On May 20, 2026, the attorneys general of Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, and West Virginia each filed a lawsuit in state trial courts against the proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS) alleging that ISS violated state deceptive trade practice and consumer protection laws by failing to disclose how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations affected ISS’s advice to its shareholder clients. Florida previously filed a <a href="https://www.climatecasechart.com/collections/office-of-the-attorney-general-v-institutional-shareholder-services-inc_657f">similar suit</a> against ISS and Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC. Iowa asserted that ISS violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act (ICFA), alleging that ISS had placed “its own Environmental, Social and Governance (‘ESG’)-driven ideological values ahead of investor interests,” including by adopting policies to force companies to embrace “net zero” climate commitments. The complaint alleged that net-zero was “impossible for farmers, ranchers, cattlemen and for raising hogs” and that net-zero advocates “are undermining or erasing significant parts of Iowa’s economy.” Iowa alleged that ISS violated the ICFA by representing that its research was “objective and impartial” when in fact the research was “tainted by ESG considerations” without financial analysis of those considerations; followed from “close coordination with ESG activists”; and did not disclose material conflicts of interest. In addition, Iowa alleged that ISS published “climate-related advice and recommendations without expertise, blindly utilizing data provided by ESG activists without applying a critical eye or seeking data providing contrary views,” and that ISS failed to disclose that it was paid “lucrative consulting fees” for advice on issues addressed in its reports and that ISS’s owners were “ESG activists.” The complaint requested declaratory and injunctive relief, civil penalties, disgorgement of moneys or property acquired by unlawful means, and costs and fees.

Action brought by Iowa Attorney General asserting that the proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act by failing to disclose how ESG considerations affected its advice to shareholder clients.

State of Iowa ex rel. Bird v. Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc.

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Four States, Including Iowa, Filed Suits Asserting that Proxy Adviser’s ESG-Related Actions Violated State Consumer Protection and Deceptive Trade Practice Laws

Filed

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Four States, Including Iowa, Filed Suits Asserting that Proxy Adviser’s ESG-Related Actions Violated State Consumer Protection and Deceptive Trade Practice Laws

Target

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance