Issue - June 9, 2026

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, June 9, and this week’s ESG Litigation Weekly covers an environmental NGO’s bid to stay an order requiring discovery responses about AI prompts used by its expert in a Shell climate suit, a lawsuit by a coalition of states challenging the cancellation of an offshore wind lease in the New York Bight, Brazil’s move to make sustainability-related financial reporting voluntary for public companies, and more.

CLF Seeks Stay of AI Prompt Disclosure Order in Shell Climate Suit
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) asked a Connecticut federal court to stay a magistrate judge’s order requiring revised discovery responses about artificial intelligence prompts and queries used by its expert, Dr. Naomi Oreskes, in its climate-related lawsuit against Shell entities over a New Haven fuel terminal. The order granted Shell’s motion to compel materials tied to the expert’s document review process. CLF argues the prompts were used only to narrow a document set, were not considered in forming the expert’s opinions, and no prompt or output logs were preserved. CLF also says the order raises a novel expert discovery issue.
🔗 Read more → CourtListener (Case Docket, Court Filing)

New York Leads Suit Over Offshore Wind Lease Cancellation
New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James led a coalition of seven states in suing the Trump administration over the cancellation of an offshore wind lease in the New York Bight held by TotalEnergies subsidiary Attentive Energy. The states allege the Interior Department unlawfully canceled the lease through a settlement agreement that would reimburse Attentive Energy up to $795 million and require TotalEnergies to invest an equivalent amount in oil and gas projects. The complaint states the lease could have supported offshore wind projects serving New York and New Jersey, and argues the cancellation violated federal leasing, environmental review and public funding laws.
🔗 Read more → New York AG (Press Release, Court Filing)

State AGs Urge Federal Judicial Center to Restore Climate Science Chapter
Connecticut AG William Tong led a coalition of 23 AGs, New York City, Chicago and Harris County, Texas, in opposing the Federal Judicial Center’s (FJC) removal of a climate science chapter from its Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence. The manual is used by judges when assessing scientific evidence. The coalition argued the removed chapter had undergone peer review and provided courts with technical background on climate science at a time of rising climate-related litigation. The letter asks the FJC to reinstate the chapter and preserve its role as a reliable judicial education resource.
🔗 Read more → Connecticut AG (Press Release, Letter to FJC)

Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Youth Climate Suit Against Trump Orders
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Lighthiser v. Trump, a youth-led constitutional climate case challenging three Trump executive orders on federal energy policy. The panel held the plaintiffs had not plausibly alleged that their asserted injuries were caused by the executive orders, rather than later agency actions, and that the requested injunction would require judicial supervision of executive energy policy beyond Article III limits. Our Children’s Trust said the unpublished decision did not decide whether the orders were constitutional or whether the plaintiffs were injured, and shared that it is assessing legal options.
🔗 Read more → Ninth Circuit Memorandum, Our Children’s Trust Press Release

NGOs File OECD Complaint Over Mozambique LNG Project
Justiça Ambiental/Friends of the Earth (FoE) Mozambique and FoE Japan filed a complaint with the Japan and UK National Contact Points over the Mozambique LNG project. The complaint targets Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area 1 Ltd. (MEPMOZ), a UK-registered joint venture between Mitsui & Co. and Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC). MEPMOZ holds a 20% stake in the project. The NGOs allege breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, citing unresolved resettlement compensation, environmental concerns, and alleged livelihood restoration failures and abuses by security forces linked to project protection.
🔗 Read more → FoE Japan’s Press Release

Dutch Court Allows Greenpeace’s Dutch Case Against Energy Transfer to Proceed
The Amsterdam District Court rejected Energy Transfer’s preliminary attempt to dismiss Greenpeace International’s Dutch lawsuit, which Greenpeace describes as an anti-SLAPP case, allowing the Dutch proceedings to move forward. Greenpeace, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, brought the case after a North Dakota jury found Greenpeace entities liable for damages linked to Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Energy Transfer argued the Dutch court lacked jurisdiction and, alternatively, asked for the case to be stayed. The court rejected those requests and gave Energy Transfer six weeks to file its defense on the merits under Dutch law.
🔗 Read more → The Associated Press, Greenpeace’s Press Release

