In Court and on the Record

This Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court opened its new term by considering the case of Suncor v. Boulder, a 2018 lawsuit in which the City and County of Boulder, Colorado, seek damages from ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy for allegedly misleading the public about climate change. As reported by Inside Climate News, the Supreme Court’s decision could affect whether more than two dozen similar claims proceed. Its consideration focuses on jurisdictional questions. According to the argument transcript, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the case felt “sort of premature from the standpoint of this Court exercising its jurisdiction,” and Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked whether the question should first go to the Colorado courts.

With Justice Samuel Alito recused, a tie is possible, which would let the case proceed. A decision is expected by the end of the term in June.

Climate researchers whose work could figure in these cases are also under scrutiny. A Politico investigation found more than 100 open records requests filed at 19 public universities over the past five years, targeting at least 30 researchers. Of these, more than half have been filed since November 2024. “I have never seen this many open records requests in such a short time,” said Lauren Kurtz, executive director of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund. A nonprofit organization called Government Accountability & Oversight is one of the two groups that have made the most requests; it has received $1.5 million since 2020 from the Joseph W. Craft III Foundation, founded by the CEO of a leading coal producer.

As reported by Sustainability Online, the TNFD’s 2026 Status Report identified more than 1,000 organizations publishing at least some nature-related disclosure aligned with its recommendations, roughly double last year’s count. Similarly to TNFD’s own findings, G&A’s flagship research, Sustainability Reporting in Focus, found that in 2025, the number of companies on the Russell 1000 index that reported in alignment with TNFD doubled from the 2024 level.

TNFD attributes much of that growth to investor stewardship conversations rather than regulatory requirements. More than 70% of respondents to a mid-2026 survey by TNFD expressed a desire for mandatory reporting standards. The TNFD Senior Adviser Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, offered an explanation for companies’ interest in nature-related reporting requirements: "nature loss is a financial risk and nature resilience is essential to business resilience."

FTSE Russell released its annual survey of asset owners, and reports that 84% now take sustainability into account in some form, up from 73% last year. The quality of corporate reporting was the most-cited barrier to further adoption, named by 33%.

For companies setting climate targets, the Science Based Targets initiative’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 takes effect in February 2028. A brand-new G&A resource paper covers what makes the new Standard different, including five-year review cycles and updated Scope 3 thresholds. Our SBTi target-setting team can help.

Elsewhere in the issue: the EU’s anti-greenwashing rules are in effect, banning unverified claims like “environmentally friendly”; ISO and UNDP launched the first international standard for business’ linkages to the SDGs; GRI announced plans for a sector standard for food and beverage companies; and a PLOS Climate study finds that historical emissions from major fossil fuel and cement producers will keep causing global warming for centuries. From the G&A team, Hank reflects on what chief sustainability officers have told the WEF this year, from Davos to NYC Climate Week.

This is just the introduction of G&A's Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue.