This week, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), which includes the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), have proposed amendments to extend and simplify sustainability disclosures for financial market participants under the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). These proposed amendments come from the ESA requesting a review of the SFDR's indicators for principal adverse impact (PAI) and financial product disclosures.

According to Canada’s new “Standard on the Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Setting of Reduction Targets,” federal procurements greater than $25 million will induce suppliers to measure and disclose their and adopt a science-based target to reduce GHG emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

In Boston Massachusetts, on the first day of her administration, Governor Maura Healey signed an executive order to create the position of Climate Chief, and in the same executive order, created an Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience within the Governor’s Office. This brand new role of Climate Chief has been filled by Melissa Hoffer. This is a huge accomplishment as Massachusetts is the first state in the United States to create such a role.

On Tuesday this week, the European Parliament formally approved a new law that will effectively ban the sale of new combustion engine cars in the European Unition as of 2035. This new law has been approved in hopes to combat climate change and accelerate the shift from petrol and diesel cars to electric.

Of the 18,600 companies which provided information to CDP, less than one in 200 companies disclosed information against 21 key indicators that CDP includes in a questionnaire which represents a credible climate transition plan. This means of 18,600 only 81 companies - a mere 0.4% - were able to disclosure against key indicators and prove that their climate transition plans are credible. While the number of organizations reporting to CDP has been rising rapidly, increasing by more than 40% in 2022, this 81 organizations is actually a decrease from the 153 companies that provided a credible climate plan the year before.

Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest investor, has warned company directors to take more specific climate on climate change or risk being voted out. The head of governance and compliance of Norges Bank Investment Management, Carine Smith Ihenacho, said that the fund was getting ready to vote against 80 company boards due to their failure to set or hit environmental or social targets.

"We have for a long time focused on better company disclosure... Now we are focusing more on actions. So now you need to go from numbers to action, concrete steps that companies are taking to meet the expectations," - Carine Smith Ihenacho

This week, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released their new report "Net Zero Buildings - Halving construction emissions today." This report highlights that we need to cut emissions in half in the built environment by 2030, and then outlines practical steps that could be taken to do so. Through the report and executive summary, we’ve put together our own summary of what you need to know.

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.