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Apr 2 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
ESG Word Games: You Say TomAto, I say TomAHto – Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
Sustainability professionals just can’t shake our jargon addition. With “ESG”, “DEI” and other terms under attack, companies are grabbing a thesaurus (I still use old hand-me-down paperback versions) to find replacements. Recent examples I’ve seen: Replacing “equity” with “opportunity” Replacing...
Apr 2 2025 #climate, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social
Not Just CEOs: CFO Turnover at Six-Year High
I recently wrote about the record breaking pace of CEO departures and the potential impact on corporate sustainability programs. Turns out, the rate of CFO turnover is not far behind. CFO Dive reports: “Global turnover of S&P 500 CFOs reached...
Apr 2 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors
Another Surprise – A Presidential Pardon
I’ve written in the past about Trevor Milton, the former CEO of EV company Nikola who was found guilty of various fraud charges related to representations he made to investors (and the public) about the sustainability attributes and performance of...
Apr 1 2025 #compliance, #environment, #esg
The Most Stunning EPA Action I’ve Ever Seen – And You Probably Haven’t Heard About It
This year marks the 40th year of my career in environmental management/sustainability. I’ve experienced a tremendous amount of regulatory development and changes in enforcement initiatives. But EPA’s action last week has me completely gobsmacked. This is not an April Fool’s...
Apr 1 2025 #compliance, #esg, #human-rights, #social, #supply-chain
Bumble Bee Foods Faces Forced Labor Lawsuit
Bumble Bee Foods is the target of a new lawsuit brought by individuals alleging they were the victims of forced labor and human trafficking in the company’s supply chain. The individuals initially applied to work as fishermen on longline fishing...
Apr 1 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors
Legal Analysis: Companies Are Legally Bound to Destroy the Climate
Thanks to Meredith for sending this my way. Eric W. Orts – the Guardsmark Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics and professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and visiting professor of law at...
Mar 27 2025 #compliance, #diversity, #equity, #esg, #investors
DEI Just Got Very Material, But Not Like You Think
Continuing on the DEI theme … Controversy surrounds the administration’s release of war plans (or “attack plans”) related to the recent Houthi attack, but plans for another attack by the administration haven’t garnered much attention. According to Bloomberg, US Federal...
Mar 27 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #supply-chain
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
This week’s notable additions to PracticalESG.com are below. We added 20 new CSRD reports, which can be viewed here. New Q&A: California SB 261 (climate risk reporting) Blog of the Week: DEI Drives ESG Litigation Risks Hot Topics for the...
Mar 26 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Sustainability Professionals: Be Cautious When Using the Word “Material”
John Jenkins reposted a thought-provoking article published last week by the American Bar Association Business Law Section. Glenn D. West, a retired Partner of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, and a current Adjunct Professor of Law at SMU Dedman School...
Mar 26 2025 #compliance, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
Danone Settles Plastic Pollution Lawsuit
Last year, Lawrence wrote about a lawsuit filed by three NGOs against Danone alleging that the company’s plastic pollution violated France’s duty of vigilance law. Shortly after the filing, French courts ordered a mediation in the matter – leading to...
Mar 26 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
S&P Global: BlackRock’s Fink Bearish on Decarbonization; Most Companies Assess Climate Risks
Houston recently hosted the annual CERAWeek, a major energy industry conference. S&P Global’s email newsletter about the event included interesting tidbits: “Attendees from across the energy spectrum said they remain focused on sustainability topics like climate and the low-carbon transition,...
Mar 25 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
New Mining Executive Order: The End of Federally-Protected Forest Sequestration?
Yet another Executive Order from the Resolute Desk: Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production. Here’s the meat of it: “Sec. 5. Land Use for Mineral Projects. (a) Within 10 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of...
Mar 25 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
Record CEO Turnover Continues for 2025 – Is Your Sustainability Program Prepared?
Many CSOs and sustainability staff enjoy support from their company’s C-suites, but it isn’t a good idea to rely too heavily on that. Last month, I wrote that the rapid decline in CEO tenure is a threat to corporate sustainability/ESG...
Mar 25 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg
New Podcast: How To Manage EPA’s Dramatic New Agenda
PracticalESG members can access our latest podcast. Doug Parker, CEO of Ecolumix, and I talk about EPA’s new deregulatory announcement. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called it “the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen.” But how much change will...
Mar 20 2025 #compliance, #diversity, #esg, #social
DEI Drives ESG Litigation Risks
ESG continues to drive litigation risks as plaintiffs from both ends of the political spectrum line up to challenge companies on ESG practices. Historically, the bulk of ESG litigation emerged primarily from environmental and climate issues, but new survey data...
