Emperor Sustainability Briefing 13.08.2026

Issue #27

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Top priority 

TotalEnergies weighs up its renewable energy portfolios, Walmart balances growth and targets, and the UK opts for jobs over carbon in procurement rules. This week’s Briefing is a question of competing priorities – and a reminder that strategy is what we chose not to act on, as much as what we chose to pursue. 

One thing that should be your top priority – our upcoming event on the UK’s latest sustainability standard, UK SRS. Join us on the 23rd September at our London offices for a breakfast event where we’ll be deep-diving into the regulation, and what it’ll really mean for UK companies, alongside an expert panel. Full details and RSVP here!

In this briefing…

ISO and GHG – UK Procurement

Total renewables – Capital inflows

Walmart targets – El Niño

Stories

Regulation and frameworks

ISO and GHG Protocol confirm harmonised carbon accounting standard

Following a strategic partnership signed between the two organisations in 2025, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the GHG Protocol have confirmed that they are set to produce a single, harmonised global carbon accounting standard. 

While it was known that this was incoming since the partnership was made public a year ago, the move is highly significant for the world of emissions accounting, and therefore for corporate sustainability more widely. ISO is well recognised as a publisher of well-used standards, including the popular ISO 14000 family for environmental controls, while GHG Protocol is the publisher of the world’s default emissions reporting approach.

Through tying together, it’s likely that the organisations’ new accounting approach will therefore become nothing less than the world’s most widely used, and most trusted, standard. In turn, decisions made when developing the standards will enact strong leverage over how companies and other reporters approach those areas. For instance, the position taken by the standard on offsets, data quality, and scope 3 categories will end up setting the ‘new rules’ for reporters – and exert an influence on corporate decarbonisation strategies more widely.

We’ll be watching the development of the standard closely, and will be sure to bring you updates in the Briefing as it progresses.

UK SRS: The Inside Track

We’re pleased to announce our upcoming event on the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS), UK SRS: The inside Track. Held at Emperor’s London offices, it’ll be a morning event sharing our expert view on how SRS will take shape, and what it’s set to mean for companies and reporting. Find full details and RSVP here – and we look forwards to seeing you!

Shortlist

Schneider Electric has been named the ‘World’s Most Sustainable Company’ by TIME for the third year in a row.

National Grid has announced plans to deliver around 300 Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) credits, alongside Escrick Park estate, as part of the Yorkshire GREEN project.

Policy

UK Government to cut net zero from procurement rules

The UK Government is set to remove the requirement for a net-zero by 2050 target, alongside axing diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) rules, from its supplier requirements for public contracts. In place, contract terms will switch to prioritising local job creation, and addressing skills gaps through training and work experience. The switch is hoped to help smaller businesses in particular, who don’t necessarily have the bandwidth to compete with larger providers on net zero goals.

In the last Briefing, we reported on PM Andy Burnham’s positive stance towards North Sea oil and gas, and speculated on what this might tell us about the new leader’s stance on net zero. While the procurement rules switch will not necessarily be overwhelmingly damaging to the UK’s net zero prospects – reflected in the somewhat muted response from the world of sustainability and green groups – it’s another indicator of where the government’s focuses may be set to lie. As First Secretary Louise Haigh put it, “If you prioritise everything, then you’re prioritising nothing.”

Energy

TotalEnergies buys Shell’s renewables, while juggling its global commitments

TotalEnergies has acquired Shell’s entire renewable energy portfolio, representing around 4GW of wind and solar capacity, for a currently undisclosed amount. Alongside the acquisition, Total have agreed to sell a 50% stake in a separate renewables portfolio to KKR, making the move more of a resizing of portfolios in different regions.

The deal comes as Shell continues to scale back parts of its renewables business, having recently sold its India-based portfolio. For TotalEnergies, meanwhile, the acquisition sits alongside a broader strategy that has not always prioritised renewable expansion. Earlier this year, the company agreed to abandon plans for offshore wind projects in the Atlantic after the Trump administration offered nearly $1bn in compensation and incentives tied to alternative investment in US fossil fuel projects.

Rather than outright commitments to one energy source or the other, the geographically varied approach to acquisition strategies reflects just how fragmented the politics underlying renewable energy have become. The deals come as TotalEnergies continues to fight a lawsuit in France over its climate commitments.

Finance

Follow the money? Sustainability inflows increase

Despite political pushback against ESG, recent market signals suggest a good deal of resilience for sustainability within flows of capital. Fresh Morningstar data shows U.S. sustainable funds recorded nearly $3 billion in net inflows in Q2 2026, ending fourteen consecutive quarters of outflows since 2022. Further adding to the trend, Deutsche Bank reported its strongest sustainable finance quarter in more than four years, up 11% compared to Q2 2025. Although these stories don’t represent a complete about-turn, being able to survive a downturn and return to net-positive flows, at least in some areas, points towards a degree of robustness in this area of capital and finance.

Meanwhile, UK endowment manager Nesta has removed a £120 million mandate from Northern Trust and switched the money to Amundi, citing the move as a ‘direct consequence’ of Northern Trust's withdrawal from major climate initiatives NZAMI and Climate Action 100+. While the amount is relatively small, Nesta commented that it hopes it would send a signal to other asset owners around not accepting “a roll-back of climate commitments”.

Corporate

Walmart resets emissions target with new SBTi-approved goal 

Walmart has replaced its emissions target, moving from a commitment to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 35% by FY2026 – a goal it has now acknowledged it will miss, despite a 24.6% reduction from FY2016 levels – to a new, less ambitious target of 28% by FY2031 against an FY2025 baseline. The revised goal has been validated by the SBTi as 1.5°C-aligned, but the reset itself is notable: this is one of the highest-profile examples yet of a major company scaling back a near-term target while still retaining SBTi validation its longer-term ambition. Walmart maintains that it is still committed to its 2040 goal of net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

The company’s latest ESG report shows emissions fell 7.5% in FY2026, helped by greater use of renewable electricity and lower refrigerant emissions. It said that emissions increases were a result of business growth, including from expanding stores and transport-related emissions – representing a common trade-off for large companies between expansion, and emissions reductions.

In representing a recalibration of targets rather than an abandoning, there’s some promise in Walmart’s move for the wider retail sector. However, critics would observe that targets can be shifted indefinitely, and that sacrificing emissions progress for outright growth is ultimately against the aims of such targets.

Food giants prepare for El Niño disruption

Major food manufacturers, including Nestlé, Danone, Barry Callebaut and Kraft Heinz, are strengthening efforts to protect their supply chains ahead of a developing El Niño. El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern caused by warmer-than-average Pacific Ocean temperatures, which can trigger droughts, floods and other extreme weather across key agricultural regions worldwide. These disruptions can affect the production of commodities such as cocoa, coffee, dairy and tomatoes, putting pressure on supply chains and prices.

Companies are responding by diversifying sourcing regions, investing in climate-resilient agriculture and improving supply chain flexibility. This growing focus on adaptation reflects wider concerns about how climate volatility is affecting food production, and the long-term resilience of global agricultural systems more broadly.

Climate-related supply chain disruption is becoming an increasingly material risk for the food and beverage sector, and this looks set to be tested sooner rather than later.

To discuss any of these topics in more detail or speak to one of our Sustainability team about how to better your corporate sustainability efforts, email [email protected] -we'd love to hear from you.