Today’s ESG Updates
- Google Appeals Landmark Search Monopoly Ruling: Company challenges finding it maintained dominance illegally through default search agreements with device makers and browsers.
- Circulate Capital Secures HSBC Funding: Green loan facility will help accelerate circular economy investments across South and Southeast Asia.
- Ecopetrol Geothermal Project Advances in Colombia: Government approves exploration in the Ruiz volcanic massif, under strict environmental conditions.
- OECD Reports Record Climate Funding: Wealthy countries provided $136.7bn to developing economies in 2024, while future needs are estimated in the trillions.
Google takes search antitrust fight to appeals court
Google has appealed a U.S. court ruling that found it illegally maintained monopolies in online search and search advertising, escalating a landmark antitrust fight that could reshape its core business.
The appeal challenges a 2024 decision by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who ruled Google stifled competition through agreements that paid companies, including Apple, billions of dollars each year to make its search engine the default on devices and browsers. Google said the ruling contained legal errors and argued its agreements did not block partners from promoting rivals such as Microsoft’s Bing. It said its market position reflected a “superior search engine” built through “hard work, bold innovation, and shrewd business decisions.”
The case is one of the most significant U.S. antitrust challenges against a technology company in decades. Google is seeking to overturn the ruling as litigation continues over potential remedies, including curbs on its business practices intended to open the market to competitors.
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Further reading: Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly
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HSBC provides funding to scale circular economy infrastructure in Asia
HSBC has provided a revolving green loan facility to Circulate Capital, a Singapore-based investment manager focused on circular economy infrastructure in Asia.
Circulate Capital, launched in 2018 to address ocean plastic pollution in South and Southeast Asia, has since expanded its mandate to broader plastic circularity investments, including recycling systems and supply chain innovation in high-growth markets. The new facility will give the firm flexible liquidity to deploy capital more quickly as investment opportunities arise, with the structure designed to scale as its fund base grows.
The agreement follows the first close of Circulate Capital Asia II, which raised $220 million to support circular supply chains across India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The loan can be expanded and extended over time, providing additional capacity as the strategy develops. HSBC said the facility is intended to help unlock funding for sustainability initiatives that continue to face financing constraints in the region
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Further reading: HSBC Backs Circular Economy Investment Platform Circulate Capital
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Colombia approves exploration of first major geothermal development
Colombia has approved the exploratory phase of a geothermal project led by state oil company Ecopetrol, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for the country’s first large-scale development of the energy source, according to the environment ministry.
The decision grants environmental clearance for early-stage work on the Nereidas project, developed with partners Baker Hughes and utility CHEC in the Ruiz volcanic massif in Caldas province. Authorities approved activity within a protected forest reserve subject to strict conditions, including ecological restoration and water management requirements.
The project is designed to test Colombia’s geothermal potential as it seeks to diversify its power mix away from hydropower, which supplies up to 70% of the country’s electricity. If developed, Nereidas could generate 50–100 MW of baseload power, enough to supply more than 250,000 households.
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Further reading: Colombia clears exploratory phase of Ecopetrol-led geothermal project
Climate finance to developing countries reaches record high, OECD reports
Wealthy countries provided a record $136.7 billion in climate finance to developing economies in 2024, according to OECD data, exceeding the $100 billion benchmark for a third consecutive year.
The target originates from a 2009 pledge under which developed nations agreed to mobilize $100 billion annually by 2020 to support climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. While the headline goal has been exceeded, questions remain over delivery quality, including the balance between loans and grants and whether funding reaches the most climate-vulnerable economies.
At the COP29 summit in 2024, countries agreed to raise climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035. However, 2025 figures are expected to fall after the Trump administration halted U.S. contributions to international climate funds. Economists warn the new target still falls far short of the trillions needed to meet climate goals and protect vulnerable states.
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Further reading: Wealthy countries’ climate finance hit record high in 2024, OECD says
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — In the Cover Photo: Smartphone screen showing the Google home page. Cover Photo Credit: Bastian Riccardi
