James Uthmeier
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued subpoenas to investigate a so-called “Climate Cartel” made up of international nonprofit CDP and climate action organization Science Based Targets Initiative.
Uthmeier said his office is looking into whether CDP, formerly the Climate Disclosure Project, and SBTi violated Florida consumer protection or antitrust laws by coercing companies into disclosing proprietary data and pay for access under the guise of “environmental transparency.”
“Radical climate activists have hijacked corporate governance and weaponized it against the free market,” Uthmeier said in a statement.
“Florida will not sit back while international pressure groups shake down American companies to fund their ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance] grift. We’re using every tool of the law to stop the Climate Cartel from exploiting businesses and misleading consumers.”
CDP is an international non-profit organization based in the United Kingdom, Japan, India, China, Germany, Brazil and the U.S. that helps companies, cities, states, regions and public authorities disclose their environmental impact.
Its aim, Uthmeier says, is to “dematerialize economic growth” and “prevent dangerous climate change.”
According to the Attorney General’s Office, CDP runs the world’s largest environmental disclosure system, charging companies to report, revise, and promote their data – while selling services that allegedly improve scores and even offer favorable quotes from CDP executives for a price.
Their scoring system is tied to corporate access to capital with investment giants such as Bloomberg, ISS, S&P Global, and Santander reportedly relying on CDP data to make financial decisions, Uthmeier says.
SBTi is a corporate climate action organization that enables companies and financial institutions worldwide to “play their part in combating the climate crisis,” its website states.
The organization, co-founded by CDP and the United Nations Global Compact, sells companies validation of their climate goals, then directing them back to CDP to report their progress, “creating what appears to be a profit-driven feedback loop,” Uthmeier says.
The attorney general says his investigation will examine deceptive trade practices, including whether the organizations sold services, created incentives for corporations to pay, or misrepresented the data used by investors and consumers.
Of those potential antitrust violations, Uthmeier’s office says it will scrutinize the coordination between CDP, financial institutions, and investment services; and if CDP’s efforts to pressure or punish companies that don’t participate result in anticompetitive effects.
“Florida will continue defending free enterprise and protecting consumers from fraudulent ESG schemes masquerading as science,” according to the Attorney General’s Office.
