The Council of the European Union has adopted a new regulation today to oversee Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating activities, following a similar move by the UK government earlier this month to bring these influential metrics under regulatory supervision.
The Hague Court of Appeal delivered its judgment last Tuesday in the closely watched appeal between Shell and Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie). While the court reaffirmed that Shell is responsible for reducing its carbon emissions, it concluded that the company should not be bound by a specific reduction rate.
The UK government has recently unveiled draft legislation to regulate providers of these influential metrics. The proposal, which would place ESG ratings firms under the oversight of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), reflects growing concerns about transparency and accountability in an industry that increasingly shapes global investment decisions.
A new report from EY reveals a troubling disconnect between corporate climate action and the urgent need to combat climate change. The 2024 EY Global Climate Action Barometer found that while the quality and coverage of climate-related disclosures have improved, the pace of corporate action is still not sufficient to avoid the looming climate crisis. As global temperatures soar, companies worldwide continue to fall short of the necessary targets outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has taken a major step toward bringing clarity and consistency to sustainability reporting with its new International Standard on Sustainability Assurance 5000 (ISSA 5000). This new standard aims to raise the bar for ESG (environmental, social, and governance) data assurance, giving investors and regulators more confidence that what they see in sustainability reports reflects reality.
A federal judge in California has recently given the green light for the state’s sweeping carbon disclosure mandates to proceed, at least for now. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II’s decision keeps California’s new climate disclosure laws on track, though he left the door open for future challenges. Wright’s ruling sidestepped a definitive answer on whether the laws violate companies’ First Amendment rights by forcing them to disclose emissions and climate risks, instead calling for more information to fully assess these questions.
Allianz Trade announced last week the launch of Surety Green2Green, a new solution aimed at accelerating the transition to sustainability within the global economy. Allianz Trade, an international insurance provider and subsidiary of Allianz SE, offers a range of services, including trade credit insurance, debt collection, surety bonds, business fraud insurance, and political risk protection. Allianz SE, headquartered in Germany, is one of the world’s largest financial services providers and the largest insurer in Europe. Allianz Trade’s mission is to empower clients to trade with confidence by ensuring payment security and providing protection against bad debt.