Greenwashing remains at the top of enforcement agendas in 2024. Marketing products and services as “green” and “sustainable” is a common practice and seen as an important way to attract the attention of environmentally...more
On September 18, 2023, following a two-year development process, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) published its final recommendations (the Recommendations) to help market participants with...more
11/29/2023
/ Biodiversity ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Regulatory Requirements
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Hong Kong’s de facto central banking institution, issued a directive for banks setting out high-level principles on planning for a transition to a net-zero economy. In a “Dear CEO”...more
10/17/2023
/ Banks ,
Business Strategies ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) ,
Net Zero ,
Transparency
On September 27, 2023, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines filed a request with the Amsterdam District Court, asking it to dismiss a greenwashing suit brought by environmental activist groups. According to a statement by ClientEarth,...more
In August 2023, following this year’s proxy voting season, two of the world’s largest asset managers published their voting records, which revealed that their support for environmental and social shareholder resolutions had...more
In August 2023, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) issued its proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, “General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance...more
In late July 2023, House Republicans on the Financial Services Committee introduced four bills targeting various business and market activities that implicate environmental, social, and governance issues. In a statement...more
9/7/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proxy Voting ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
In its 2023 snapshot report (the Climate Litigation Report), the London School of Economics’ Grantham Institute found that climate litigation continues to grow, with 190 new cases filed in the last 12 months, including cases...more
On June 7, 2023, the Swiss advertising regulator, Schweizerische Lauterkeitskommission (SLK), upheld complaints that the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) made false statements about the 2022 FIFA World...more
In a speech delivered at the Australian Finance Review’s ESG summit on June 5, 2023, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) Chair, Joe Longo, warned companies that greenwashing is an ongoing concern for...more
6/27/2023
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Greenwashing ,
Securities Regulation ,
Sustainability
In its 2023 report on trends in directors & officers (D&O) liability insurance policies, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty highlighted risks associated with evolving ESG regulation and the increasing pace of climate change...more
In May 2023, the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) released a report on the first edition of its Financial System Benchmark, which assesses financial institutions’ progress toward climate change goals. The WBA is a non-profit...more
On May 15, 2023, twenty-three Republican state attorneys general (AGs) sent a letter to members of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) expressing “serious concerns” about whether the NZIA’s requirements comply with federal...more
A recent study by Bain & Company and sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis “examined how various aspects of sustainability and ESG activities—things like setting ESG targets, tracking results, embedding sustainability into...more
The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), a European membership body for investor collaboration on climate change, announced the launch of its Net Zero Engagement Initiative (NZEI). A primary goal of the...more
5/5/2023
/ Capital Investments ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Net Zero ,
Paris Agreement ,
Popular
A new report by professional services firm EY has found that only 5% of FTSE 100 companies have disclosed “credible” and sufficiently detailed transition plans to become net zero by 2050....more
Effective April 1, 2023, the New Zealand Exchange (NZX) has updated the NZX Corporate Governance Code (Code) and the NZX ESG Guidance Note (ESG Note). There are eight principles that underlie the Code: (1) ethical standards;...more
According to a new survey, most large companies are preparing to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed climate disclosure rule even though it is not final, but many business leaders are concerned...more
4/7/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On March 30, 2023, the UK government announced the publication of its 2023 green finance strategy, updating its earlier 2019 strategy, which is intended to mitigate climate-related risk and damage while increasing the amount...more
4/4/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Green Finance ,
Investment ,
IOSCO ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Risk Mitigation ,
UK
According to a recent report published by global non-profit environmental disclosure platform CDP, approximately 41% of responding companies are reporting on one or more categories of supply chain emissions, even though such...more
Over the last three years, PwC and the Leadership Institute at the London Business School have studied the prevalence and efficacy of linking executive pay to ESG-related goals or targets. Their first two reports—Paying well...more
The SustainAbility Institute at global consultancy group Environmental Resources Management (ERM) recently released its 2023 Trends Report: The Ongoing Evolution of Sustainable Business. The report identifies ten key trends...more
Just days after the Texas Senate questioned a global asset manager—among other major financial investment firms—about its ESG-related investing policies, its chief executive said in an interview for the Financial Times that...more
Environmental advocacy group As You Sow has sent climate-focused shareholder resolutions to five major U.S. banks. The resolutions request that the banks disclose their climate transition plans for meeting financed emissions...more
On January 2, the New York City (NYC) Comptroller, Brad Lander, the NYC Employees’ Retirement System, the NYC Teachers’ Retirement System, and the NYC Board of Education Retirement System, announced that they had submitted...more
1/31/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Comptroller ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Pension Funds ,
Popular ,
Underwriting