This week in ESG news: Texas sues BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street over ESG investing; Coca-Cola waters down sustainability goals; EU rejects move to ease rules banning deforestation-linked products; Meta looks for nuclear energy to decarbonize AI buildout; more than half of companies required to report under CSRD not “fully confident” in ability to do so, PwC finds; new low-carbon transition funds launched by BNP Paribas, EQT; Mirova launches impact-focused real assets investment platform; Morgan Stanley finds large majority of investors planning to increase sustainable investments; new sustainability data and reporting solutions from Normative, Speeki; capital raises for direct air carbon capture, battery software, clean fuels, carbon accounting solutions, and more.

See below for the highlights of the past week, and get all your ESG news at ESG Today:

Sustainability Goals, Initiatives and Achievements

Meta Turns to Nuclear Energy to Decarbonize AI Buildout

TotalEnergies Acquires Renewable Energy Developer VSB for $1.7 Billion

Coca-Cola Scales Back Sustainable Packaging, Agriculture Goals

ADNOC Launches $80 Billion Low Carbon Energy and Chemicals Investment Platform

Guest Post – Building Resilience and Growth: A CEO’s Guide to Sustainable Transformation

ESG Reporting

Only 42% of Companies Disclosing on CSRD this Year Fully Confident in Meeting Sustainability Reporting Requirements: PwC Survey

Government & Regulators

EU Lawmakers Reject Move to Ease Law Banning Deforestation-Linked Products

EU Commission Commits €4.6 Billion to Support Cleantech Projects

Texas Launches Multi-State Lawsuit Accusing BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street of Using ESG Investing to Manipulate Energy Markets

ESG Services and Tools

Normative Launches New CSRD Sustainability Reporting Offering

Speeki Launches New Carbon Data Collection and Reporting Solution

Guest Post: The Path to AI-Powered Sustainability and ESG Lies in Partner Ecosystems

Sustainable Finance

European Commission Publishes EU Taxonomy FAQ to Help Investors Implement Sustainability Classification System

Thailand Issues Inaugural $865 Million Sustainability-Linked Bond

Private Equity & Venture Capital

Battery Tech Software Startup Zitara Raises $17 Million

Elyse Energy Raises $126 Million to Accelerate Sustainable Fuel Projects

BlackRock, Temasek Decarbonization Fund Invests in Residential Energy Transition Solutions Provider ConnectDER

Direct Air Capture Provider Heirloom Raises $150 Million to Scale Carbon Removal Technology

Apollo Acquires 50% Stake in 2 GW Texas Solar and Storage Portfolio from TotalEnergies for $550 Million

Carbon Management Software Provider carbmee Raises €20 Million

EQT, GIC Acquire Majority Stake in Energy Transition Infrastructure Provider Calisen

Sustainable Investing

80% of Investors Expect to Increase Sustainable Investments Over Next 2 Years: Morgan Stanley Survey

BNP Paribas AM Launches €750 Million Low Carbon Transition Infrastructure Fund

EQT Launches New Transition Infrastructure Strategy

Exec Moves

Carbon Accounting Software Provider Normative Appoints Sebastien Blanc as New CEO

Mirova Appoints Raphaël Lance as Head of New Real Assets Platform