The REP Wrap: Updates from Diageo, L’Oreal and Volvo
Your weekly summary of corporate sustainability news.
L’Oreal will face higher borrowing costs after failing to meet two of the three targets set out in the €1.25bn sustainability-linked bond it issued in 2022. The French cosmetics firm didn’t switch to 100% renewables or reduce emissions per product by 14%, as promised, but it did make half its plastic packaging either recycled or biodegradable. The missed targets carry an interest-rate ‘step-up’ of 12.5 basis points each.
The body overseeing California’s climate disclosure rules is asking for feedback on four Scope 3 accounting methodologies. Large firms under the state’s emissions disclosure rule SB 253 will be required to report value-chain emissions from 2027. At a public workshop on Monday, the California’s Air Resources Board said it wanted views on whether a spend-based, activity-based, supplier specific, or hybrid approach was preferred. It confirmed it would launch a consultation on reporting templates for Scope 1 and 2 emissions in the summer.
Dimplex, Schneider Electric, Legrand and Genuit Group are among nearly 30 British businesses to sign up to a new decarbonisation pledge targeted at energy, transport and construction supply chains. The 2050 Connected Climate Commitment has been set up by BEAMA, a UK trade body for manufacturers and providers of energy infrastructure technologies and systems. It requires firms to set science-based targets for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, strengthen collaborative efforts with other parts of the value chain, and integrate circular economy principles.
Meanwhile, a UK Cocoa Coalition was launched in Parliament this week, with Barry Callebaut, Ferrero, the Hershey Company, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose all joining as founding members. The group, which also includes a handful of NGOs, is calling on lawmakers to end uncertainty around the UK’s Forest Risk Commodities Regulation. The rules should be aligned with the incoming EU Deforestation Regulation, according to a statement, and the government should publish the necessary statutory instrument as soon as possible.
Germany’s minister for economic affairs and energy has reportedly said the EU should loosen its approach to getting to net-zero by 2050. Politico reports that Katherina Reiche told audiences at a Texan oil and gas conference that it was “good to have a goal of sustainability, but if sustainability crashes your economy, you have to readjust”.
UK beverage firm Diageo has published its first climate transition plan. Among the updates, it revealed it had shifted its emissions baseline from 2020 to 2022, because the Covid-19 pandemic had “distorted” its sales and production volumes.
The Church of England Pensions Board will throw its weight behind a climate lobbying proposal at Volvo, it confirmed this week. The shareholder resolution asks the carmaker to publish an annual, comprehensive review of its climate-related policy engagement, including both direct lobbying and indirect advocacy conducted through industry associations. It’s been filed by fellow pension fund AkademikerPension.