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Key regulations in the area of sustainable development

Expectations for transparent ESG data reporting are growing

Sustainability Insights 3/2021

More and more companies are now facing the need to formalize green transformation efforts and integrate them into their business strategy, improve communication and increase transparency. Expectations for consistent, comparable and transparent information on climate and other environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) information are growing steadily - driven by investor pressure, stakeholder pressure and, increasingly, regulatory action.

Regulatory changes are gaining momentum, both the number of regulations and the complexity of requirements to be met by the organization are increasing. In this newsletter we direct you to materials that discuss the most important of these regulations.

Key regulations

Sustainable Finance package unveiled!

On July 6th the European Commission published a long-awaited communication on promoting sustainable finance and a proposal for an EU green bond standard that update its action plan from 2018. The package includes:


Strategy for financing the transition to a sustainable economy
The new sustainable finance strategy aims to support the financing of the transition to a sustainable economy by proposing action in four number of areas: transition finance, inclusiveness, resilience and contribution of the financial system and global ambition.

Link to the Strategy: 210704-communication-sustainable-finance-strategy_en.pdf (europa.eu)


Proposal for a standard for European green bonds
The European green bond standard (EUGBS) is a voluntary standard to help scale up and raise the environmental ambitions of the green bond market. Establishing this standard was an action in the Commission’s 2018 action plan on financing sustainable growth and is part of the European green deal. It is based on the recommendations of the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance.

Link to the Proposal: 210704-proposal-green-bonds-standard_en.pdf (europa.eu)


Delegated act supplementing Article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation
The European Commission also adopted the delegated act supplementing Article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation for scrutiny by co-legislators. This delegated act specifies the content, methodology and presentation of information to be disclosed by financial and non-financial undertakings concerning the proportion of environmentally sustainable economic activities in their business, investments or lending activities.

Link do the Supplementing Regulation: taxonomy-regulation-delegated-act-2021-4987_en.pdf (europa.eu)

 

CSRD – ESG reporting in practice

The European Commission published a draft Directive on non-financial reporting in April. The CSRD (Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive) will replace the existing NFRD (Non-financial Reporting Directive), imposing not only more reporting obligations, but also expanding the list of entities and areas covered by reporting. A significant change will be the obligation for all large companies that meet certain financial and employment criteria, and not only for listed companies. The new directive, after its adoption by member states and implementation into national legislation, will come into force in 2024 and will apply to data reporting for 2023.

Here you can watch the webinar with the participation of our experts from Poland and France, in which we discussed the most up-to-date information on the requirements and trends in the ESG area.

More on CSRD in the articles by Deloitte experts:

EU Taxonomy

On May 7 this year, a draft delegated act to the Regulation on establishing a framework facilitating sustainable investment was published, aimed at clarifying the disclosure requirements from 2022 in accordance with Art. 8 of Taxonomy. The update introduces significant changes regarding the scope of disclosed information and the dates of obligatory disclosures.

We recently ran two webinars on this topic and they are still available for you to watch:

SFDR

There are further requirements under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation in terms of adverse effects on sustainable development. By June 30, financial market participants and financial advisers should have disclosed their approach to the impact of products and investments on ESG aspects.

More in the article: https://preview2.deloitte.com/content/www/ce/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/the-current-implementation-status-of-SFDR.html

TCFD recommendations

The 12th edition of the webinar series “Changing climate in business” was devoted to the TCFD recommendation. During the meeting "Practical aspects of implementing TCFD recommendations - how to join the group of leaders in the field of climate disclosure?" our experts, together with Rafał Rudzki and Anna Gorączka from Żabka Polska, discussed what actions should be taken to join the group of climate leaders. During the webinar, our guests presented some of the most important elements of the ESG strategy prepared together with Deloitte, which they will soon present in detail to a wider audience.

Everyone who could not be present live, you can watch the recording here (in Polish)

ESG knowledge hub (in Polish)

If you are interested in ESG, please visit our dedicated website, where we publish publications on this topic. The most recent are:

Deloitte Poland Foundation

On June 10, 2021, the Deloitte Polska Foundation was established!
The goal of the foundation is to involve Deloitte employees in Poland in projects focused around three key pillars - education, climate and charity. Our activities are part of the global Deloitte programs: WorldClass, WorldClimate and Impact every day.

We all believe that our greatest impact on society is when our people use their skills and expertise to help others!

SheXO C-suite Roundtable

On June 21, another meeting was held as part of the C-suite Roundtable of the SheXO Deloitte Club, this time devoted to how climate change will change our organizations.

The participants of the meeting talked about increasing the value of the company by managing ESG in the organization, as well as about the most important challenges related to the need to adapt to the new paradigm, in which ESG issues are a priority. The event was attended by over a dozen female leaders, representing some of the largest companies and organizations in Poland, and Anna Grabowska, Chief Commercial Officer at Żabka Polska, showed how the company takes up these challenges and fits into its business strategy. The whole meeting was led by Irena Pichola and Marta Karwacka, who has just joined our team.

Marta is a sociologist and economist, an outstanding expert in the field of circular economy, sustainable consumption and responsible fashion. For years, she has been following market trends and promoting social and environmental sensitivity and a systemic approach to sustainable development in companies. Marta's extensive knowledge, experience in the consumer, beauty and fashion industry, as well as the competence to analyze consumer needs, cultural changes and social challenges will complement the expertise of our team in projects whose complexity increases with socio-cultural changes.

Technology Fast 50 Central Europe

Registration is underway for this year's 22nd edition of "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe", a ranking of the fastest growing technology companies in Central Europe. The program promoting innovation, which is aimed both at enterprises with an established position on the market and those that started their activity relatively recently, has been organized by the consulting company Deloitte for over two decades.

For the second time, the Impact Stars award will also be awarded to a company whose technologies, products or services have a positive impact on the environment. The category was introduced for enterprises that successfully combine the development of innovative products or technological services with a positive impact on at least one of the areas: society, business, innovation, environment and diversity.

The deadline for submitting applications to "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe" is August 31st. The winners will be announced in November.

Ranking criteria and the application available at www.deloitte.com/cefast50

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2021 rokiem ESG w praktyce