Today: Move by Science Based Targets initiative marks a divergence from its role as standard-setter and validator; the fight over Rick Perry's nuclear-startup Fermi; scrap dealer gets a U.S. licence to recycle sanctioned ships.

Welcome back: The leading standard setter for corporate climate targets is adding an advisory role to its roster of services, in an effort to diversify its core function of validating companies’ sustainability goals.

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Yusuf Khan reports that the Science Based Targets initiative said its new strategy “marks a clear shift—from setting ambition to enabling delivery, and from validator to transition partner.” This strategic pivot will “add value to companies while enabling them to contribute to international climate objectives,” the nonprofit said.

The move marks a divergence from its traditional role as standard-setter and validator, raising questions over whether it might pose a conflict of interest. SBTi will now be creating standards for companies wanting to decarbonize, charging companies to validate their targets, and advising them on how to meet those targets—potentially for a fee.

In a “conflict of interest statement” earlier this year, the SBTi said it would consider there to be a threat to the independence and impartiality of its services if a “SBTi representative or employee is paid any amount to provide advisory services to a company on their target.”  On April 28, SBTi released an updated version of the statement, in which that clause was absent.

Chief Executive David Kennedy said the changes in the statement were unrelated to the strategy change. “It was due to be updated,” he said.

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Seven months ago, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry described as genius an idea from Texas energy billionaire Toby Neugebauer to build the world’s largest data center on a dusty grazing lease near Amarillo. Today, the men are on opposite sides of a bitter showdown over the company they founded.

The Wall Street Journal's Jennifer Hiller writes that Fermi raced to go public last year—it was founded in January and held its initial public offering in October to capitalize on two booming trends: AI data centers and renewed interest in nuclear power. The startup courted investors with ambitious plans for a sprawling data-center and energy campus on land owned by the Texas Tech University System.

It promised to generate enough electricity to match what many states produce, largely with natural gas-fired equipment and four large nuclear reactors. Electricity would flow directly to sprawling on-site data centers filled with rows of servers running AI workloads for tech companies.

Things haven’t gone according to plan.

The Trump administration granted a license to the world’s largest cash buyer of ships for scrap to purchase four vessels under sanctions for carrying Iranian cargo, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Paul Berger writes.

The decision could pave the way for owners of other sanctioned ships to exit the so-called shadow fleet that carries illicit goods for countries such as Iran and Russia. Shadow fleet ships tend to be older and more poorly maintained than commercial vessels, posing environmental and safety risks.

The license comes as the U.S. cracks down on Iran-linked vessels, including the seizure of a tanker in the Indian Ocean earlier this week. Scrap dealers act as middlemen. They buy ships and deliver them to specialist yards that strip out fixtures and fittings and melt down or recycle the steel.

Dubai-headquartered GMS had applied to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for a broad license to scrap sanctioned vessels. GMS CEO Anil Sharma said OFAC didn’t grant a broad license, but did allow the company to buy four containerships.

Note to Readers: The Sustainable Business newsletter won't be published Monday in observance of Memorial Day. We will be back on Wednesday.

• Ford Motor signed a large-scale battery energy storage agreement and  reiterated its commitment to a zero-emission future. (WSJ)
   
• The Swiss developer of an underground battery system beneath a data centre has boosted  U.K. battery maker Invinity Energy Systems. (FT)
   
• Investors are pushing tech companies to explain how they're reconciling surging electricity demand for AI with their climate goals. (Bloomberg)
   
• Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah are joining forces to accelerate the deployment of geothermal energy. (Canary Media)
   
• The global food system is entering a period of sustained stress that is likely to persist into 2027 at least. (Dow Jones Risk Journal)
   
• McDonald’s warns it will miss its 2030 supply-chain industrial and energy emissions goal, in frank disclosure. (Trellis)
   
• The energy crisis is making some governments more protectionist, in what is a good sign for solar investors. (WSJ)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send your comments to editor Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Pro Sustainable Business team on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.