Issue - March 3, 2026

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, March 3, and this week’s ESG Litigation Weekly covers the U.S. Supreme Court taking up Suncor and ExxonMobil’s challenge to Boulder County’s climate damages suit, Vanguard’s settlement with a Texas-led group of state AGs over alleged ESG collusion and related stewardship commitments, the UK’s publication of UK SRS S1 and S2 based on the IFRS sustainability standards, and more.

Supreme Court Takes Up Oil Companies’ Challenge to Boulder Climate Damages Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil seeking to stop or reroute a Boulder County, Colorado, climate lawsuit that seeks billions for local climate impacts. The companies argue climate emissions are a national issue that belongs in federal court, where similar cases have been dismissed, while Boulder argues states can address in-state harms. The Trump administration backed the companies. A Supreme Court filing shows the parties requested a briefing schedule that would allow argument during the Court’s October 2026 sitting.
🔗 Read more → The Associated Press, Supreme Court (Case Docket, Motion of Suncor Energy et al. for an Extension of Time Submitted)

Vanguard Settles Texas-Led ESG Collusion Suit, Agrees to Passivity and Proxy Voting Changes
Thirteen state attorneys general (AGs), led by Texas, reached a settlement with Vanguard in their federal antitrust case alleging coordinated climate-focused stewardship that affected the coal industry. Under the February 25, 2026 agreement, Vanguard will pay $29.5 million and commit that its stewardship and proxy voting relating to U.S. equity investments by U.S. Vanguard-advised funds will be conducted solely to further investors’ financial interests. Vanguard also agreed to withdraw from the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), avoid groups that require climate or output targets, and expand proxy-voting options to cover at least 50% of relevant assets by June 2027. Vanguard denies wrongdoing.
🔗 Read more → Texas AG (Press Release, Settlement Agreement)

AT&T Agrees to Include NYC Pension Funds’ Workforce Demographics Proposal in 2026 Proxy
Four New York City public pension funds settled their federal lawsuit after AT&T agreed to include their shareholder proposal in its 2026 annual meeting proxy materials. The proposal asks AT&T to publicly disclose its Consolidated EEO-1 report, which breaks down the workforce by race, ethnicity, and gender. The funds sued after AT&T said it would exclude the item as “ordinary business” under SEC Rule 14a-8. Under the stipulation, the case is dismissed without prejudice, and each side will bear its own costs.
🔗 Read more → Office of the New York City Comptroller (Press Release, Stipulation of Settlement and Dismissal)

North Dakota Court Enters $345M Judgment for Energy Transfer Against Greenpeace Groups
A North Dakota district court in Morton County entered a final judgment ordering Greenpeace entities to pay Energy Transfer LP and Dakota Access LLC $345.36 million in compensatory and exemplary damages, plus 11% interest from the March 19, 2025 verdict. The judgment allocates damages across Greenpeace International, Greenpeace Inc., and Greenpeace Fund, with some amounts assessed jointly and severally. Greenpeace said it will seek a new trial and, if needed, appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court, and it called the case an attempt to silence advocacy linked to Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
🔗 Read more → Court Judgment via Thomson Reuters, Greenpeace’s Press Release

UK Publishes UK SRS S1 and S2 Based on IFRS Sustainability Standards
The UK Government issued the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) S1 and S2, which are based on the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and were created by assessing and endorsing them. UK SRS S1 sets the general framework for sustainability-related financial disclosures, focusing on risks and opportunities that could reasonably affect an entity’s prospects, cash flows, access to finance, or cost of capital. UK SRS S2 sets climate-related disclosure requirements across governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
🔗 Read more → UK SRS S1, UK SRS S2

EU Omnibus I Directive Published, Narrowing CSRD Scope and Adjusting CSDDD Obligations
Directive (EU) 2026/470, published in the EU Official Journal on February 26, amends the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) frameworks. It narrows mandatory sustainability reporting to undertakings that exceed EUR 450 million net turnover and 1,000 employees on average, and adds “value chain cap” protections allowing smaller value chain undertakings to refuse excessive data requests. The Directive also calls for a fast revision of the first European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) set within six months of entry into force, and repeals CSDDD transition plan provisions. Member States must transpose CSRD changes by March 19, 2027, and CSDDD changes by July 26, 2028.
🔗 Read more → EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2026/470

CARB Adopts Initial Rule to Fund SB 253 and SB 261 Programs and Sets First SB 253 Deadline
California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted an initial regulation to fund and administer the state’s corporate climate disclosure laws, SB 253 (GHG emissions) and SB 261 (climate-related financial risks), as amended by SB 219. The rule sets a flat-rate fee structure, clarifies key definitions for program application, and establishes August 10, 2026, as the first-year reporting deadline for SB 253. CARB said first-year SB 253 reporting will cover Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions only. CARB also notes it is not enforcing SB 261 pursuant to a court order and that climate-related financial risk reporting is voluntary, with more than 120 reports already submitted to its public docket.
🔗 Read more → CARB (Press Release, Climate-Related Financial Risk Reports Docket)

