Building Trust Through Accountability: A Positive Shift in Corporate Sustainability

Thanks for subscribing, and welcome to Good.News ! In this weekly sustainability & ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) newsletter, we aim to?give you a boost of positivity.

Sustainability isn’t all rainbows ?? and unicorns ??, but at Good.Lab , instead of piling on with the negativity, we’re here to celebrate the sustainability highs, ESG triumphs, and climate champions!

Ready for your weekly dose of good news? Here are five compelling, good news stories to send you off into your weekend with some wind in your sails.

1. Greenwashing Awareness Tops CFO Priorities

Last week, the SEC fined an asset manager $4 million for greenwashing . This week, LA County sued Coke and Pepsi for misleading claims about the recyclability of their plastic . Greenwashing is facing unprecedented accountability, motivating companies to genuinely walk the talk on sustainability. A recent study found that the increased scrutiny of companies’ environmental performance has made greenwashing cases decrease for the first time in 6 years . A new CFO survey found that growing pressure for high-quality sustainability reporting has led to more than half of CFOs fearing the risk of being perceived as greenwashing . Companies making green claims will now have the opportunity to showcase their commitment with robust, accurate data to back them up.

2. European Regulator to Enforce Corporate Transparency and Accountability

The European securities regulator ESMA released its enforcement priorities for the year . This year, the priorities focus on sustainability disclosure, specifically double materiality and compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This is another step in the right direction for ensuring that companies are transparent and held accountable for their sustainability impacts. Companies affected by CSRD in the coming years should take heed, as the EU plans to punish noncompliance.

3. Making Peace with Nature

As the world’s largest biodiversity event, COP16, closes, there were many positive good news stories to come out of the event, like a coalition of ‘peace with nature,’ which agrees to a set of principles to change humanity's relationship with nature . However, the increased participation of the private sector in biodiversity action was the biggest positive story . For companies observing from the sidelines, now is a great time to start exploring your nature-related risks and opportunities. Embracing biodiversity action plans and reporting on these areas could position you ahead of the curve as sustainability expands its focus beyond climate.

4. First-ever Public Sector Climate Reporting Standard

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) released a draft of the first-ever climate reporting standard for the public sector . The standard will be based on the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) S2 climate-related and GRI standards. This is another step toward globally comparable and consistent reporting around the ISSB standards, which companies should start to base their reporting on if they have not done so already.

5. Sustainability Podcast Provides Inspiring Insights

Check out this great podcast featuring Good.Lab’s CSO @Ted Grozier. Tune into this episode of the? Going Zero Podcast , where Ted shares his journey in sustainability and actionable insights on meeting today's customer expectations, building transparency, and building your sustainability strategy.

Stay tuned for next week's edition of Good.News , where we will bring even more uplifting tales of sustainability successes. Feel free to spread the positivity by sharing this newsletter with someone who could use a burst of good vibes in their day!