ESG

Spain Charts Climate Risk to Protect Its Coastal Economy

A new climate risk initiative in Spain is taking a more structured and forward-looking approach to a problem that has long been acknowledged but less often operationalized. How will climate changereshape the viability of marine aquaculture?

ECB’s Elderson Signals Climate Risk Is No Longer Optional for Banks or Central Banks

A senior official at the European Central Bank has emphasized that climate and environmental risks are now a necessary part of how the institution assesses inflation, financial stability, and the resilience of banks.

Japan Maps Out Sustainability Reporting Shift With Gradual Move to Mandatory Disclosure & Assurance

Japan’s financial regulator has set out a path for how sustainability reporting will evolve from a compliance requirement into something closer to financial reporting in both structure and scrutiny. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) on January 8 published a report and accompanying roadmap detailing how companies will be required to adopt standardized sustainability disclosures, and, crucially, how those disclosures will eventually need to be independently assured.

Switzerland Tests a Softer Path on Corporate Accountability With New Sustainability Law Proposal

The Swiss Federal Council has opened a consultation on a proposed Federal Act on Sustainable Business Management, setting out a new framework that would require large Swiss companies to strengthen oversight of human rights and environmental risks in their operations.

The Distance Between Sustainability Claims & the Controls That Support Them

There was a time, not long ago, when sustainability lived comfortably in the realm of language. It was shaped in marketing decks and annual reports, polished into pledges and promises that felt, if not always precise, then at least directionally virtuous. Companies spoke of pathways and commitments, of journeys toward net zero and stewardship, and for a while that was enough. The words carried weight simply because they were spoken.

Belgium Moves to Clarify the Line Between Sustainability Collaboration & Competition Risk

The Belgian Competition Authority is attempting to bring some much-needed clarity to a question that has lingered for years across boardrooms and compliance teams alike. How far can companies go in working together on sustainability before cooperation starts to look like coordination?

China Codifies Its Green Ambitions With Sweeping Environmental Law

China has moved to anchor its environmental ambitions in law, passing a sweeping Ecological and Environmental Code that pulls together years of policy, regulation, and climate commitments into a single legal framework.