On 30 May 2023, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released a discussion paper titled “Prototype of a Green Classification Framework for Hong Kong” seeking feedback on developing and adopting a green taxonomy for Hong Kong. In an effort to support Hong Kong’s role in linking green financial flows between Mainland
The Federation of Brazilian Banks (“FEBRABAN“) has recently approved Regulation No. 026/2023, setting forth guidelines and procedures for Brazilian banks when financing the beef industry, particularly slaughterhouses. Pursuant to the new self-regulation, as of 2025 financing should only be available to slaughterhouses that put into place a due diligence system for tracing and monitoring the activities of direct and indirect suppliers, certifying that no illegal deforestation has occurred in its supply chain. The self-regulation only applies to slaughterhouses located in the states that compose the “Amazônia Legal” and the state of Maranhão.
Continue Reading Federation of Brazilian Banks tackle illegal deforestation in the beef supply chain
On March 27, 2023, the ASEAN Taxonomy Board released Version 2 of the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (the “ASEAN Taxonomy“). As we reported here, Version 1 of the ASEAN Taxonomy was first published in November 2021 and it was designed to promote the transition towards sustainable finance by the ASEAN member
On April 7, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released two staff reports on climate-related risks for financial institutions. While the staff reports do not suggest or impose legal requirements, they provide financial institutions with insights on banking regulators’ positions on climate-related risk management requirements and current industry practices. In this Legal Update
In the Hong Kong government’s 2023-2024 budget, the Financial Secretary, the Hon Paul MP Chan, unveiled various measures to bolster Hong Kong’s economy following the Covid-19 epidemic, with a strong focus on promoting green and sustainable finance and technology and advancing the virtual assets sector (also reported here).
The following initiatives were announced
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“).
A recent attention-grabbing report by the Guardian, Die Zeit and SourceMaterial claimed that “more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless“. This prompted a swift detailed rebuttal by Verra – the world’s largest certifier of offsets and the organization subject to the criticism – who argued that the Guardian’s
On 25 January 2023, the new CEO of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), Sarah Cardell, set out one way in which the CMA will seek to ensure that the UK’s transition to a net zero economy will not be held up by competition law concerns. Significantly, Sarah Cardell again emphasised that environmental sustainability is a strategic priority for the CMA. This is an invitation for businesses to start pushing harder on the CMA’s open door, for which Mayer Brown’s ESG team is on hand to help.
On 26 January 2023, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA“) announced that it intends to investigate the accuracy of environmental claims made by businesses in the fast-moving consumer goods (“FMCG”) sector. The CMA has stated that it will examine claims made both online and in-store about household products – such as food and drink, cleaning, homecare and self-care products – to determine whether they comply with UK consumer protection law.
The investigation of goods in the FMCG sector will expand the scope of the CMA’s ongoing anti-greenwashing work, which has the ultimate aim of ensuring products and services that claim to be ‘green’ or ‘eco-friendly’ are being marketed to consumers accurately.
Continue Reading Greenwashing: UK competition watchdog to investigate the FMCG sector
On 31 January 2023, the UK Government published its Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 (the “EIP”), detailing how it plans to restore nature and improve environmental quality in the UK. In particular, the EIP proposes new commitments to upgrade wastewater treatment works, restore wildlife and promote nature-friendly farming practices. These new commitments underpin the ambitious international targets agreed at the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 in December 2022, which the UK Government helped deliver (for further information about COP15, read our earlier blog post here).
The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has said that the EIP “provides the blueprint for how we deliver our commitment to leave our environment in a better state than we found it, making sure we drive forward progress with renewed ambition and achieve our target of not just halting, but reversing the decline of nature“.