On 28 February 2023, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the creation of the European Green Bond Standard (“EU GBS“).
On 10 November 2022, the EU Parliament adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD“). The EU Council is expected to adopt the CSRD on 28 November 2022, after which it will be published in the Official Journal. The CSRD will then enter into force 20 days after publication and EU member states will have 18
During last year’s COP26, the UK Government announced that it would mandate the disclosure of listed companies’ and financial institutions’ net zero transition plan, and that it would form a taskforce to assist private sector actors in doing so.
Coinciding with the start of COP27, the UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce (“TPT”) – a taskforce with a mandate from His Majesty’s Treasury to help enable private sector actors in the UK create robust climate transition plans to fulfil their net zero commitments – on 8 November 2022, published, for consultation, its new Disclosure Framework for companies to disclose their climate transition plans.
Importantly, the Disclosure Framework draws on existing and emerging disclosure regimes, such as the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (“TCFD”) Recommendations and the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (“ISSB”) Sustainability Disclosure Standards (for more information on the TCFD and ISSB regimes, read our previous blog posts here, here, here and here).
The TPT’s publication of its Disclosure Framework recommendations is supplemented by the TPT’s Implementation Guidance. The Implementation Guidance sets out practical steps to help private sector actors develop climate transition plans, as well as information on when, where and how to disclose such plans.
The UK’s financial regulator – the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) – on 25 October 2022, published its “Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR“) and investments labels” Consultation Paper (CP 22/20) (the “Consultation Paper“).
This follows the FCA’s July 2021 “Dear AFM Chair” letter regarding improving the quality and clarity of authorised
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) have published the findings of their respective reviews of the first batch of premium listed companies’ Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”)-aligned disclosures (the “Reports”). The FCA’s review involved a relatively high-level quantitative assessment of climate-related disclosures made by 171 premium listed companies, and a more detailed qualitative assessment of the alignment of those disclosures with the TCFD Recommendations for 31 of those companies. The FRC’s review, on the other hand, involved a more granular analysis of the disclosures of 25 premium listed companies that are perceived to face greater climate change-related risks.
Continue Reading The UK’s FCA and FRC review the quality of companies’ TCFD disclosures
A lot can happen in ESG in three days. By Wednesday last week, there were three important developments in the world of ESG and sustainable finance from the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”), the International Capital Markets Association (“ICMA”) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). Read more
On 23 February 2022, the European Commission published its much-anticipated draft corporate sustainability and due diligence directive (the Draft Directive), after a number of delays (see our Previous Blog). The Draft Directive sets out a proposed EU standard for human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD). This includes an obligation for companies to take appropriate measures to identify actual and potential adverse human rights and environmental impacts arising from their own operations or those of their subsidiaries and, where related to their value chains, from their “established business relationships”. The Draft Directive also provides a mechanism for sanctions to be imposed for non-compliance with the due diligence obligations and provides for director responsibility and accountability in relation to a company’s HREDD programme.
Whilst the Draft Directive remains subject to further legislative scrutiny and approval, it provides the most detailed insight yet as to the scope and form of the prospective EU HREDD obligations, and it provides a helpful template for corporates to continue developing their due diligence policies and procedures designed to identify, assess and mitigate adverse human rights and environmental impacts – both in their operations and in their supply chains.
On 11 February, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) published its Sustainable Finance Roadmap for 2022-2024 (the “Roadmap“).
The Roadmap builds on ESMA’s 2020 Strategy for Sustainable Finance and will be of interest to those in the EU and beyond looking to understand the focus and ambition of the EU’s
Disclosure of information on the ESG-related risks facing financial institutions is widely recognised as a vital tool to promoting market discipline. It enables stakeholders to assess the risks presented to financial institutions by issues such as climate change, social and governance risks, whilst also allowing stakeholders to review the sustainable finance strategies of financial institutions. In light of this, governments are increasingly introducing different mandatory ESG-related reporting requirements for financial institutions, such as TCFD-aligned reporting requirements (for further information on TCFD-aligned reporting requirements, please see our previous blog posts here and here).
Adding to the plethora of existing ESG-related reporting requirements, on 24 January 2022, the European Banking Authority (“EBA“) published its final draft implementing technical standards on Pillar 3 disclosures on ESG risks (the “Final Draft ITS“). The Final Draft ITS sets out mandatory templates, tables and instructions that supplement the EBA’s ‘Pillar 3 package’ prudential reporting requirements (the “Reporting Requirements“), which certain EU-based financial institutions will be required to comply with under the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013) (the “CRR“).
Continue Reading The European Banking Authority publishes new ESG reporting requirements