Issue - September 15, 2026

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, September 15, and this week’s ESG Litigation Weekly covers an Amsterdam court ruling allowing Milieudefensie’s climate case against ING to proceed, Jordan’s ESG Code becoming mandatory in 2027 for ASE20 companies, UK advertising rulings against travel companies over unexplained “eco” claims, and more.

Amsterdam Court Allows Milieudefensie Climate Case Against ING to Proceed
On September 9, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that Milieudefensie may pursue its collective climate claims against ING Groep N.V. and ING Bank N.V. The environmental organization seeks emissions reductions associated with ING’s financing in line with pathways it says are consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C, including restrictions on financing oil and gas companies developing new projects. The court found that Milieudefensie met the applicable requirements for a public-interest collective action. It did not decide whether ING must adopt the requested measures. Whether those measures would achieve the claimed emissions reductions, which ING disputes, remains a question for the merits. Further written submissions will precede hearings expected in the late second quarter of 2027.
🔗 Read more → Milieudefensie (Press Release, Court Ruling)

English High Court Allows Broader Bille Oil Pollution Claims to Proceed to Trial
The High Court of England and Wales allowed claimants from Nigeria’s Bille community to advance broader causation allegations against Shell plc and Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, formerly Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. The claimants may seek to establish responsibility for identified and unidentified spills between 2011 and 2013 through evidence of systemic failures and inference. They retain the burden of proving breach, causation, and damage. The court also allowed allegations supporting aggravated damages, including alleged knowing reliance on false or misleading evidence in earlier jurisdiction proceedings, to be addressed during the liability trial. It did not determine those allegations. Shell disputes the claims and maintains that most pollution resulted from oil theft, sabotage, and illegal refining.
🔗 Read more → High Court Judgment, Leigh Day (Press Release), Shell (Shell’s Perspectives)

North Carolina Announces PFAS Settlement With $455 Million in Payments and $135 Million Reserve
North Carolina and 11 local governments signed an agreement with Chemours, DuPont, Corteva, and EIDP to resolve litigation over PFAS and other historical releases, including contamination associated with Fayetteville Works. The agreement provides for $455 million in payments over 15 years, comprising $380 million for participating local governments and $75 million for the state. DuPont and Corteva must also establish a separate $135 million reserve to provide financial assurance for certain remaining Chemours obligations under a 2019 consent order. Those obligations, including drinking-water measures, remain enforceable. The agreement contains no admission of fault or liability and excludes certain claims, including Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s ongoing litigation. Its effective date depends on required dismissals becoming final and nonappealable.
🔗 Read more → North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (Press Release, Settlement Agreement), Chemours (Press Release)

D.C. Circuit Vacates DOE Emergency Order Keeping Michigan Coal Plant Open
The D.C. Circuit vacated a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) order requiring Consumers Energy to keep Michigan’s J.H. Campbell coal plant operating beyond its planned May 2025 retirement. DOE had invoked emergency authority under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, citing potential electricity supply shortfalls and longer-term reliability concerns. The court held that this authority is a narrow, last-resort mechanism requiring a grid-reliability risk that calls for immediate action by DOE rather than state or regional authorities. It found that the circumstances identified by DOE did not meet that standard, noting that Michigan and regional grid operator MISO had already planned for the plant’s retirement and had sufficient mechanisms to address reliability risks.
🔗 Read more → D.C. Circuit Opinion, Environmental Defense Fund (Press Release)

Amazon Faces Proposed Class Action Over Pregnancy Accommodations
Four former warehouse workers filed a proposed class action against Amazon.com Services, LLC in the Eastern District of New York. They allege that Amazon systematically denied pregnancy accommodations and penalized pregnancy-related breaks and leave. The complaint challenges medical-documentation requirements for routine accommodations, including bathroom breaks, sitting, and eating or drinking, as alleged violations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. It also alleges that Amazon’s unpaid-time and time-off-task policies counted protected absences and breaks toward discipline and termination. The plaintiffs seek nationwide class certification, policy changes, reinstatement, and monetary relief. The Associated Press reports that Amazon disputes the allegations and says the complaint contains inaccuracies. The allegations have not been adjudicated.
🔗 Read more → A Better Balance (Court Filing), The Associated Press (News Article)

