ESG Regulation Under the Biden Administration

During his term in office (January 2021-2025), President Biden positioned climate action and sustainability at the forefront of his domestic agenda, orchestrating what many experts call the most significant American response to climate change to date. Overall, Biden’s ESG-related policies focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a similar approach as the Obama administration. A central goal of the Biden administration was to achieve zero emissions in the power sector by 2035 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 2050.

While the United States is off to a slower start than Europe when it comes to ESG regulation, the Biden Administration is working to make up for lost time.  Although the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a June 2022 decision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to broadly regulate carbon emissions, the executive branch still has a number of tools at its disposal to promote sustainable development.  Since 2021, the Biden Administration has worked to establish ESG as a crucial part of its regulatory agenda.  These efforts have included both President Biden’s Executive Orders and rule making and other actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Labor (DOL). Additionally, in August 2022, the President signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to cut emissions 40% from 2005 levels and earmarks $370 billion for clean energy, electric vehicles, and carbon capture and storage.

As will be discussed below, the Biden Administration promoted sustainability through executive orders, foreign policy, agency regulations, and legislative action. By January 14, 2025, the administration had implemented 123 new environmental policies while overturning 99 environmental and energy policies from Trump's first term. 

More information on each of these efforts can be found below, and news on US ESG regulation can be found here.