Spark Newsletter – April 2024
The month’s newsletter takes a look at:
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
Recently, the European Commission approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which will require companies to conduct due diligence in their operations and those of their subsidiaries — as well as in their supply chains — to detect (and remediate) negative environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts.
The approved directive is scaled back from the original agreement. It will affect roughly 5,400 large EU companies, or about 0.05% of EU businesses, and will indirectly affect the partners and suppliers of these businesses.?Non-EU companies with at least 1,000 employees and EUR 450 million in net turnover generated within the EU will fall within the scope of the CSDDD.?The new agreement also eliminates the high-risk sector approach, which would have widened the scope to include companies outside the size criteria but in industries prone to human rights or environmental conflicts.?
While the scope has been reduced and will be phased in over a longer period, the CSDDD is still a significant step in ensuring that companies identify and bring to an end any negative human rights and environmental impacts associated with their operations and value chains. The CSDDD is now with the European Parliament for approval and is expected to pass.
ISO 14068: the path to carbon neutrality
Previously, carbon neutrality claims and labels were based on carbon footprint quantifications following the existing standards ISO 14064 for organizations and 14067 for products. However, there was no international consensus on a standardized approach for moving past quantification to managing, achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality.?As such, it was left to individual organizations to define the requirements for carbon-neutral claims, which resulted in a multitude of carbon neutrality labels of varying comparability and credibility.
The new international standard ISO 14068 aims to improve trust in carbon neutrality claims. ISO 14068 provides organizations, products and events with a basis for achieving carbon neutrality in support of the ultimate goal of net zero.
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Regulations for product stewards to watch in 2024
As the regulatory landscape continues to evolve, there are some regulations that product stewards will want to keep on their radar this year. These include:
Sphera’s 2024 Scope 3 Report examines the challenges associated with Scope 3 assessment and reporting and identifies best practices for managing emissions reporting and data management. The findings are based on Sphera’s Scope 3 survey and underscore the importance of quality emissions data in climate-related reporting.
We hope you found this issue of the Spark Newsletter to be informative and insightful. Soon, you will notice a new look and feel to our newsletter, but we will still be bringing you the same quality, expert content you’ve grown accustomed to from Sphera.
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