On 7 August 2024, the European Commission published a set of frequently asked questions on the implementation of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (Directive (EU) 2022/2464) (“CSRD“) and the interpretation of certain legal provisions in the Accounting Directive (Directive 2013/34/EU), the Transparency Directive (Directive 2004/109/EC) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (Regulation
On July 15, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom proposed amendments that would, among other things, delay initial reporting deadlines for two of California’s recently enacted climate-related disclosure laws by two years.
Governor Newsom signed the two bills, Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (California Senate Bill 253 (SB-253)), relating to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosures, and the
On 24 July 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) published an opinion on the sustainable finance regulatory framework (the “ESMA Opinion“), which outlines the ESMA’s long-term vision for the functioning of the EU’s sustainable finance framework (the “Framework“). The ESMA Opinion builds on the findings of the
Japan is considering whether to require all of its primary listed companies to publish an annual sustainability report which substantively conforms with the standards issued by the IFRS’ International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB”). The new mandatory disclosure rule would be applied in phases based on the size of market capitalization, with the biggest companies planned
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), published a combined report on its 2023 Common Supervisory Action (CSA) and the accompanying Mystery Shopping Exercise (MSE) on marketing disclosure rules under MiFID II. ESMA, together with the National Competent Authorities (NCAs), states that marketing communications and advertisements generally comply with MiFID II requirements. Investment firms generally have procedures in place that ensures compliance with the rules for marketing materials. However, there are increasing concerns about marketing material which includes sustainability claims. ESMA identified several areas of improvements and announces that further supervisory actions in this area shall be undertaken.Continue Reading ESMA’s Final Report on the 2023 Common Supervisory Action and Mystery Shopping Exercise on marketing
On 16 May 2024, the UK Government published an implementation update on its development of economy-wide sustainability disclosure requirements (the “Implementation Update“). The Implementation Update, which the UK Government committed to publishing in its 2023 Green Finance Strategy (which you can read more about here), discusses:
In a survey carried out by HSBC in 2023, 97% of real estate developers and investors said net zero was important to their business and 59% of the largest real estate companies said net zero was their top priority.
A third of companies in the sector already have Transition Plans and the push for formalising Transition Plans across the sector is increasing.
In April 2024, the Transition Plan Taskforce (“TPT”) published its final set of transition plan resources to help businesses transition to net zero.
In this article, we consider the guidance available to the real estate sector in preparing Transition Plans (“TP”).Continue Reading Transition Plans & Real Estate
On 19 March 2024, GRESB – an investor-led organisation that provides standardised and validated data to assess the sustainability-related performance of real estate assets and portfolios – announced the upcoming launch of “REAL Solutions“. REAL Solutions is a new suite of tools designed to provide real asset managers and investors with more granular ESG data, which they are demanding in order to take advantage of opportunities in the sustainable investment market and to comply with increasingly burdensome ESG-related regulations.Continue Reading GRESB announces launch of its new suite of ESG-evaluation tools, REAL Solutions
The SEC today paused implementation of the climate rules the agency rolled out less than one month ago, in the face of significant legal challenges in numerous federal lawsuits. The rules would impose substantial disclosure mandates on companies, including concerning the costs of extreme weather events, corporate strategies for addressing climate change, corporate governance procedures
Climate disclosure regulations are among the most significant and complex challenges faced by companies and boards, with a variety of requirements emanating from numerous governmental authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in recent years. Mayer Brown lawyers from around the world produced a White Paper on Global Climate Change Disclosure Initiatives and Board Corporate Governance Considerations