Brazil Shifts Sustainability Reporting Rule to Voluntary Model
Brazil’s securities regulator, CVM, amended Resolution 193 through Resolution 244, removing the planned mandatory requirement for public companies to publish sustainability-related financial disclosures. Companies that choose to report must still follow the Brazilian Sustainability Pronouncements Committee (CBPS) and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, preserving a common framework for voluntary disclosures. Public companies that opt not to file a sustainability report must explain that decision through a market announcement. The revised rule also removes the previous indefinite reporting obligation, replacing it with a requirement that voluntary reporters publish for at least three consecutive fiscal years.
🔗 Read more → CVM’s Press Release, Resolution 244

UK FCA Proposes Simpler Climate Reporting for Investment Products
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) proposed replacing detailed product-level reports based on the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations for asset managers, life insurers and FCA-regulated pension providers with simpler climate disclosures for retail investors. The FCA said current product-level reports are often too complex and not widely used, while firms reported low investor engagement. Under the proposal, retail communications would need to disclose financially material climate risks or opportunities where relevant, while institutional clients could request Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data. The consultation runs until July 13, 2026, with final rules expected in autumn.
🔗 Read more → UK FCA (Press Release, Consultation Paper CP26/17 and Online Response Form)

U.S. EEOC Approves a New National Enforcement Plan
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) approved a new National Enforcement Plan (NEP) for fiscal years 2025 to 2029, replacing the agency’s prior 2024 to 2028 Strategic Enforcement Plan. The new NEP prioritizes cases involving intentional discrimination, repeated or facially discriminatory workplace practices, vulnerable workers, enforcement process integrity and unresolved legal questions. The NEP also identifies Chair Priorities, including DEI-related race and sex discrimination, anti-American national origin discrimination, single-sex workplace spaces and religious accommodation.
🔗 Read more → EEOC (Press Release, National Enforcement Plan)

EFRAG Resumes Work on Sustainability Standard for Non-EU Groups
EFRAG resumed work on the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS) for non-EU groups under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The future N-ESRS is intended to apply to non-EU groups with significant EU activities under Article 40a of the Accounting Directive. EFRAG plans to launch a 100-day public consultation on the draft standard in the second half of July 2026. It is also inviting companies to participate in a field test to assess the feasibility and operability of the draft requirements, with expressions of interest due by July 1, 2026.
🔗 Read more → EFRAG

ISO Publishes Net-Zero Transition Planning Standard for Finance
The British Standards Institution (BSI) announced the publication of ISO 32212, a new international standard for net-zero transition planning by financial institutions. The voluntary standard sets requirements and recommendations for banks, insurers, asset managers, asset owners and other financial institutions to develop transition planning objectives, targets, governance, policies and controls. It covers areas such as climate-related risks and opportunities, portfolio exposures, financing decisions, engagement strategies, reporting, data quality, internal audit and performance review.
🔗 Read more → ISO 32212:2026, BSI (Press Release, Visual Framework)

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Article Warns ESG Score Standardization Could Increase Gaming Risk
A new article in The Conversation argues that efforts to standardize ESG scores may have unintended consequences for corporate incentives. It notes that many S&P 500 companies now link CEO pay to ESG metrics, while regulators and standard setters are pushing for more comparable sustainability measures. The author says that a single predictable scoring system could make it easier for executives to optimize against the metric without improving underlying environmental or social performance, suggesting disagreement among ESG rating providers may create useful friction by making ratings harder to game.
🔗 Read more → The Conversation

Attribution Science Gains Role in Polluter-Pays Climate Litigation
A new Grantham Research Institute guide examines how attribution science is being used in polluter-pays climate litigation to connect major greenhouse gas emitters to specific climate-related harms. It explains that claimants increasingly build a causal chain linking emissions, physical hazards, and resulting damage or risk of damage. In addition to reviewing how this approach appears in cases such as Luciano Lliuya v. RWE, Asmania v. Holcim, and Hugues Falys v. TotalEnergies, the guide highlights ongoing challenges, including differing legal causation tests, standards of proof, and uneven access to climate and damages data.
🔗 Read more → Grantham Research Institute Guide “Constructing the causal chain: attribution science in polluter pays climate litigation”

Catch up on previous editions → ESGLitigation.com

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