The global ESG momentum is actively retreating. Key economies show political expediency threatening crucial climate targets. This erosion of commitment is visible across continents. It is led by powerful factions prioritizing short-term growth. This happens even as 2024 saw the global average temperature briefly and temporarily exceed the 1.5-degree C warming threshold (Copernicus Program, 2024).
India’s policy contradiction:
India presents a complex and contradictory model. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandates its top 1,000 listed companies to file comprehensive Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports (BRSR). This provides a strong framework for corporate transparency.
Yet, this push is undercut by environmental relaxation that facilitates industrial projects.
• Green Cover Dilution: The MoEFCC has reduced the mandatory common green cover requirement for new industrial estates from 33% to a minimum of 10% Environmentalists criticized the move. Prafulla Samantara alleged it showed “green norms are guided under pressure from industries.”
• National Park Encroachment: BMC has moved to divert land near the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). A plot near Malad was reserved for “Police Housing.” Crucially, the adjacent Aarey Milk Colony saw the felling of over 2,100 trees for the Mumbai Metro 3 car shed, further eroding the city’s green lung.
• Contested Renewable Energy: Indigenous communities in Assam fiercely protested land takeover for solar power plants (Land Conflict Watch, 2021). Similarly, communities in Karbi Anglong successfully lobbied against a 500 MW solar project. This led the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to cancel its loan in 2025 due to protests over rights violations.
Australia and the global epidemic of backtracking:
The policy conflict is a global epidemic. Australia is a key case study for political policy rollback. The country’s Federal Opposition has signaled intent to “wind back mandatory reporting,” targeting Scope 3 emissions (AICD, January 2025).
This is alarming. The Climate Action Tracker rates Australia’s targets as “insufficient.” It states that if all countries followed this approach, warming would reach over 2 degrees C and up to 3 degrees C.
The global policy dilution continues:
- In the United States, anti-ESG legislation is advanced by politicians funded by oil and gas interests.
- BlackRock quit the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative in January 2025. They cited “confusion… and subjected us to legal inquiries.”
- The European Union (EU) watered down the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
Profit over planet: the lobbyist factor
This global retreat is the direct, intended outcome of a massive lobbying effort.
At COP29 in Baku, 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access. They outnumbered the combined delegations (1,033) from the ten most climate-vulnerable nations. This dominance allows lobbying groups to dismantle critical policies. As Nnimmo Bassey of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation asserts, “The fossil fuel lobby’s grip on climate negotiations is like a venomous snake coiling around the very future of our planet.”
The result is corporate deception. Greenwashing and greenhushing stall capital flow. The failure is not ambition overload but a failing implementation model. Current policies yield too easily to lobbying pressure.
The cost of retreat: a trillion-dollar burden
The consequence of this policy retreat is paid in massive social and economic costs.
• Economic Vulnerability Is Skyrocketing: Australia faces a projected $42 billion dent in home values due to flood events (Climate Council, October 2025).
• Human Costs are Soaring: Heat-related deaths have surged 23% since the 1990s, reaching 546,000 a year (The Lancet, 2024).
• Labor Productivity Losses Are Mounting: Heat exposure caused a record 639 billion potential hours of lost labor productivity in 2024. This is equivalent to nearly 1% of global GDP.
The fundamental issue remains the lack of a robust global mandate. Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement are frequently unmet. This allows countries to shirk responsibility without significant penalty.
Call to action: mandatory and inclusive accountability
The global ESG retreat is a testament to powerful, vested interests prioritizing short-term financial gains. The time for true accountability is now.
- Who is responsible for the policy paralysis? Political leaders who yield to fossil fuel lobbying.
- Should mandatory targets replace voluntary NDCs? Binding global mandates are necessary to ensure collective action and accountability.
- What is the single most urgent step? Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies (globally $956 billion in 2023) and redirecting that capital into clean climate and energy infrastructure.
To ensure action is systemic, we must focus on four inclusive pillars:
- Policy: Mandate all major corporations to publish audited, verifiable just transition plans. These must detail support for workers and communities affected by the shift from high-carbon assets.
• Enforcement: Implement strict, internationally harmonized penalties for greenwashing. Regulatory bodies must have the mandate to prosecute financial fraud related to ESG disclosures.
• Capital: Introduce public finance mechanisms that prioritize projects with high social co-benefits. Mandate transparency on all corporate spending related to climate lobbying and political donations.
• Monitoring: Grant formal mechanisms for local communities to challenge or veto projects that violate their rights. This addresses the power imbalance seen in Assam’s contested solar projects.
Our take:
Choose CLIMATE.
Stop SUBSIDIZING destruction.
Face HISTORY’S judgment.