States and D.C. Challenge Three Endangered Species Act Rules
Attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia filed two lawsuits in federal court in Northern California challenging three Endangered Species Act rules. One challenges removal of regulatory definitions of “harm” that included certain habitat modification or degradation that kills or injures protected wildlife. The other challenges changes to automatic protections for newly listed threatened species administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and to the process for excluding areas from critical habitat designations. Species-specific protections remain possible under the threatened-species framework. The plaintiffs allege violations of the Endangered Species Act, Administrative Procedure Act, and National Environmental Policy Act, including inadequate justification and environmental review. They seek to have the rules vacated.
🔗 Read more → California Attorney General (Press Release, Threatened-Species and Habitat-Exclusion Rule Complaint, Harm-Rule Complaint)

Jordan Introduces Mandatory ESG Code for ASE20 Companies
The Jordan Securities Commission launched an ESG Code that will become mandatory for companies in the Amman Stock Exchange’s ASE20 Index from the 2027 financial year under an “apply and explain” approach. The Code aligns sustainability reporting with IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, and requires a standalone annual sustainability report. Its governance provisions cover sustainability expertise, female board representation, independent directors, and governance and sustainability committees. At least one-third of directors must be independent. The commission plans to extend the Code to other listed companies in later phases.
🔗 Read more → JSC (Press Release, ESG Code)

HKMA Consults on Expanded Hong Kong Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched a consultation on Phase 2B of the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, which would expand coverage from 25 to 39 economic activities. The prototype adds green and transition criteria for activities including air transport, iron and steel manufacturing, battery manufacturing and recycling, and other low-carbon technologies. It also introduces a process-based approach to climate adaptation and adds 24 adaptation measures focused on shoreline protection and flood management. These comprise 11 pre-assessed “whitelist” measures and 13 measures requiring assessment of their adaptation benefits and associated risks before qualifying as taxonomy-aligned. The framework remains voluntary. The consultation closes on October 7, 2026.
🔗 Read more → Hong Kong Government (Press Release), HKMA (Press Release, Consultation Paper)

UK Consults on Corporate Reporting Overhaul
The UK government launched a consultation proposing to refocus corporate reporting on financially material information for investors and creditors. For strategic reports, it proposes replacing many prescriptive requirements with baseline disclosures on business model, performance, resources and relationships, strategy, and risks. Explicit requirements covering environmental, employee, social, human rights, and anti-corruption matters would be removed. Those matters would still require disclosure where financially material under the proposed baseline. Existing substantive climate-related financial disclosure requirements remain subject to a separate review. The consultation also considers how UK Sustainability Reporting Standards should interact with the Companies Act 2006. Responses are due by November 30, 2026.
🔗 Read more → UK Government (Consultation Page, Consultation Document)

European Parliament Committee Backs Revised SFDR Product Categories
The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee adopted its position on proposed Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) reforms. It backed three standardized product categories: sustainable, transition, and “ESG basics.” Transition products would face restrictions on investments in companies earning revenue from fossil fuel exploration, extraction, mining, or refining, with exceptions subject to specified sustainable-investment and transition conditions. Categorized products would require due diligence and monitoring processes reviewed at least annually. The committee also supported narrowing entity-level sustainability-impact disclosures to the largest financial market participants. The text remains a committee position. The negotiating mandate is due to be announced at the October plenary, and final legislation requires agreement with the Council.
🔗 Read more → European Parliament (Press Release)

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UK ASA Upholds Challenges to Travel Agents’ Unexplained “Eco” Claims
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld challenges to advertisements by Thomas Cook, loveholidays, and DialAFlight using “Eco Resort,” “Eco Hotel,” and “eco-conscious resort.” It found that consumers would interpret those terms as describing environmental characteristics or benefits, even when “Eco” formed part of a property’s name. The ASA said advertisers must explain the basis of such claims because “eco” has no standardized meaning. Although the properties had environmental initiatives, the advertisements did not adequately explain them. The ASA directed loveholidays to amend or withdraw its ads, Thomas Cook to keep its ad amended or withdrawn, and DialAFlight to keep its ad withdrawn. All three were told to make the basis of future environmental claims clear.
🔗 Read more → UK ASA (Thomas Cook Ruling, loveholidays Ruling, DialAFlight Ruling)

Study Finds Limited Consumer Understanding of Firms’ Climate Targets
Research published in Scientific Reports examined consumer understanding of net-zero and carbon-neutral claims across three U.S. studies. In the initial study of 300 participants, about 95% could not identify a defining difference between the targets. Explanatory disclosures improved recognition in a single-product setting without changing willingness to pay. Those comprehension gains did not carry over to a simulated shopping setting with competing information. The findings suggest that disclosures alone may have limited effectiveness in the formats and settings tested, highlighting the difficulty of communicating complex climate claims.
🔗 Read more → Scientific Reports (Research Article)

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