Mar 20 2025 #assurance, #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #social, #supply-chain
Why AI’s Sustainability Information Is Dangerous
Sustainability professionals increasingly turn to commercial Large Language Models (LLMs, or more colloquially – Artificial Intelligence) such as ChatGPT, CoPilot and Grok to sift through data, provide insights/trends and help develop solutions. However, the results of a new technical study...
Mar 20 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
This week’s notable additions to PracticalESG.com are below. We added 34 new CSRD reports, which can be viewed here. Blog of the Week: EPA Plans to “Driv[e] a Dagger Straight Into the Heart of the Climate Change Religion” Hot Topics...
Mar 19 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #investors, #social
Should You Rely on Deregulation and Enforcement Pauses?
Last week, Matt Levine offered interesting thoughts – but definitely not legal advice, as he always says – on internal struggles companies face with “enforcement pauses.” Levine wrote about how corporate compliance officers might respond to pressures as a result...
Mar 19 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Global Advertiser Hit With OECD Complaint by NGOs
Climate activists seeking to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels are getting more creative. While fossil fuels companies are often in the crosshairs of NGO litigation, industries tangential to the extraction of fossil fuels are increasingly catching NGO eyes...
Mar 19 2025 #assurance, #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
New Benefit for PracticalESG Members
PracticalESG.com is widely known for our blogs which provide useful information, guidance and analyses. Starting tomorrow, blogs more than 6 months old will be accessible as an exclusive member benefit. Blog subscribers who are not members will continue to have...
Mar 18 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg
Canada Eliminates Consumer Carbon Tax on Fuel
In more climate policy swings, newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – previously considered a climate hero “… signed an order on Friday eliminating a controversial consumer carbon tax, the ‘fuel charge,’ effective April 1, 2025. Introduced in 2019, the...
Mar 18 2025 #assurance, #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
EU and US Complicate Omnibus Simplification
Nothing is as it seems, or easy these days – especially in policymaking or sustainability. Put those together and you get chaos and uncertainty as demonstrated by the EU Omnibus arguments, er, negotiations. Net Zero Investor reported last week “A...
Mar 18 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg
SCOTUS Declines to Hear Challenge to Climate Litigation
A number of states are suing oil and gas companies for allegedly misleading the public about the effects of burning fossil fuels. The Supreme Court has recently decided not to hear a Republican-led challenge to these state climate suits. While...
Mar 13 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg
EPA Plans to “Driv[e] a Dagger Straight Into the Heart of the Climate Change Religion”
New EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin yesterday issued a shocking announcement touting the “greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history” intended to “unleash American energy, lower cost [sic] of living for Americans, [and] revitalize the American auto industry.”...
Mar 13 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
How To Update Your Company’s Climate Assumptions
This week’s blogs make it clear – companies need to take a hard look at their climate programs and the bases for them. Or, as Advisory Board Member Mark Trexler has said, “audit your climate assumptions.” Mark wrote a pair...
Mar 13 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
This week’s notable additions to PracticalESG.com are below. New Q&A: How Does the Glass Lewis ESG Rating Affect My Company? We have now posted over 120 CSRD reports, which can be viewed here. Blog(s) of the Week: It was a...
Mar 12 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Apple Faces Greenwashing Lawsuit Over Offsetting
Apple is known for having a robust sustainability program and making serious sustainability claims. Back in 2023, we wrote about a flashy Apple ad that touted sustainability at the company. I predicted that this may land the company in legal...
Mar 12 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
Could US Forestry-Based Carbon Offset Projects Soon Be Voided?
A pair of Executive Orders from the new administration could bring down many forestry-based carbon offset projects in the US, creating a tangle of legal, contractual, investor and disclosure risks for many US companies. On March 1, 2025, the President...
Mar 12 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
US Scope 2 Emissions Reductions May Slow
A developing plan from the new administration would threaten Scope 2 emissions reduction plans. According to Bloomberg, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week “The Trump administration is working on a ‘market-based’ plan to stem the closure of US coal-fired...
Mar 11 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment
Executive Order Could Have Major Impacts on GHG Regulation
The scope of the EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA) has been hotly debated in politics for years. This question was the underlying contention in West Virginia v. EPA, where the Supreme Court...
Mar 11 2025 #climate, #compliance, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
The First CSRD Report Analyses – Good and Bad
Now that final CSRD reports are rolling in, experts are analyzing them every whichaway. Some of the analyses are good, such as this one from Datamaran. My favorite points from Datamaran are: “The survey reveals that companies see the identification...
Mar 11 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #supply-chain
Is Climate Work Becoming a Crime?
I did not see this coming. According to a report from Politico, “The Trump administration has directed nonprofits involved in a $20 billion Biden-era climate initiative to turn over records to the FBI and appear in federal court later this...
