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Regulations, Standards and Disclosures
As sustainability regulations gain momentum worldwide, navigating compliance and strategic alignment poses a growing challenge for organisations, as they actively incorporate sustainability into their business strategies.
This shift not only emphasises the formalisation of sustainability initiatives but also underscores the importance of enhanced communication and transparency. Understanding the intricate relationships between reporting frameworks, standards, regulations, goals, and investor-focused ratings becomes paramount for companies as they navigate the short, medium, and long-term impacts on their business activities.
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Regulations, Disclosures & Standards
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
CBAM is a significant step forward for the EU’s commitment to sustainable trade and a sign of the times, as businesses and governments around the world are increasingly recognising the need to take action on climate change.
CDP Reporting
CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, helps organisations, such as investors, companies, cities, states, and regions, disclose their environmental impact across three topics: Climate Change, Water Security, and Forests.
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, is a proposed European Union directive that would require companies to conduct due diligence on their supply chains to identify and mitigate potential human rights and environmental impacts.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The ‘Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive’ (CSRD) is a new law governing the requirements for sustainability reporting in the EU and is a significant step up from the existing and relatively limited EU sustainability reporting requirements.
European Sustainability Reporting Standards
The ESRS delineates the specifics of how companies should report sustainability information to comply with the CSRD directive. The ESRS provides a structured framework for reporting, covering a range of environmental, social, and governance aspects and outlines how and what information and ESG metrics companies need to report.
EU Deforestation Regulation
The EU has adopted new legislation to curb the impact caused by the consumption of products associated with deforestation. The directive replaces and extends the scope of the European Timber Regulation (EUTR), which was specific to timber.
ISO 14001
ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems (EMS), allowing businesses to pro-actively manage their environmental risks and opportunities.
International Sustainability Standards Board
The ISSB develops standards to ensure a global baseline of sustainability disclosures aligned with the needs of investors and financial markets. The ISSB acts as an independent standard-setting body within the IFRS Foundation.
SEC Climate Disclosures
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 along bipartisan lines on March 6, 2024 to adopt as Final the Draft Rules in March 2022 to enhance and standardise climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offering, albeit with significant revisions.
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) is a mandatory reporting scheme that requires qualifying UK companies to prepare and file energy and carbon information in their Directors’ Report.
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, is a proposed European Union directive that would require companies to conduct due diligence on their supply chains to identify and mitigate potential human rights and environmental impacts.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a new law governing the requirements for sustainability reporting in the EU and is a significant step up from the existing and relatively limited EU sustainability reporting requirements.
Green Taxonomy
The EU published the Regulation 2020/852 in June 2020 to establish a legal framework to facilitate sustainable investment. This standard contains system foundations for classifying sustainable economic activities from an environmental perspective and is a key piece for the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Plan which seeks to channel business investment towards low-carbon activities.
International Sustainability Standards Board
The ISSB develops standards to ensure a global baseline of sustainability disclosures aligned with the needs of investors and financial markets. The ISSB acts as an independent standard-setting body within the IFRS Foundation.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation
The EU has started to implement the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which sets out rules for classifying and reporting on sustainability and ESG factors in investments. SFDR was developed to improve transparency, which helps to prevent greenwashing, as well as to direct capital towards more sustainable investments/ products and businesses.
Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
The TCFD’s aim was to develop consistent climate-related financial risk – and opportunity – disclosures for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders. The TCFD framework was adopted internationally at a rapid pace and became the backbone of climate-related disclosure.
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, is a proposed European Union directive that would require companies to conduct due diligence on their supply chains to identify and mitigate potential human rights and environmental impacts.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a new law governing the requirements for sustainability reporting in the EU and is a significant step up from the existing and relatively limited EU sustainability reporting requirements.
EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment
EcoVadis is an online questionnaire tool that corporations use to assess their supply chain partners. Typically, a corporation will request that a subset of its suppliers respond to the EcoVadis questionnaire within a specific timeframe.
Germany Supply Chain Act
The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, known in German as the Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz (LkSG), was published in the German Federal Law Gazette on July 22, 2021. The objective of the act is for German business to comply with due diligence obligations to improve compliance with human rights and material standards within supply chains.
Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence
Governments are increasingly introducing legislative regimes to encourage or require companies to carry out human rights due diligence, that aims to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains.
Modern Slavery Act
Modern slavery is a global issue. According to the United Nations, 40.3 million people are subjected to modern slavery through forced labour each day.
Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation
The ESPR is a proposed piece of legislation in the European Union that will set ecodesign requirements for a wide range of products and will have a major impact on the way products are designed, manufactured, and marketed in the EU.
Extended Producer Responsibility
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a regulatory tool that requires product manufacturers, importers and distributors to be significantly responsible for the end-of-life management of their products. As regulatory requirements vary greatly between jurisdictions and schemes, organisations often require deep subject matter expertise to help deal with the array of requirements and implementing bodies.
PFAS Regulations
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of more than 12,000 synthetic chemicals that have been used in a wide range of products and industries. The current form of the proposal, published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), defines most PFAS as being very persistent in the environment; Therefore, action is needed to reduce environmental emissions and make products safer for consumers.
Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
The overarching aim of the PPWR is to reduce packaging production and associated waste as a primary objective, improve the recyclability of any packaging and grow the market for recycled content. The nature of this proposed regulation is widespread which will mean that it will impact anyone who places packaging on the EU market both small and large.
REACH & REACH-like Regulations
The aim of REACH is to protect human health and the environment from the risks posed by chemicals while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry.
Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) is a piece of legislation created by the EU to reduce the harmful effects of dangerous substances to people and the environment.
Substances of Concern in Products
SCIP is the new database maintained by the European Chemicals Agency for information on Substances of Concern In articles as such and complex objects (Products). SCIP supports the Circular Economy in the EU by ensuring information on articles with SVHC is available throughout the whole article lifecycle, including the waste stage.
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