Fossil Fuels and SpaceX Dominate Exclusion News in the Second Quarter of 2026
Covalence has just updated its Norms-based exclusions monitor. This tool aggregates 64 exclusion lists published by asset owners and asset managers worldwide as well as by the United Nations. It tracks companies named in these lists for conduct-based reasons.
At the end of the second quarter of 2026, we observe a sharp increase in the number of energy and utility companies appearing on norms-based exclusion lists.
Energy: +671 exclusions during Q2 2026 (total: 1912). In relative terms, the Energy sector now accounts for 30.2% of all norms-based exclusions tracked by Covalence (25.9% in Q1 2026). In terms of the number of companies affected: 411 companies in the Energy sector now appear on at least one list (351 in the end of Q2 2026).
Utilities: +250 exclusions during Q2 2026 (total: 793). Utilities now account for 12.5% of all norms-based exclusions (11.3% in the first quarter of 2026). 198 utility companies appear on at least one list (up from 174 at the end of Q1 2026).
This sharp increase in the number of energy and utility companies excluded primarily involves companies based in China (+414), the United States (+390), and Canada (+116).
This is a hybrid form of exclusion that combines product-based and conduct-based exclusions. The energy and utilities sectors are not automatically excluded, but companies in these sectors that do not make efforts to combat climate change (such as a plan to transition to carbon neutrality) are increasingly being excluded.
Among the reasons cited to justify these exclusions are: “climate-related factors”, “Climate criteria”, “GHG Emissions”, “Fossile expansion”, “Climate Standards”, “Climate Action 100+”, “Oil&Gas – not aligned”, “Fossil – Missing transition plan”.
In most cases, these categories were already included in the exclusion lists analyzed in previous quarters, and it was the number of listed companies—and the number of exclusions targeting those companies—that increased.
In some cases, climate-related categories have been newly added. This is the case, for example, with the Swiss Association for Responsible Investment (SVVK-ASIR), which brings together a dozen major institutional investors. SVVK-ASIR recommends that its members refrain from further investments in debt securities of seven companies.« This marks the first time that SVVK-ASIR has issued a deny debt recommendation. The companies concerned – Chevron Corp., ExxonMobil Corp., Marathon Petroleum Corp., PBF Energy Inc., Phillips 66, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., and Valero Energy Corp. – all operate in the fossil fuel sector. The decision follows insufficient progress in the climate transition dialogue».
Finally, during the second quarter of 2026 Covalence identified new lists that include climate-related categories. One example is Danica, a Danish pension fund, which excludes companies under the category “Fossil Fuel Transition Laggards Exclusions”.
In addition, the second quarter of 2026 was also marked by the inclusion of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) on several norms-based exclusion lists, while the company went public on June 12.
Among the institutions that made this decision were pension funds based in the Netherlands and Denmark. The reasons cited to justify these exclusions include, in particular: “Human rights, Governance”, “Board decision” or “Controversial business practice”.
This information is taken from the Norms-based exclusions monitor, a tool provided by Covalence. This tool now indicates the reasons for exclusion and also offers new pricing options for 1, 10, and 100 companies, as well as for the entire universe (more than 15,000).
