The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA“) has announced that three fashion retailers have signed voluntary undertakings to ensure that consumers have a clearer idea of how green their clothes really are. At the end of March 2024, ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda committed to only make green claims about their products that are accurate, clear and not misleading. At the same time, the CMA also published an open letter to the fashion retail sector stressing that players should ensure that all the green claims they make comply with UK consumer protection law. The commitments will be a parti ..read more

On 23 April 2024, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) published its “Finalised non‑handbook guidance on the Anti‑Greenwashing Rule (FG/24/3)” (the “Guidance“). The FCA has published the Guidance to help in-scope firms understand and comply with the anti-greenwashing rule, which will come into effect on 31 May 2024. Background The anti-greenwashing rule is part of a package of measures that the FCA introduced on 28 November 2023 through its “Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels policy statement (PS23/16)” (for more information about this package of measure ..read more

In March 2023, the European Commission proposed the Green Claims Directive (the “Directive“), which aims to tackle greenwashing (read our previous update on the Directive here).  On 12 March 2024, the European Parliament voted in favour of the Directive at first reading. This move further complements the EU’s commitment to empowering consumers, ensuring fair competition and fostering a more environmentally responsible marketplace. Objective The Directive seeks to protect consumers against greenwashing, i.e. information that is not true or presented in a confusing or misleading way to give ..read more

Replace, Reduce and Remove. The 3Rs that constitute the three-pronged approach espoused by PUB, the national water agency of Singapore, in its hefty goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2045. The strategy by PUB focuses on replacing fossil fuels with renewable solar energy, investing in research and development to reduce the energy required in water-treatment processes, and capturing and removing carbon released into the atmosphere. In an ambitious move to combat climate change and attain its lofty aim of achieving net zero emissions by 2045, PUB unveiled on 27 February 2024 its upcoming pl ..read more

On 19 March 2024, GRESB – an investor-led organisation that provides standardised and validated data to assess the sustainability-related performance of real estate assets and portfolios – announced the upcoming launch of “REAL Solutions“. REAL Solutions is a new suite of tools designed to provide real asset managers and investors with more granular ESG data, which they are demanding in order to take advantage of opportunities in the sustainable investment market and to comply with increasingly burdensome ESG-related regulations. GRESB stated that it will use aggregated asset-level data taken ..read more

The UK Government launched a Consultation on the introduction of a UK CBAM on 21 March 2024.  The Consultation closes on 13 June 2024.  This follows the announcement, in December 2023, that the UK would implement a UK CBAM similar to the EU CBAM which came into effect on 1 October 2023. In this update, we summarise the key design features of the proposed UK CBAM and highlight some of the key differences with the EU CBAM. Continue reading at Mayerbrown.com. The post CONSULTATION ON UK CARBON BORDER ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM (“CBAM”) appeared first on Eye on ESG ..read more

On 26 March 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) published a consultation on its first set of regulatory technical standards (“RTS“) under the EU Green Bond Standard Regulation (the “Consultation“). The Consultation addresses mandates relating to the registration and supervision of external reviewers and aims to clarify the criteria used for assessing an application for registration. Background The EU Green Bond Standard Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 30 November 2023. ESMA has been empowered under the EU Green Bond Standard Regulation to ..read more

The SEC today paused implementation of the climate rules the agency rolled out less than one month ago, in the face of significant legal challenges in numerous federal lawsuits.  The rules would impose substantial disclosure mandates on companies, including concerning the costs of extreme weather events, corporate strategies for addressing climate change, corporate governance procedures and, for many companies, greenhouse gas emissions. The SEC proposed the rules two years ago and received voluminous comment letters, including many critical ones questioning the proposal’s legali ..read more

On March 5, 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a “political agreement” on a Regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour (“the EU Forced Labour Regulation” or “the EUFLR“) on the European Union (“EU“) market (see Insight of 6 March 2024 hhttps://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2024/03/eu-political-agreement-on-forced-labor-product-ban). The EUFLR prohibits companies from “placing and making available” on the EU market, or exporting from the EU, products made with forced labour. Continue reading at Mayerbrown.com. Th ..read more

On March 25, 2024, the Brazilian federal government published Decree No. 11.961/2024, establishing an advisory and deliberative group, the Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy Interinstitutional Committee (“CITSB”), which will coordinate the development and implementation of the Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy (“TSB”). The TSB will establish a classification system for sustainable projects and activities, providing standardized terminology for companies, financial institutions, investors, regulatory bodies, governments, and other stakeholders, thereby harmonizing investment decisions and the developm ..read more