Regulations Hub
Dive into the world of sustainability regulations, standards and disclosure requirements
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.
Table of Contents
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ISO14001
ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems (EMS), allowing businesses to pro-actively manage their environmental risks and opportunities.
ISSB
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.
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.
Packaging & 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.
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.
SEC Climate Disclosures
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new rule which seeks to enhance and further standardise mandatory climate change disclosures for all publically listed U.S. companies. Under the proposed climate disclosure rule, companies must provide detailed reporting of their climate-related risks, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scopes 1,2 & 3), Net Zero plans, as well as governance approaches based on these factors.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation
The European Union (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.
Latest Reporting News
Keep up to date with the latest changes happening to sustainability regulations and standards across the world.
