ESG developments this week
Economy and Society is Ballotpedia’s weekly review of ESG stories that characterize the growing intersection between business and politics.
In Washington, D.C.
Anti-ESG activity stalls in Congress
Anti-ESG activity in Congress is unlikely in the final month of the legislative session, according to Bloomberg Law. House Republicans focused on opposing ESG in 2023, but their plans for additional legislation, investigations, and reports have stalled in 2024:
Congressman Bill Huizenga had planned on a legislative victory this summer in his ongoing battle against the environmental, social, and governance movement. He would issue a final report with fellow Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee showing how ESG considerations hurt investors and financial markets, hold a congressional hearing to drive that point home, and then bring a measure to the House floor that would kill one of the Biden administration’s signature ESG regulations: the SEC’s March rules mandating that public companies disclose their greenhouse gas pollution.
That scenario didn’t happen. The House adjourned earlier than anticipated for its August recess and the Financial Services Committee had to cancel the hearing where Huizenga had planned to make his anti-ESG case. Huizenga’s working group instead released its report on Aug. 1 with little-to-no-fanfare. The Michigander also appears to have missed the deadline that would have allowed a fast, simple-majority vote to pass his resolution to kill the Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate rules.
The fate of Huizenga’s plan is similar to that of other so-called anti-woke initiatives in the chamber, showing a federal legislative campaign to steer corporate America away from ESG has stalled.
In the states
State treasurers argue corporations should focus on shareholder value
A group of Republican state treasurers sent a letter on Aug. 28 asking the Business Roundtable to change its 2019 statement defining the purpose of corporations. The treasurers argued the definition deprioritized shareholder interests in profit and risk management and promoted ESG investing:
Amid growing public discontent over income inequality and rising costs for health care and higher education, the Business Roundtable, which represents some of the world’s largest companies, said in 2019 that it would shelve the long-held view that companies should prioritize shareholders’ interests. The decision was backed at the time by 181 signatories, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and BlackRock Inc. CEO Larry Fink.
In a letter to the Business Roundtable on Wednesday, GOP officials said the statement was “fatally flawed” and that institutions of all kinds are being pressured to depart from their proper purpose to serve a “left-wing ideology.” …
The letter comes on the back of a years-long attack by Republican politicians on the environmental, social and governance investment approach. They’ve launched investigations into Wall Street’s ESG efforts, introduced anti-ESG bills — many of which have failed — and filed lawsuits. They also have pushed to thwart efforts to diversify workforces.
Business group sues Texas over anti-ESG law
An environmental business group filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas on Aug. 29, seeking to block a 2021 anti-ESG law. The law restricts state contracts with financial firms that divest from the fossil fuel energy sector. The group argues the law infringes on its members’ First Amendment rights:
The American Sustainable Business Council sued Texas officials in an effort to block a law that restricts state investments with certain financial firms because of their energy policies. …
“It impermissibly infringes rights of free speech and association under a scheme of politicized viewpoint discrimination, based on no legitimate state interest,” lawyers for the group said in the lawsuit.
Comptroller Glenn Hegar called the lawsuit “frivolous” in an emailed statement. “The plaintiff has filed a purported First Amendment lawsuit that seeks to undermine state sovereignty and force the state of Texas and Texas taxpayers to invest their own money in a manner inconsistent with their values and detrimental to their own economic well-being,” he said in the statement.
On Wall Street and in the private sector
Corporate emissions reporting remains limited
Deloitte’s 2024 Sustainability Action Report found that 74% of corporations disclose Scope 1 emissions (from direct business activity), about half report Scope 2 emissions (from energy purchases), and 15% report Scope 3 emissions (from supply chains). Deloitte said Scope 3 emissions “contribute up to 95% of a company’s total emissions” and argued businesses should increase their reporting before regulations require it:
Research from Deloitte shows that while 74% of companies disclose their Scope 1 emissions, a mere 15% report on Scope 3. This gap represents a huge blind spot in emissions. …
Deloitte warns that organisations using a ‘wait and see’ approach to ESG reporting may find they have catching up to do in preparation for new regulations.
Steven Goldbach, Sustainability, Climate and Equity Leader at Deloitte, says: “To foster growth of the low-carbon economy, leaders must find new ways to drive change across industries and sectors.”
In the spotlight
Ford scales-back DEI pledges
Ford Motor Company announced Aug. 28 that it would scale back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) pledges. Among the changes, Ford said it would stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index:
Ford Motor Co. told employees it would modify its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and end participation in a notable ranking by an LGBTQ advocacy group, joining a series of companies including Lowe’s Cos. and Harley-Davidson Inc. in curtailing some of the programs.
“We are mindful that our employees and customers hold a wide range of beliefs,” Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley wrote in an internal email, which was shared with Bloomberg by anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck and confirmed as authentic by the company. “The external and legal environment related to political and social issues continues to evolve.”
Ford said it will no longer engage with the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and various “best places to work” lists, and that it refocused employee resource groups and opened them to all its workers. The carmaker also said it would shift some of its corporate sponsorships, and comment less on polarizing issues.Stephen Soukup—an ESG critic and author of The Dictatorship of Woke Capital—said “some ESG ratings services openly admit [to] using the HRC’s index as a key measure for ‘social sustainability.’”