Mar 6 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #social
Clarifying Omnibus Part 3: Non-EU Reporting
In the flood of articles, posts and alerts about the recent Omnibus proposal, changes in non-EU reporting obligations have been lost in the shuffle. The CSRD calls for enterprise-wide level reporting for certain companies with a large presence in the...
Mar 6 2025 #climate, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
The Climate Death Match – US Policy v. Business Fundamentals
There probably wasn’t much doubt about what the next four years of US federal climate policy is going to look like – but if there was, this article from The Hill should put it to bed: “Energy Secretary Chris Wright...
Mar 6 2025 #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
New This Week on PracticalESG.com
This week’s notable additions to PracticalESG.com are below. Blog of the Week: Omnibus Scales Back CSRD, Keeps Double Materiality Hot Topics for the Week: “Quantifying The Social Risk Implications Of U.S. Policy Changes”, LION-S (3/25) Multi-State Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity,...
Mar 5 2025 #climate, #compliance, #diversity, #environment, #equity, #esg, #human-rights, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
How To Defend Against Cutbacks to Company Sustainability Programs
No doubt, there’s never been a crazier time to be in sustainability/ESG/CSR. The turmoil and rate of change are unprecedented. And it’s a global phenomenon. This isn’t necessarily great news for ESG/sustainability professionals who must keep track of regulatory/policy changes...
Mar 5 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
Clarifying Omnibus Part 2: ESRS Changes
Another in a short series on misconceptions I’ve seen regarding the recent EU Omnibus proposal. Many have stated that “Omnibus doesn’t change the ESRS.” While technically correct, the Omnibus proposal does signal major changes coming to the ESRS in the...
Mar 5 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
Standard Chartered: Scope 2 Reduction Goals Unlikely
The ability for companies to meet Scope 2 reduction targets and goals is increasingly challenging due to macro developments outside the companies’ control. Although wind and solar power generation are at all time highs – and the growth continues –...
Mar 4 2025 #climate, #compliance, #environment, #esg, #investors, #social, #supply-chain
Clarifying Omnibus Part 1: Wave 1 CSRD is Not Delayed
The EU’s Omnibus proposal has shaken up the sustainability world and there’s no shortage of opinions and interpretations floating around. Across the coverage and commentary I’ve seen, a common refrain emerges: “CSRD reporting is delayed by two years.” This is...
Mar 4 2025 #compliance, #human-rights, #supply-chain
An Overview of the EU Omnibus’ Drastic Proposed Changes CSDDD
The EU has published its highly anticipated Omnibus proposal. Last week, we discussed the proposed changes to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The proposal also stands to fundamentally change the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Major changes include...
Mar 4 2025 #environment, #esg, #investors, #supply-chain
How To Make Sense of Pricing Strategies for Sustainability
Over the decades, I’ve seen two main approaches to pricing products with regard to sustainability: Premium pricing (a “greenium”) that effectively considers sustainability attributes a luxury factor justifying higher price tags than comparable “standard” products. Sometimes this reflects customer trends/demands...
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Featured Q&A Members Only
California SB 261 (climate risk reporting)
Is anyone aware of any guidance as to what specific parts/pillars of the TCFD reporting framework will be required to be disclosed in order to comply with SB 261 reporting? The metrics pillar of the TCFD reporting framework requires disclosure of Scopes 1 and 2 emissions and, if appropriate, Scope 3 emissions. It doesn’t really make sense that this information would be required to be included in the SB 261 report, since it is also required by SB 253 (duplicative), not to mention that SB 253 imposes a higher in scope requirement of $1B in revenue versus $500M in revenue for SB 261. Seems like if emission data was required to be included in the SB 261 reports, you would not need SB 253.
03/24/2025, Question #27636
Glass Lewis ESG Profile
In reading my company’s Glass Lewis report from last year, they indicated that my company’s risk profile is “Medium”. Considering this rating didn’t affect GL’s recommendations to our proposals, how else does this affect my company? Is the rating meant to give a reader a second thought on voting by following GL’s (positive) recommendation on our proposals? Is it meant to generally shame us? ESG newbie here.
03/6/2025, Question #27139
GHG Emissions “Restatements” Under CSRD and SEC
Assume a company considers GHG emissions or another ESG matter as material and they treat it as such in their SEC 10-K/20-F. Primarily this is reflected in the MD&A and Risk Factors Disclosures, but it may also include financials related to emissions trading (especially for companies that have significant trading transactions).
If the company publishes a sustainability-related “restatement” (for GHG data from previous years) under the new CSRD regime in the EU, would that impact SEC filings? Is any type of restatement triggered for SEC?
Here is a link to an example of a discussion about an emissions “restatement” in CSRD reporting: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/maximuel_lets-talk-about-emission-restatements-novo-activity-7292888302393708544-3zsM
02/5/2025, Question #26673