The REP Wrap: US ditches its basis for regulating emissions
Your weekly summary of corporate sustainability news.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made it more difficult to regulate greenhouse gas emissions this week, when it finalised the removal of its ‘endangerment finding’ – the scientific conclusion that emissions are bad for human health, and must therefore be regulated. The EPA also repealed its emissions standards for vehicles. The decisions are being challenged through the courts by various entities.
The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership has released a briefing for companies about high-integrity nature-based carbon removals. The report draws on real-world examples from European firms to demonstrate what good practice looks like, and outlines policy and business principles needed to scale the market up.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services has released its ‘methodological assessment report on the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people’. The body, which is the nature-based equivalent of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, concluded that “systemic change in financial systems” is needed to sustain businesses and protect nature.
Sustainable chemical association Chemsec has highlighted efforts by three of its members to ditch hazardous chemicals. In an update released this week, it praised German chemicals manufacturer Lanxess for creating a “road map process for substitution and phase-out of substances with [Substances of Very High Concern] properties”. Saudi firm SABIC launched an innovation programme in 2021 “aimed explicitly at developing products with lower human and environmental hazard profiles, and substituting or eliminating more hazardous ones”. The efforts of Thai company Indorama Ventures were also namechecked in the document.
The Nature Positive Initiative has launched its final consultation on draft indicators for measuring the impact of companies’ biodiversity policies on nature. The coalition of 27 sustainability bodies first released the framework in 2024, and has piloted and updated them since. The final consultation is open until March 24th.
Meanwhile, the Science Based Targets Network is asking for companies to help it pilot its freshwater guidance. The latest version of the guidance includes groundwater and pesticides, as well as the existing surface water and nutrients framework. Pilot participants will be the first to set and validate the expanded targets. Applications are open until March 10th, and the pilot will run from June until September.
The European Central Bank has reiterated its warning that diluting the European Sustainability Reporting Standards will “limit the availability of meaningful data” and “hamper the comparability of disclosures across companies”. It pointed to the “numerous permanent relief measures, phase-ins and exemptions from disclosure requirements, together with the removal of some critical data points” in an opinion.