The REP Wrap: Formal advice published on UK version of ISSB
UK government advisors have officially recommended the endorsement of the International Sustainability Standards Board standards, and outlined how they think they should be amended. The UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee was asked back in May to guide the Department of Business and Trade’s adoption of a version of IFRS S1 and S2 that is suitable for the national context. Of the 21 areas covered, the committee recommended 17 to be adopted in their original form, with two others adopted with amendments.
Siemens has published its alignment with all the EU Taxonomy’s environmental objectives one year early. According to the firm’s head of sustainability reporting, Thomas Knobloch, a quarter (€19bn) of Siemens’ revenue is aligned with the Taxonomy. The report, which has been audited, was published alongside the company’s 2024 sustainability report.
US Customs and Border Protection has said it will seize aluminium products manufactured by Kingtom Aluminio. The agency alleges that there are “reasonable indications” the Chinese-owned company, located in the Dominican Republic, has links to forced labour and it will therefore confiscate aluminium extrusion and profile products manufactured by Kingtom Aluminio S.R.L.
The French glass industry has been provided with a sectoral transition plan to help it work out how to decarbonise. Government agency Ademe has been working with France’s glass producers to develop two climate scenarios showing the kind of technological and policy levers that can realistically be pulled to align with national targets.
EFRAG, the European Commission’s advisory body on corporate sustainability reporting, is under pressure from civil society to amend its proposals for climate transition plans. The group released draft recommendations last month, outlining how it thinks companies should disclose net-zero strategies under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. But 17 NGOs and think-tanks in the space have penned a letter to the EFRAG urging it to revise the guidance because “its lack of clarity risks enabling greenwashing”.
Goldman Sachs has exited the Net Zero Banking Alliance. The US investment bank’s departure from the UN-backed group comes as many in the country brace themselves for a less climate-friendly policy landscape following the re-election of Donald Trump as President. Goldman Sachs said membership of NZBA could breach antitrust rules. It is expected that other large banks will follow suit.
The EU agreed on the delay of the bloc’s deforestation regulation this week. Implementation of the EUDR will be pushed back by a year, meaning big companies will have to comply by December 2025, and smaller ones by June 2026. A political agreement was reached between European Parliament, Council and Commission who said the additional time would help firms around the world implement the rules more smoothly from the start. MEPs withdrew a proposal to introduce a category for countries at ‘no risk’ of deforestation.