Sustainable Insights: ESG Briefing Unveils December 2023 Highlights
Discover the latest in sustainability with Antaris Consulting's monthly newsletter. In our December 2023 briefing: We delve into regulatory advancements, as the European Commission applauds a provisional agreement for more sustainable products.
Explore corporate updates, including Unilever facing a 'greenwashing' investigation, notable carbon removal deals by BCG and Microsoft, and Sphera's expansion with the acquisition of SupplyShift. Uncover standards and initiatives, with the launch of B Lab Ireland overseeing the B Corp movement and a collaboration between EEFRAG and CDP for European Sustainability Reporting Standards. Stay informed on regulations, corporate initiatives, and industry standards.
Regulatory
The European Commission welcomes provisional agreement for more sustainable, repairable and circular products.
The Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached in December between the European Parliament and the Council on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. It will help make sustainable products the new norm in the EU, by making them last longer, use energy and resources more efficiently, easier to repair and recycle, contain fewer substances of concern and include more recycled content.?
Corporate News
Unilever faces ‘greenwashing’ investigation by UK regulator
The UK’s antitrust regulator is investigating “green” claims made by the British arm of Unilever, saying it wants to ensure that consumers are not being misled by a company that has flaunted social responsibility as a selling point for goods ranging from shampoo to ice cream. The producer of Dove soap and CIF cleaner may have been exaggerating the environmental qualities of certain products through the use of “vague and broad” claims, unclear statements and natural looking images and logos, the Competition and Markets Authority in December.?
Carbon Removal Deals
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) announced in December that it purchased an agreement with Direct Air Capture (DAC) company, Climeworks. Extending over 15 years, the agreement is the largest corporate purchase announced to date by Climeworks at 80,000 metric tons of CO2 removal. Moreover, Microsoft also signed a carbon removal deal in December with Inherit Carbon Solutions, a startup that captures and permanently stores CO2 released from the production of renewable natural gas. The agreement marks a further expansion of Microsoft’s portfolio of carbon removal deals, forming part of the company’s initiative to become carbon negative by 2030, and to remove all of its historical emissions by 2050.
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Sphera expands ESG capabilities with acquisition of SupplyShift
Sphera, an international provider of ESG performance and risk management software, data, and consulting services, has announced its acquisition of SupplyShift, a supply chain sustainability software company that supports businesses to build transparent, responsible, and resilient supply chains. The acquisition aims to enhance Sphera’s capabilities in tracking and reporting Scope 3 and ESG data.
Standards and Guidance?
B Lab Ireland launches
B Lab Ireland is part of an international nonprofit network that creates economic systems change through standards, policies, tools, and programs for business, and certifies companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way. B Lab Ireland was founded in late 2023 to oversee the growth of the B Corp movement in Ireland.
EEFRAG and CDP announce cooperation to drive market uptake of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards.?
EFRAG and CDP have announced a collaboration to accelerate the market uptake of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). This collaboration will support the market readiness for quality environmental reporting by accelerating the implementation of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. From January 2024, the ESRS will apply to around 50,000 businesses and in due course to a significant number of non-EU headquartered businesses, meaning that requesting information in relation to value chains will have to be considered by many companies worldwide.
Source: News - EFRAG