UK FCA Publishes Good and Poor Practice Examples for SDR Sustainability Labels
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published examples of good and poor practice for firms using sustainability labels under its Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime, based on issues observed during the fund authorizations process. The guidance covers all four labels and is intended to help firms prepare pre-contractual disclosures for labeled funds. The FCA says disclosures should be clear, specific, and consistent with the fund’s objective and investments, and should not copy FCA examples or peer wording. It highlights common weaknesses, including vague sustainability objectives, insufficient evidence for sustainability standards, missing discussion of negative outcomes or conflicts, and unclear KPIs and stewardship plans.
🔗 Read more → UK FCA “Sustainability Disclosure Requirements labels: good and poor practice”

In partnership with Wispr Flow

Stop typing reproductions and start vibing code. Wispr Flow captures your spoken debugging flow and turns it into structured bug reports, acceptance tests, and PR descriptions. Say a file name or variable out loud and Flow preserves it exactly, tags the correct file, and keeps inline code readable. Use voice to create Cursor and Warp prompts, call out a variable like user_id, and get copy you can paste straight into an issue or PR. The result is faster triage and fewer context gaps between engineers and QA. Learn how developers use voice-first workflows in our Vibe Coding article at wisprflow.ai. Try Wispr Flow for engineers.

Start flowing free

Court Dismisses Apple Watch “Carbon Neutral” Class Action, Allows Amendment
A federal judge in the Northern District of California dismissed a class action challenging Apple’s marketing of Apple Watch models and its corporate operations as “carbon neutral.” Plaintiffs alleged Apple’s reliance on Verra-certified offsets was misleading and that it retired too few credits to offset 2024 watch sales. The court said plaintiffs relied on unverified third-party estimates and unsupported assumptions, and did not attribute their offset-project critiques to any expert or validated analysis. It therefore found the complaint did not plausibly allege deception under the reasonable-consumer standard. All claims were dismissed with leave to amend within 21 days.
🔗 Read more → Court Order via CourtListener

Court Lets H&M “Recycled Polyester” Labeling Claims Move Forward in Missouri
A Missouri consumer sued H&M, alleging that two clothing items were marketed with green hangtags claiming they contained 55% to 56% recycled polyester, but lab testing allegedly found no recycled polyester in either item. The federal court allowed the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act and related common law claims to proceed based on the hangtag statements, meaning the case can move into later stages on those allegations. However, the court dismissed parts of the case tied to broader website-based representations because the complaint did not clearly identify the specific online statements at issue or when they were made. The proposed class claims were limited to the two products the consumer purchased.
🔗 Read more → Court Order via JUSTIA

Arizona Settlement Targets “Recycling” Claims for Hefty Bags That Are Not Recyclable
Arizona AG Kris Mayes announced a settlement with Reynolds Consumer Products over claims that Hefty “Recycling” bags were marketed as recyclable even though they are not recyclable in Arizona and can cause otherwise-recyclable materials placed inside them to be diverted to landfills. Under a pending-approval consent judgment, Reynolds is barred from selling “recycling” bags in Arizona unless they are accepted at a substantial majority of Arizona recycling facilities. Reynolds must redesign packaging nationwide to remove images suggesting curbside recyclability and add a clear front-of-pack statement: “These Bags Are Not Recyclable.” Reynolds will pay $30,000 in restitution, $157,000 to the state, and $25,000 in costs and fees.
🔗 Read more → Arizona Attorney General's Office (Press Release, Pending-Approval Consent Judgment)

Complaint to ASIC Targets UniSuper “Environmental” Option After Screening Change
Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), on behalf of UniSuper member John Dixon, lodged a complaint with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleging UniSuper may have misled members by continuing to market its Global Environmental Opportunities option as “sustainable” and “environmental” despite having changed its investment criteria. EDO points out that the option’s rules now allow investment in companies with as little as 20% of revenue linked to “environmental themes,” down from 40% from March 2025, without a name change and with minimal notice to members. The complaint urges UniSuper to rename the option or apply stricter criteria.
🔗 Read more → EDO (Press Release, Complaint Letter)

Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Uses AI to Screen New Holdings for Ethics and Governance Risks
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund manager, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), discloses in its 2025 responsible investment report that it is using large language models to screen companies as they enter its equity portfolio and to generate daily risk assessments for new investments. NBIM indicates the tools scan public information beyond typical data vendors, including local-language outlets, and flag potential links to forced labor, corruption, or fraud within 24 hours. NBIM says that staff review the flags and, in some cases, have sold holdings before wider market reaction. NBIM also reports that the fund’s ethical framework is under revision.
🔗 Read more → NBIM’s Responsible Investment 2025 Report (Government Pension Fund Global)

Catch up on previous editions → ESGLitigation.com

Enjoyed this issue? Please share it with your colleagues.
Have feedback or collaboration ideas? Contact us at [email protected]