ESG

EBA Trims ESG Reporting Burden Even as Disclosure Rules Expand

The EBA published final draft technical standards revising the European banking sector's Pillar 3 disclosure requirements on environmental, social and governance risks. The package also introduces new disclosure requirements covering equity exposures and aggregate exposures to shadow banking entities, completing a major portion of the implementation work required under the Capital Requirements Regulation 3 (CRR3).

New Zealand Regulator Relieves Health & Life Insurers of Climate Reporting Obligations Pending Law Change

The Financial Markets Authority said it will adopt a "no action" approach for insurers expected to be removed from New Zealand's climate-related disclosures regime, allowing them to forgo climate statement lodgements while Parliament considers amendments to the law. The decision follows a recent government announcement that health and life insurers will be excluded from the regime and will no longer be required to produce annual climate statements once the legislation is enacted.

Sustainability After Net Zero: The Rise of the Resilience Economy

There is a particular kind of language that survives long after the conditions that produced it have changed. It remains in annual reports, in strategy decks, in conference agendas and regulatory consultations, carrying forward assumptions that no longer quite fit the world it describes. Sustainability increasingly feels like one of those words. We still use it. We still build departments around it. We still publish targets beneath its banner.

Malaysia's Banks Face a Nature Risk They Can No Longer Ignore

More than half of Malaysian banks' lending is concentrated in sectors that depend heavily on nature. That finding sits near the beginning of a new report released Thursday by Bank Negara Malaysia, the World Bank Group, and the United Nations Development Program's Biodiversity Finance Initiative (UNDP BIOFIN). It is also the statistic most likely to linger.

The AI Boom Has an Environmental Bill & We're Only Beginning to Calculate It

The modern AI industry has become remarkably good at directing attention toward intelligence while keeping the infrastructure that makes that intelligence possible largely out of sight. Public discussion revolves around what the technology can do. We debate whether it will transform education, accelerate scientific discovery, replace jobs, or reshape entire industries. Investors discuss model performance. Governments debate regulation. Companies race to announce new capabilities.

Belgian Competition Authority Issues Guidance on Sustainability Agreements & Competition Law

The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has published new guidelines aimed at helping companies pursue sustainability objectives through collaborative initiatives without running afoul of competition law. The guidance provides businesses with a framework for assessing whether sustainability-related cooperation agreements comply with competition rules and outlines circumstances under which certain arrangements may qualify for exemptions.

Brussels Turns Up Pressure on 20 Countries Over Delays to Anti-Greenwashing Rules

The European Commission has begun infringement proceedings against 20 Member States that failed to fully implement one of the European Union's most closely watched consumer protection laws, moving the bloc's campaign against greenwashing from legislation into enforcement.