Energy Vault Holdings

Does the core business genuinely avoid or reduce emissions, or build climate resilience? Share of revenue that is actually 'green'. Fossil-dependent models score low.

Core product—grid-scale energy storage across gravity, battery, and green hydrogen technologies—directly enables renewable energy dispatch and reduces fossil fuel peaker reliance, but the company's own marketing acknowledges 'fossil fuel hybrid solutions' and independently verified avoided-emissions figures are absent from public disclosures.

Credible, science-based targets (SBTi), a real net-zero plan with progress to date, and CDP disclosure — not just a dated press release.

Energy Vault holds SBTi-validated near-term and long-term emissions reduction targets—a meaningful credential—but public disclosures do not yet provide granular, independently audited scope 1/2/3 baselines or verified annual progress data, leaving the credibility of the roadmap partially unsubstantiated.

Operational footprint, labour and social practices, and governance quality across the company's own operations and supply chain.

An S&P Global ESG score of 74/100 (98th percentile, four consecutive years of improvement) and an annual Double Materiality Assessment demonstrate above-average operational ESG practice for a small-cap, but the company's small headcount, ongoing net losses, and limited external verification of labour/supply-chain practices constrain a higher score.

Quality of disclosure, independent third-party verification, and how much hard data backs the company's claims.

Annual sustainability reports and SEC 10-K ESG sections provide a reasonable disclosure baseline, and the S&P Global assessment provides a degree of third-party benchmarking, but no CDP disclosure score was found, no independent GHG assurance statement is public, and quantified avoided-emissions or lifecycle data for products are absent.

Controversies, litigation, pollution, fossil-fuel lobbying, conflict-zone involvement and governance scandals. Higher means cleaner.

A 2022 securities fraud lawsuit and related investigation alleged misrepresentation of a $50M License and Royalty Agreement's revenue potential; while these actions appear to be early-stage/unresolved, the company's 10-K notes it is regularly subject to legal proceedings, and no material pollution or lobbying controversies have surfaced more recently.