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The EU petrochemical industry, a €635 billion sector employing 1.2 million people, is facing a deep structural crisis characterized by ageing assets, high energy costs, and intensifying global competition. The industry is physically organized around approximately 150 chemical parks, with the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Rhine-Ruhr corridor serving as the world's densest concentration of production. However, the EU's global market share in chemical sales fell from 21% in 2009 to 13% in 2024, while China now accounts for 46% of global sales. The sector is experiencing a 'closure wave' of steam crackers—the central units for producing ethylene, propylene, butadiene, and aromatics—due to their 1970s-era scale and high carbon exposure under the EU ETS. Between 2022 and 2025, the industry lost approximately 37 Mt of production capacity, and investment CAPEX dropped from €7.6 billion in 2022 to €1.5 billion in 2025. The report highlights acute vulnerabilities in the supply of primary 'building block' molecules, noting that the EU produces less than 10% of global primary petrochemical capacity and is increasingly dependent on imports for molecules like methanol, where domestic production covers less than 15% of consumption.

The document examines the challenges European companies face in balancing sustainability and geopolitical resilience in critical raw material (CRM) supply chains. While firms are increasingly adopting sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices, they are hindered by limited supplier leverage, price competition, and import dependencies. The study concludes that current policy goals to reconcile these trade-offs are difficult to achieve in practice, suggesting a need for more coherent, cross-regional governance frameworks.

The 2025 F-List identifies 1,217 fossil fuel contracts across 709 agencies in 74 countries, arguing that these ties facilitate climate disinformation and expose agencies to financial and reputational risks despite a global shift toward clean energy investment.

The briefing highlights that global plastic polymer production is highly concentrated, with seven countries producing 66% of the world's plastics and 18 companies responsible for over half of global production. It further notes that China, Saudi Arabia, and Germany provide 80% of the feedstock subsidies among the top 15 producers, while a small group of oil and gas-producing states opposes production caps in treaty negotiations.

The document reports on a significant shift in the oil market as OPEC+ increases production, leading to lower prices and potential decline in US shale output. It highlights a landmark German court ruling establishing that high-emitting companies can be held liable for climate damages and discusses various challenges facing the LNG and gas power sectors globally, alongside regulatory uncertainties for hydrogen in the US and EU.

The report 'Steeling Our Future' by Reclaim Finance analyzes the financing of the 100 largest steel producers, finding that banks provided US$429 billion to these companies between 2016 and June 2023. It highlights a critical gap between banks' climate commitments and their continued support for coal-based blast furnace (BF-BOF) production, which accounts for nearly 90% of steel sector emissions. The document argues that current decarbonization targets are insufficient and calls for an immediate end to financing for new blast furnaces and the relining of existing ones to avoid stranded asset risks estimated at US$554 billion. It advocates for a shift toward hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron (HDRI) and electric arc furnaces (EAF) powered by sustainable electricity.

The document examines how private equity firms have consolidated the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) market using debt-funded growth, leading to cost-cutting measures that result in understaffing, repair delays for wheelchair users, and healthcare billing fraud. It profiles specific PE-owned companies and proposes policy recommendations to mitigate these harms, such as supporting right-to-repair legislation and improving Medicare reimbursement.

The report argues that private equity firms have consolidated the US Durable Medical Equipment (DME) industry, using high-debt strategies that lead to severe cost-cutting. This has resulted in delayed critical repairs for wheelchair users, fraudulent billing practices in respiratory care, and active lobbying against 'right to repair' legislation. The authors recommend state and federal interventions to ensure timely repairs, combat fraud, and limit industry consolidation.

The briefing highlights the risks associated with treating critical minerals as undifferentiated commodities, noting that a lack of transparency hides environmental and social costs. It advocates for a paradigm shift toward commodity differentiation through product-level standards, tracking technology, and regulatory tightening to ensure the energy transition is just and sustainable.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project supports the Stop Wall Street Looting Act to curb the negative impacts of the private equity industry. The organization highlights that private equity assets grew from less than $1 trillion in 2004 to over $7.5 trillion, often utilizing high debt levels that are shifted onto acquired companies. The document asserts that this model leads to job losses, substandard healthcare, and the funding of fossil fuel infrastructure, specifically noting $1.1 trillion invested in energy assets since 2010.

The report argues that private equity ownership of nursing homes often leads to reduced staffing, higher patient mortality, and decreased quality of care due to profit-seeking tactics and opaque corporate structures. It highlights specific firms like Formation Capital, GI Partners, and Portopiccolo Group, noting their roles in facility acquisitions and associated controversies regarding COVID-19 outbreaks and fraudulent billing.

The report examines the role of the advertising and PR industry in supporting fossil fuel companies, arguing that these agencies facilitate greenwashing and disinformation. It highlights a growing movement of professionals rejecting such work and documents the contradiction between the sustainability pledges of major agency holding companies and their continued representation of high-polluting clients. The document provides a list of 90 agencies working for the fossil fuel industry and presents case studies of misleading campaigns in Australia, the United States, and Europe.

The document argues that current oil and gas expansion plans are incompatible with Paris Agreement goals, as emissions from existing fields alone would likely exceed the 1.5°C limit. It highlights a projected USD 1.4 trillion investment in new extraction between 2020 and 2024, primarily in North America, and calls for a managed phase-out of fossil fuels supported by government bans on new licenses and a shift toward renewable energy.

The report documents a record-breaking increase in private equity acquisitions within the health care sector, reaching $31 billion in 2018. Through case studies of senior care, hospital systems, physician staffing, and behavioral health, it argues that private equity strategies—such as leveraged buyouts, sale-leaseback transactions, and aggressive cost-cutting—often prioritize short-term investor returns over patient care and long-term institutional stability. Key concerns highlighted include increased health-code violations, facility closures, 'surprise' medical billing, and reduced regulatory oversight due to complex corporate restructuring.

The document argues that the proliferation of voluntary certifications in the palm oil, fisheries, and textile sectors has created consumer confusion and a 'race to the bottom' in standards. It finds that these schemes often fail to stop deforestation, overfishing, or pollution, and are sometimes used by companies to mask unsustainable operations. The report calls for the abolition of most current schemes in favor of a few high-ambition, transparent, and science-based standards that complement, rather than replace, government regulation.

The report investigates voluntary certification in three high-impact sectors: fisheries, palm oil, and textiles. It concludes that a proliferation of low-ambition schemes creates consumer confusion and allows companies to 'greenwash' unsustainable practices. In fisheries, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Friend of the Sea (FOS) are criticized for certifying fisheries with high bycatch and destructive methods. In palm oil, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and government-led schemes like ISPO are found ineffective at stopping deforestation and peatland drainage. In textiles, the report highlights the lack of transparency in the Higg Index and the low standards of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) compared to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The authors call for the abolition of the least ambitious schemes and a shift toward mandatory due diligence, transparency, and science-based regulations.

The report examines how weak federal guidelines and aggressive industry marketing expose US children under five to excessive added sugars, contributing to obesity and diabetes. It highlights gaps in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the influence of the food industry on policy, recommending stricter FDA limits and transparent guideline-setting processes.

The report analyzes the steel sector's transition to a low-carbon future, noting that while current carbon pricing (like the EU ETS) has had limited impact on plant location and investment, deeper emissions cuts will require breakthrough technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). It emphasizes the need for collaborative research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) and suggests a 'coalition of the willing' among major steel-producing nations to maintain competitiveness while decarbonizing.

The cement sector is a major global CO2 source, with emissions projected to reach 4.0 Gt by 2030. While emissions intensity is declining due to the adoption of best available technology (BAT) and alternative fuels, these gains are offset by rising production volumes, particularly in China. The report argues that current carbon pricing, such as the EU ETS, is insufficient to drive the breakthrough technologies needed for a low-carbon future, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and new low-carbon cement forms. It suggests that a combination of public-private financing, revised building standards, and Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs) is necessary to prevent carbon leakage and incentivize deep decarbonization.

The report analyzes the PV sectors in Germany and China, finding that while deployment support has successfully driven installations and cost reductions, investment support is insufficiently linked to innovation, and direct R&D funding remains low relative to deployment subsidies. It argues that PV costs must be reduced by another 50% to achieve large-scale competitiveness, requiring a comprehensive value-chain approach and international policy coordination to maintain momentum as German support declines.