What's going on in the world of ESG, CSRD, CSDDD, SDGs etc...
Historically, Belgium has topped EU countries for highest level of toxic pesticides in fruit and vegetables. That might change.
Brussels is banning the use of conventional pesticides in agriculture on agricultural land in the Brussels region as of 2030.
The use of synthetic pesticides by other than farmers, will be banned in 2025. The new law went into force in July, and while this decision could be considered anecdotal, considering the few 250ha of agricultural land from the region, it creates a precedent. It is the first time a European region has taken such a decision to protect citizens' health and the environment against pesticides.
Since 2009, EU Member States are supposed to follow the Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, but enforcement has been lax. This will hopefully make a difference.
The 2023 State of the Climate report is out.
• Earth’s GHG levels are highest ever and temperatures across the globe are at record levels.
• El Niño conditions contributed to record-high sea surface temperatures.
• Heatwaves and droughts drove massive wildfires around the world.
• The Arctic was warm and navigable and Antarctica sea ice set record lows.
Our actions are clearly insufficient. We continue to expand fossil fuels. Net-zero pledges will not matter without addressing the underlying business model. This is past time. Offsets, carbon capture, delay and distractions don’t work.
Say is again. It is past time to get very real.
Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/25/brazilian-rancher-ordered-pay-50m-damage-amazon
The US has said it will support a global treaty for a reduction in plastic production.
This is a major policy shift. The US was aligned with China and Saudi Arabia in resisting the inclusion of plastic production controls, instead calling for a focus on recycling and re-use. This fresh backing for more limited production of plastic from one of the world’s largest producers will boost the prospect of the UN being able to unveil a landmark treaty to manage waste by the end of this year.
A final round of negotiations will take place in late November, just after the US election. Who emerges as the new president matters. We can’t solve the climate crisis without solving the pollution problem.
Reference: https://www.ft.com/content/3ac9d411-50f9-47f2-a847-f20609c0c4aa
Chinese fashion e-commerce company SHEIN has filed a lawsuit against TEMU in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
In what can only be described at the battle of the textile polluters, SHEIN’s lawsuit accuses Temu of counterfeiting, trade secret theft, and intellectual property infringement.
SHEIM claims a Temu employee stole data on bestselling products which was shared with sellers to create knockoffs. It also says Temu is directing sellers to copy their designs and sell them at lower prices. The lawsuit claims Temu misuses SHEIN’s trademark and copyrighted images.
Between them, Temu and SHEIN ship 1 million packages a day. We’d just like them to stop.
Reference: https://apparelinsider.com/shein-sues-temu-over-alleged-counterfeiting/
A U.S. court has issued a ruling against a regulation in Missouri that limited the ability of financial professionals to integrate ESG considerations into their investment advice.
The regulation, passed in 2023, required financial professionals to jump through hoops before being allowed to incorporate a “non-financial objective,” or a “social objective,” in investment advice.
However, it has been argued “non-financial objectives” could include anything that did not target maximizing financial returns, such as tax considerations, diversification, liquidity, and time horizon, among others.
The new judge found the original regulation unconstitutionally vague and issued a statewide permanent injunction. Go judge!
Reference: https://www.esgtoday.com/u-s-federal-court-strikes-down-missouri-anti-esg-investing-rule/
California’s disclosure law SB 253, was first set for a 2025 start. Then Governor Gavin Newsom, fearing political backlash, proposed a two-year delay. The environmentalists were not happy.
Now California Senator Scott Wiener has proposed delaying the implementation of the state's climate-related disclosure law (SB 253) by just six months, in a bid to reduce the two-year delay proposed by Newsom.
Under Wiener's proposal, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) CARB would be given until 1 July 2025 to finalise these regulations. whereas it had previously been set the deadline of 1 January 2025 to do so.
Part of me thinks this is what Newsom wants – an earlier start, without the political fallout.
Reference: https://tinyurl.com/369t858e
Environmental campaigners in New York are campaigning against one of the city's foremost banking empires, Citi, accusing the group of fuelling the climate crisis.
Every week, protesters gather at Citigroup’s HQ in Manhattan to demand it change its fossil fuel investments policy. Nearly 600 people have been arrested so far.
Oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, Amazon, and seabed, alongside thermal power plants, coal mines and LNG plants, have received more than $6.9Tn from banks since 2016.
In 2023, the world's 60 largest banks committed $750bn to fossil fuels. Finance giants JP Morgan Chase, Citi and Bank of America lead the pack.
Activism matters.
Solar just continues to shine (so to speak).
Pakistan imported 13GW of solar modules in the first half of the year. Its own installed capacity to generate power is just 50GW, and of course China is the world’s biggest producer of solar equipment.
Solar is gaining traction in Pakistan after many hikes in power prices, with the latest increase in July triggering protests. Higher rates have seen grid electricity consumption drop to the lowest in four years as many people switch to independent solar.
Bloomberg expects that Pakistan will add between 10GW and 15GW of solar this year, mostly on homes and factories, making Pakistan the 6th market in the world.
Solar keeps glowing.
Reference: https://tinyurl.com/7zyyuxxa
In early 2020, Larry Fink , CEO of Blackrock, said businesses would need a purpose beyond making profits, and an enhanced focus on fast-evolving opportunities and risks, to remain profitable in the long term.
Since then, buffeted by strong market and political forces, and a general anti-ESG storm across the US, his company has retreated from purpose beyond profits.
In the year to end of June 2024, it backed just 20 of the 493 environmental and social proposals put forward by shareholders.
Most resolutions – three-quarters in 2024 – were just asking for more disclosure, hardly too much to ask when it comes to systemic risks like climate change that is in the long-term interests of everyone, Blackrock, its clients, and the rest of us.
Reference: https://www.edie.net/blackrocks-support-for-esg-resolutions-plummets
The UK government is facing calls to revoke a flurry of North Sea oil and gas drilling licences by the previous Conservative administration, after a fresh legal challenge against a spate of these decisions was launched by environmental charity Oceana.
This is all good news.
The challenge, which comes after a threat made by the Oceana in June, claims that the approval of new drilling licences in the North Sea was unlawful as the then-government did not consider the risk of potential oil spills to the UK's marine protected areas (MPAs), or the full impacts of these drilling projects on climate, including the estimated emissions generated by extracted oil and gas.
These licenses were never needed and certainly never justified.
Reference: https://tinyurl.com/5xb34tmb