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The European Supervisory Authorities have issued a consultation paper on the content and presentation of certain Taxonomy-related disclosures under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
Today's consumers actively seek environmentally friendly choices when selecting goods or services. In 2019, UK consumers spent £41 billion on ethical or sustainable goods and services, quadrupling from 20 years ago.
In the years leading up to Brexit, both the UK and the EU had been busy developing sustainability policy and legislation. Now the UK has left the EU, it remains committed to being at the forefront of the sustainable finance agenda.
BNP Paribas, the largest bank in France, has announced today that it will no longer finance firms who produce, or buy, beef or soybeans from land in the Amazon that was cleared or converted after 2008 (and will encourage its clients not to produce or buy beef or soybeans from cleared or converted land in the Cerrado after 1 January 2020).
The sustainability agenda is inevitably resulting in a wave of new regulation for alternative asset managers as well as the wider business community, a trend which looks set to continue in the coming years.
A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.
The draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) to supplement the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) have been issued by the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and are available here .
Our annual briefing highlighting the key 2020 legal developments which impact the funds' industry and previews what can be expected in 2021.
In late January 2021, the Court of Appeal of the Hague considered in some detail whether to hold Royal Dutch Shell (UK plc) responsible for the actions of its indirect subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, in a long-running litigation relating to a significant oil leak in Nigeria.
The evidence outlined by the UK Government includes allegations of forced sterilisation, extra-judicial detention and forced labour. The proposals are intended to "send a clear message that these violations of human rights are unacceptable, and to safeguard UK businesses and public bodies from any involvement or linkage with them".
A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.
Despite the significant body of scientific research indicating that we are reaching a tipping point in the global fight against the damaging effects of climate change, global carbon output continues to climb. However, there is growing international consensus around the need for urgent action to reverse the effects of climate change.
The Australian superannuation fund Rest has agreed a settlement in a landmark case, acknowledging that "climate change could lead to catastrophic economic and social consequences and is an important concern of Rest's members", and that it is "important to actively identify and manage" that risk.
"You don't need to have 20/20 vision to see that the year ahead will be challenging…"
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ("BEIS") has published its Final Report: Frameworks for standards for non-financial reporting ("NFR") (the "Report") which sets out the preferences of key U.K. stakeholders around NFR standards. Whilst established reporting standards and accounting principles for financial reporting are available to businesses, the Report notes there is no equivalent for NFR despite there being a number of key drivers for the publication of this information (set out below) and so, although the purpose of this research is not to endorse a specific framework, BEIS hopes that it may support future studies exploring potential changes to policy in this area.