This week, Singapore has proposed mandatory climate reporting for both private and public companies. This new regulation represents a significant move towards Sustainability and ESG in the Asia Pacific Region and aims to drive greater transparency, accountability, and responsible corporate behavior. Aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) this new regulation is lining Singapore up to rapidly become a sustainability leader in the region.

The U.S. Energy Department (DOE) has proposed new fuel economy rules that would lower the mileage ratings for electric vehicles (EVs) in an effort to comply with existing fuel economy standards. The new proposal would reduce the efficiency ratings of electric vehicles by about 10%, lowering the mileage rating for an EV from 125 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) to 113 MPGe. This current system of calculating the petroleum equivalent fuel economy has not been updated in over two decades.

According to a recent analysis by EY, only 5% of FTSE 100 companies have disclosed transition plans that would be deemed “credible” or detailed enough to meet the draft UK government guidance on decarbonization. With looming regulations and policies, along with the growing pressure to set standards that enable the world to achieve the goal of avoiding 1.5 C warming from the Paris Climate Agreement, organizations needs to act now.

On Sunday, national governments gave their final approvals on the latest IPCC report after approval was delayed due to battles between rich and developing countries over emissions targets and financial aid to vulnerable nations. The IPCC report was intended to be approved last Friday, but was repeatedly delayed as officials from big nations such as China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the United States and the European Union negotiated around specific wording of key phrases found in the report. After approvals finally happened, the report was publish Monday afternoon and made some very clear statements regarding what is possible and what the stakes are when looking at climate change.

This month, The Circularity Gap report of 2023 was published in collaboration with Deloitte. This report being the 6th annual report of its kind, is looking at how close we are to a true circular economy on a global scale compared to years past. A circular economy could not help to fulfill people’s needs, but could do so with just 70% of the materials we currently use, making human impact more sustainable and safer for our planet. This report highlights that while a circular economy is ideal, we are currently nowhere near that goal. In fact, this report outlines that we are down to only 7.2% circular compared to the 9.1% circular that was seen in the first ever report of 2018.

The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) launched this week the first ever target-setting protocol for insurers at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. This protocol is expected to accelerate the transition to a global net-zero economy by enabling NZIA members to set science based intermediate targets to transition insurance underwriting portfolios to net-zero. Version 1.0 requires that existing NZIA members will set and discloser their target(s) by July 31st 2023, which is just around the corner.

Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, recently announced a cap-and-invest program to fund a sustainable and affordable future for all New Yorkers are part of the 2023 State of the State. This new cap-and-invest program will charge large greenhouse gas emitters and fuel distributers in New York more than $1 Billion per year. The proceeds from this will hen be reinvested in emissions reduction initiatives as well as supporting vulnerable communities facing rising energy prices.

In the first mandate of its kind, the Japanese capital’s local assembly now requires all new houses built in Tokyo by large-scale homebuilders after 2025 must install solar panels.

Recently, the European Union added shipping to its carbon market. What this means, is now shipping vessels will be required to pay for their emissions, putting a financial incentive on being more environmentally conscious and forcing the entire sector to begin reducing emissions.

This deal which was agreed to by lawmakers and negotiators from the 27-country block would all to the carbon market all carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen emissions from maritime voyages within the EU.

This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the first federal building standards designed to reduce energy use while electrifying equipment and appliances in 30% of the building space owned by the Federal government by 2030. This announcement was partnered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announcing a proposal to electrify new Federal buildings and Federal buildings undergoing major renovations. Last and certainly not least, to further drive home the cause, the State of California announced that it will be joining President Biden’s National Building Performance Standard Coalition that has committed to reducing the emissions of existing buildings. These three changes represent massive progress for the U.S. and will certainly have a ripple effect across the US.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced the launch of a new disclosure standard for the agriculture, aquaculture and fishing sectors this week. These sectors have become the main area of focus based on their immense impacts across economic, environmental, and social dimensions. This includes impacts on climate change and biodiversity, food security, farming and fishing practices, and community engagement. According to GRI, the standard will increase the completeness and comparability of sustainability information for all organizations around the world involved in crop cultivation, animal production, aquaculture or fishing.

The European Commission proposed new rules on Wednesday that will require the EU market to have all packaging be fully recyclable by 2030. These new rules are a way to reduce packaging waste through increased recycled content in plastic drink bottles and these rules set targets for reuse of single-use materials used for things such as online deliveries.

Last month it was announced that the EU was set to become a front-runner in global sustainability reporting standards by formally adopting the Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD). On Monday, the EU Council announced that CSRD was officially adopted and approved. This new directive will expand on the already existing Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). The hope is that CSRD will introduce more detailed reporting requirements on companies’ impact on the environment, human rights and social standards.

The EU has become a front-runner in global sustainability reporting standards by formally adopting the Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD). With CSRD officially adopted, this new directive will expand on the already existing Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). The goal is that CSRD will introduce more detailed reporting requirements on companies’ impact on the environment, human rights and social standards.

France’s Senate approved new legislation that will now require all parking lots with spaces for 80 vehicles or more to be covered by solar panels. This legislation expands to both and new and old parking lots.

Big news in the world of ESG and Sustainability! The Biden administration announced a new proposal that will require federal contractors to disclose environmental data through CDP and set science-based decarbonization targets.

The week, CDP and the IFRS Foundation announced that CDP will incorporate the International Sustainability Standard Board’s (ISSB) climate-related disclosure standard into its environmental disclosure program. With 18,700 companies, worth half of global market capitalization, disclosing environmental information through CDP in 2022, this integration means there will be a rapid acceleration of early adoption of ISSB climate data disclosure across the global economy.

The week, The European Council agreed on a proposal that revised the Energy Performance of Building Directives. These revisions will ultimately make it so that all new buildings should be zero-emissions buildings by 2030, and all existing buildings will be transformed into zero emissions buildings by 2050.

The week, the European Union passed a ruling that is requiring all phones and small devices such as cameras and tablets, to have a USB-C charging cable. This law has been in the works for about 10 years, starting initially Brussels after consumers complained about having to switch between chargers and the cost affiliated with having a different type of charger for each device. This law was passed in hopes to not only make life easier and most cost effective for consumers, but also to be more sustainable at the end of the day.