ESG Archives - Veerless

Aerial view of an industrial factory releasing smoke and steam into the air.

ESG, Net Zero, Reporting, Sustainability

June 30, 2026

California Pumps the Brakes: CARB Defers the First SB 253 Emissions Reporting Deadline to November 10, 2026

If your company has been racing toward an August deadline to file its first greenhouse gas emissions report in California, you’ve been gifted three more months on the clock. On June 24, 2026, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced it intends to push the first-year reporting deadline under SB 253 from August 10, 2026 to November 10, 2026. Here’s what changed, what didn’t, and what your team should be doing right now.

Katie Yoder

Downtown city skyline featuring tall buildings, streets, and parking areas under a clear blue sky.

Client Feature, ESG, Social Impact

May 11, 2026

Where Data Infrastructure Meets Community: Cologix in Jacksonville, North Florida

When people talk about data centers today, the conversation typically starts with the significant growth of the industry.

AI training and AI inference. Hybrid and multi-cloud. Data. Compute. Megawatts. Cooling technologies.

But if you spend time on the ground, another reality becomes clear. Data centers aren’t just a part of the digital infrastructure. They’re embedded in their communities and consider themselves neighbors.

Ann Thomas

Child watering garden beds with a metal watering can in a lush outdoor setting.

ESG

April 24, 2026

5 Faves: Spring Gardening Swaps (That Actually Make a Difference)

Spring gardening has a way of turning into a reset—new plants, fresh soil, a trip (or three) to the garden center. And while there’s nothing wrong with starting fresh, a more sustainable approach isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing a few things more thoughtfully.

Small, practical shifts can add up over time, and gardening is no different. Whether you’re working with a backyard, a few raised beds, or a couple of containers on a patio, these five swaps are simple ways to approach the season with a little more intention.

Kristen Fischer

Sustainable business practices and greenhouse gas reduction strategies.

ESG, Net Zero, Policy, Reporting, Sustainability

March 30, 2026

Proposed Changes to Scope 2 Accounting On Their Way

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol is in the middle of the biggest update to Scope 2 Guidance since 2015. The proposed changes reset what counts as a credible electricity claim, particularly for market-based Scope 2. The new guidelines require more granular data (hourly), tighter boundaries in sourcing, and explicit clarifications in GHG accounting.

Public consultation from stakeholder closed on January 31^st 2026, where feedback will be analyzed. The Scope 2 Technical Working Group at Greenhouse Gas Protocol will likely run a second consultation period before we can expect the new standard in 2027.

Katie Yoder

Teen girl lying on bed, engaging with tablet for social or educational purposes.

ESG

March 30, 2026

ESG’s Awkward Phase: 5 Lessons from Parenting Teens

There’s a moment in parenting when things begin to shift. If you’ve experienced it, you know the feeling—the child who once took everything at face value starts asking more questions, forming their own opinions, and seeing the world a little differently. It can feel unfamiliar at first—but it’s also a sign that something is changing.

In many ways, ESG is in a similar place.

Kristen Fischer

Woman looking frustrated holding EcoVadis report in a modern office setting.

ESG, Reporting

March 16, 2026

Angry with EcoVadis? Join the Club

Understanding Why Many Companies Downgraded Their EcoVadis Medals

If your company’s EcoVadis medal dropped this year, take a breath. It likely wasn’t a performance failure. Over the past two assessment cycles, EcoVadis has introduced fundamental methodology changes that have reshaped how medals are awarded across its network. The result? Companies with stable or even improving raw scores are watching their medals slide from Platinum to Silver, Gold to Bronze, or off the podium entirely. The frustration is understandable.

At Veerless, we’ve heard from clients, peers, and partners across industries who are asking the same questions: What changed? Why did our medal drop when our score went up? And is EcoVadis still the right investment?

Ann Thomas

AI-driven sustainability icons and data visualization.

ESG, ESGPS, Reporting, Sustainability

March 3, 2026

5 Quick Ways to Make Your ESG Report AI-Ready

The first reader of your ESG report will not be a human. Investors, analysts, rating agencies, and prospective partners are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and custom research agents to search, summarize, compare, and extract insights from sustainability disclosures. Because of this, the way your report is structured now matters just as much information it contains.

The good news is you don’t need to overhaul your reporting process. A few intentional design and formatting choices make the difference between an ESG report that AI tools can read and one that leaves critical data locked behind beautiful but unreadable PDF layouts. This blog outlines five practical ways to make your ESG report more readable, searchable, and useful, for people who read your reports and the AI tools they use.

Charlie Beck

Minimalist design in black and white featuring 25

DEI, ESG, Sustainability

February 4, 2026

Veerless’ 2025 ESG Rewind: A Year of Recalibration

For sustainability professionals, January marked both the start of the new year and the one year mark of a new administration with outsized impact on the sustainability space as well. As we walk into the second month of 2026, the Veerless team took some time to look back at 2025 and the shifts in sustainability we all felt this past year.

It’s no secret that political pressure in the U.S. affected sentiment around ESG for companies both stateside and around the world. But as strong as that influence was, it certainly wasn’t the only global trend affecting our field. Evolving global rules, shifts in expectations around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and other social topics, and louder conversations about the role of business in today’s global environment forced many organizations to retreat and recalibrate. “Wait and see” became a common adage for internal leaders and consulting leaders alike.

Katie Yoder

Top view of vintage books forming a circular pattern

ESG, Sustainability

January 5, 2026

Your 2026 ESG, Sustainability, and Corporate Responsibility Reading List

Some years are about learning new tools. Some years are about sharpening arguments. And some years are about survival. For many sustainability professionals, 2025 was the third option. So it won’t surprise you that many of my reads last year and recommendations are about learning how to live inside uncertainty without losing our moral footing.

If the early years of ESG were about proving relevance, and the middle years were about scaling systems, 2025 was the year many of us quietly asked: What actually holds when the noise gets louder, the timelines get shorter, and the answers stay maddeningly incomplete?

My hope as you put these on your 2026 reading list is that you find them steadying. They grapple with climate, capitalism, ethics, connection, and catastrophe — not to scare us senseless, but to help us stay human, grounded, and courageous in the work. You won’t find easy optimism here. You also won’t find despair. What you will find is perspective — ancient and modern, fictional and analytical — on how to keep going when clarity is partial and stakes are high.

Let’s dive in.

Marcy Twete

Overhead view of a workspace featuring a laptop, smartphone, coffee, and a book titled 'GRACE'.

ESG

September 26, 2025

From Clicks to Credibility: Rethinking Sustainability Reports with ESGPS

There’s a moment every year when a sustainability professional slams their laptop shut, stares at the ceiling, and mutters (or screams), “Why do we do this again?”

It’s June. Or maybe October. The final draft of your ESG report has just been turned into a glossy PDF with all the flair of a corporate brochure and none of the usability of, say, a toaster manual. The team is exhausted. You’ve debated whether to capitalize “Net Zero” seven times. Legal has deleted every adjective with a pulse. And now… it’s live.

Then comes the email from marketing that makes me want to scream into a complimentary NPR tote bag:
“Your ESG report received 4,000 clicks this year!”

Marcy Twete