The REP Wrap: SEC to discuss climate rule on Wednesday
Your weekly summary of corporate sustainability news
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed that it will discuss its controversial climate disclosure rule at a meeting on March 6. The regulator published a ‘sunshine act notice’ this week, stating that an open meeting will be held at 9.45am EST to “consider whether to adopt rules to require registrants to provide certain climate-related information in their registration statements and annual reports”. The meeting will be webcast.
The OECD’s Responsible Business Conduct Centre has launched a survey to help it identify industries and sectors with the greatest exposure to risks and impacts covered by the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct. The centre said is “considering whether additional tools and support might be useful in the context of sectors where perceived or actual risks and impacts might be high”.
The Swedish Government is planning to delay reporting under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive until 2025. The new law requires eligible companies with more than 500 employees to report from 2024, but a draft proposal sent to the Swedish Council on Legislation recommends the start-date is pushed back when the directive is transposed. This is to account for the complexity of the reporting requirements.
Singapore’s Parliament announced on Wednesday that it would introduce mandatory climate reporting rules for corporates from 2025. The requirements, based on ISSB’s standards, will initially apply to listed companies, followed by large non-listed firms. Reports must cover Scope 1 and 2 emissions in the first year, rolling out to Scope 3 emissions the following year. Assurance will be required on Scope 1 and 2 disclosures after two years.
Fashion giant Zalando has agreed to remove what EU lawmakers have described as “misleading sustainability flags and icons displayed next to products offered on its platform”, including leaves, and trees. The German retailer was targeted by the European Commission for potentially breaching its greenwashing rules with claims that could “mislead consumers about the environmental characteristics” of its products. It will remove any such labels next month, along with “unjustified terms” like ‘sustainability’, and replace them with “clear information about products’ environmental benefits, such as the percentage of recycled materials used” according to a statement from the European Commission.
Research into the net zero pledges of 10 major Australian companies has concluded that they “largely lack scientific rigour”. The Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney conducted a study into the following firms: AGL Energy, Origin Energy, Rio Tinto, BlueScope Steel, South32, Qantas Airways, Woolworths, Coles, Cleanaway Waste Management and Telstra. It said that less than half were on track to meet their own decarbonisation targets and none have plans to phase out fossil fuels. “The report shows that the benchmark for Australian corporations taking climate action is too low and well behind international standards and what the science demands,” it said.