPI via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    This summer saw many DEI rollbacks. What now?

    Heading into 2025, three DEI experts weigh in.

    Caroline Colvin • Oct. 14, 2024
  • Close-up shot of a food container with film that says recyclable.
    Image attribution tooltip
    K Neville via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Hush-hush: Is greenwashing pushback prompting pivot to ‘greenhushing’?

    Companies must focus on data and transparency to back their sustainability claims instead of resorting to silence, or exaggerations, said sources from groups such as the U.S. Plastics Pact, Glass Packaging Institute and McCormick & Co.

    Katie Pyzyk • Oct. 3, 2024
  • Diverse group of professionals, in discussion, sitting around conference table.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Xavier Arnau via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    No, not all companies are abandoning diversity, equity and inclusion. Here’s why.

    Amid a high-profile backlash, many businesses are scrutinizing their policies. But the vast majority end up sticking with DEI, in part because it’s key to growth.

    Daphne Howland • Sept. 26, 2024
  • A storefront with riding mowers, wheelbarrows and other garden equipment out front.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Tractor Supply
    Image attribution tooltip

    Tractor Supply retreats on DEI, climate after ‘anti-woke’ backlash. Now the real fallout begins.

    The retailer's pullback of its corporate diversity and climate efforts could alienate some customers, employees and investors.

    Daphne Howland • July 15, 2024
  • Demonstrators prepare to be arrested during a rally outside the White House as part of the 'Climate Chaos Is Happening Now' protest on October 13, 2021 in Washington, DC
    Image attribution tooltip
    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Drive for energy permitting reform fuels tensions between climate, environmental justice advocates

    A simplified permitting process would speed the deployment of clean energy, but some EJ advocates are concerned about unintended consequences.

    Diana DiGangi • June 11, 2024
  • Package of plant-based ground beef are seen in a grocery aisle
    Image attribution tooltip
    Scott Olson via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Is plant-based meat more sustainable? Experts question the data

    Researchers have struggled to replicate life-cycle assessments commissioned from companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, and are calling for more transparency.

    Nithin Coca • April 30, 2024
  • A fuel pump in focus in front of a line of waste trucks.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Clean Energy Fuels
    Image attribution tooltip

    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?

    Jacob Wallace • March 18, 2024
  • A bee sits on a thistle in the UK
    Image attribution tooltip
    Nigel Harris via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Biodiversity emerges as an ESG priority in packaging, but measurement could be a challenge

    As international standards evolve, fiber-based packaging companies are in the spotlight. Smurfit Kappa, WestRock, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Canopy Planet weigh in on what the increased focus means for the industry.

    April Reese • Feb. 21, 2024
  • Wind turbines and solar cells generate electricity as a cow lolls on the farm.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Perytskyy via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Bio-fueling the future: How farms are shaping the renewable energy transition in 2024

    As more incentives become available, the agriculture sector is set to play a key role in expanding solar, biogas and other alternative energy sources.

    Nathan Owens • Feb. 1, 2024
  • Business people having meeting in conference room, sitting with laptops and discussing
    Image attribution tooltip
    Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    2024 proxy outlook: What’s driving the ESG proposal approval dip?

    Major asset managers and a spate of anti-ESG proposals helped push approval rates down, yet even more ESG proposals are expected after a record 2023.

    Lamar Johnson • Jan. 25, 2024
  • SEC Chairman Gary Gensler takes part in a meeting.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    To keep or not to keep: The fate of scope 3 emissions in SEC’s climate disclosure rule

    Given all of the pushback the agency has received over its proposed rule, particularly scope 3 reporting requirements, experts are uncertain if scope 3 will make the final cut.

    Zoya Mirza • Jan. 18, 2024
  • Activists participate in an Earth Day march with a sign that says "End the Era of Fossil Fuels"
    Image attribution tooltip
    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    4 ESG trends that set the tone for 2024

    It’s shaping up to be a big year for ESG with a packed SEC agenda, fights over corporate DEI efforts and shareholder rights and a focus on financing the net zero transition.

    Lamar Johnson and Zoya Mirza • Jan. 10, 2024
  • Governor of Texas holds a meeting with the governor of Floroida.
    Image attribution tooltip
    (2021). [Photograph]. Retrieved from Office of the Texas Governor.
    Image attribution tooltip

    The ESG battle: 4 key states shaping regulatory discourse in the US

    Left-leaning California and New York and conservative-led Florida and Texas have stepped up regulatory measures to underscore ESG’s role — or lack thereof — in their jurisdictions.

    Lamar Johnson and Zoya Mirza • Nov. 16, 2023
  • A close up of a field
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Locus AG
    Image attribution tooltip

    The food industry is all in on regenerative agriculture. Can farmers be convinced?

    Companies are racing to capitalize on a burgeoning industry focused on reducing emissions in agriculture. But first, they'll have to prove it's profitable to go green.

    Miranda Lipton • Nov. 15, 2023
  • Silhouettes of business people
    Image attribution tooltip
    Piranka via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Making the case for women-owned banks

    Three women-owned banks have emerged in the last several years with the shared goal of increasing access to capital for female entrepreneurs.

    Anna Hrushka • Nov. 13, 2023
  • A person walks across a landfill in India with a bale of recyclables on their head.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Daniel Berehulak via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    New regulations seek to expose fashion greenwashers’ true colors

    In Europe, governments plan to prohibit fashion companies and other industries from making vague or misleading environmental claims, and the U.S. could soon do the same.

    Lauren Schenkman • Nov. 1, 2023
  • People talk during a business meeting.
    Image attribution tooltip
    jacoblund via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    The ‘less tangible’ social data in ESG creates reporting hurdles

    Social issues have historically fallen behind environmental and governance factors, a setback experts attribute to the ambiguity of what the “S” really encompasses.

    Zoya Mirza • Nov. 1, 2023
  • Two green roads, bordered by yellow paint, converge on an asphalt road with arrows pointing forward away from the frame.
    Image attribution tooltip
    imagedepotpro via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    After years of confusion, global ESG reporting frameworks are coalescing

    While the global reporting community has yet to fully adopt the International Sustainability Standards Board’s standards, they are building momentum as a reporting baseline.

    Lamar Johnson • Oct. 26, 2023
  • A photo collage of diverse workers depicted each in a leaf of a 3-leaved plant illustration.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Shaun Lucas/Industry Dive; Getty Images 

    Image attribution tooltip

    7 ESG trends influencing corporate strategy

    Developments in the ESG landscape directing investor decisions include the consolidation of reporting frameworks, the rise of AI and data metrics, social responsibility and impending regulation from the SEC.

    Lamar Johnson and Zoya Mirza • Oct. 23, 2023
  • Solar power station and solar energy panels on the green field in Chester, New Jersey.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Alex Potemkin via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Who will pay to decarbonize the supply chain?

    Some brands are helping their suppliers reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Others are dumping new requirements on vendors without shouldering any of the costs.

    Ben Unglesbee • Aug. 15, 2023