Today: One of the largest tree-planting startups in the world was built by technology professionals and is backed by Microsoft and Google; how Ford failed to bottle Tesla’s electric-vehicle magic; is DEI a four-letter word?

About three hours drive from the city of Belem, where this year’s United Nations climate negotiations took place, is the home of Brazil’s largest carbon-removal company.

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Yusuf Khan writes that the startup, called Mombak, is aiming to restore the Amazon rainforest in the country. For decades, ancient forests have been cleared to make way for cattle grazing. But today many of those cattle farms are infertile and unproductive. 

The company was launched in 2022 by Peter Fernandez and Gabriel Silva, who both hail from the technology industry: Fernandez is a former YouTube executive and Silva worked at a Brazilian fintech company. 

For both men, growing trees for carbon removal has involved quickly learning what works and what doesn’t. Some species that die off too easily or grow too slowly have been abandoned.

To improve the growth rates of its plantations, the company hired experts from the Brazilian paper-mill sector. Brazil has one of the largest paper and pulp industries in the world, built on growing swathes of eucalyptus quickly. Mombak doesn’t plant eucalyptus but it has harnessed the expertise of the foresters that do, to grow native Amazonian trees as fast as possible.

• How do you build a forest-restoration project? Start by becoming a cattle farmer, says the CEO of carbon-removal firm Ponterra. (WSJ)
• Brazil's $125 billion Tropical Forest Forever Facility will limit deforestation and reward investors—if it can get enough money. (WSJ)
• The tech bro who pivoted to plant a trillion trees. (WSJ)

Another Tesla killer bites the dust. The all-electric version of the Ford F-150 pickup joins a long list of rivals that were touted as real threats to Elon Musk’s hold on the U.S. EV market, the Journal's Tim Higgins writes.

But so far, the Motor City has failed to capture the magic that has made the Model Y sport-utility vehicle the bestselling car in the world—electric or not.

Ford Motor’s announcement that it was ending this generation of the money-losing F-150 Lightning (along with refocusing its EV strategy) and taking a $19.5 billion hit wasn’t just a huge blow to Chief Executive Jim Farley. It was another blow, to the idea of an electric-car future in the U.S. Instead, it increasingly looks like China has a commanding lead after fully embracing Musk’s vision of the electrified automobile.

Ford’s move was cheered on by those seeing it as proof that when the government cuts incentives aimed at helping EVs, customers will vote with their wallets against green technology. The real issue, however, might be simpler: Ford’s EV truck failed to live up to customers’ expectations.

• VW is pulling the plug on its retro electric bus in the U.S. next year, after the expiration of tax incentives caused EV sales to tank. (WSJ)
• Sterling Anderson, a former Tesla executive and co-founder of Aurora Innovation, joined General Motors as its global product chief. (WSJ)

The diversity, equity and inclusion landscape changed dramatically following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled “race-based” affirmative action admissions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Raymond Perez writes for Dow Jones Risk Journal that this ruling opened the door for numerous initiatives to dismantle DEI programs maintained by public and private employers on the grounds that such programs are unlawfully discriminatory. For example, the White House announced executive orders overruling fundamental aspects of DEI programs, federal agencies have promulgated new regulations and guidelines curtailing well-established DEI initiatives, and courts have issued rulings providing new parameters to evaluate the legality of DEI programs.

Most DEI initiatives often include targeted hiring practices, mentorship programs, business resource groups and diversity training programs, all designed to promote an engaged and inclusive workforce. This new challenging landscape has left companies asking, “What can we legally do to enhance our workforce environment?”

Tell me what you think: Send me your feedback and suggestions at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com or reply to any newsletter. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here.

• Global coal demand is set to reach a record high for 2025 after the U.S. recorded a rise, the latest data shows. (FT)
   
• Swiss court admits Indonesian islanders climate case against Holcim. (Reuters)
   
• Inside Oklo’s audacious plan to turn leftover weapons-grade plutonium into a nuclear bridge fuel. (Sherwood)
   
• New York mandates statewide GHG disclosure for large emitters starting 2027. (ESG News)
   
• Europe’s anti-deforestation law is delayed again. Here’s what to expect in 2026. (Trellis)
   
• How wastewater flushed down the drain can be used to heat and cool buildings. (AP)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.