Sustainable Views

CSRD reports show more structure and substance Fewer than 5% of companies reported on issues such as Indigenous rights and biodiversity

CSRD-aligned sustainability reports have increased structure, technical language and include more data-driven narratives.

www.sustainableviews.com/csrd-reports...

Standard Chartered announces plans to sell forest carbon credits Credits will use controversial, but ICVCM-approved, methodology

Standard Chartered has announced an agreement to sell Brazilian forest carbon credits with the state of Acre.

www.sustainableviews.com/standard-cha...

Towards a global plastics treaty: EPR must be central to the conversation Anke Boykin is senior director of global environmental policy at PepsiCo Extended producer responsibility policies have proved essential in promoting circularity for consumer packaging materials

Meetings are underway this week in Geneva for yet another round of negotiations on a global plastics treaty.

Anke Boykin director of global environmental policy at PepsiCo says extended producer responsibility schemes must be part of the conversation.

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Human rights are a blind spot of the green transition Phil Bloomer is executive director at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, and Tasneem Essop is executive director at Climate Action Network International The move away from fossil fuels wil...

"The scramble for transition minerals such as copper, lithium and cobalt is already echoing the abuses of the fossil fuel age," write Phil Bloomer executive director @business-humanrights.org and Tasneem Essop executive director @canclimateaction.bsky.social

www.sustainableviews.com/human-rights...

UK BNG credit market could collapse if exemptions introduced, warns consultancy Biodiversity net gain rollbacks could threaten habitats eight times the size of Manchester

Analysis conducted by ARBTECH consultancy and shared with Sustainable Views warns that the UK government's proposed exemptions for Biodiversity Net Gain could lead to collapse in the credit market.

www.sustainableviews.com/uk-bng-credi...

Will companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territories ever face the consequences? The conflation between ‘green’ and ‘good’ is not helping investors or consumers decide which businesses are truly bad

Will companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territories ever face the consequences?

www.sustainableviews.com/will-compani...

Why is the food system so hard to reform? Podcast Episode · Sustainable Views · 30/07/2025 · 20m

Today we bring you a new episode of the Sustainable Views podcast and this week the focus is on food and farming

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Circular business models could be part of ‘resilience paradigm’ Analysis insist there is a ‘business case’ for reducing waste and reusing materials, but the use of circular materials is falling

Circular business models based on reducing waste, reuse and recycling could boost business efficiency by reducing their dependence on raw materials

But the 2025 Circularity Gap Report shows that the world is becoming less, not more, circular

www.sustainableviews.com/circular-bus...

German companies in limbo after government retreat on supply chain law As Germany hits pause on its due diligence law, companies must decide whether to scale back compliance or stay ahead of the game

In April 2025, the German government abolished the country’s Supply Chain Act (LkSG), a law designed to regulate global supply chains.

While the act formally remains in force businesses have been left in limbo.

www.sustainableviews.com/german-compa...

Weekly News and Views: Landmark legal opinion, LIFE and backtracked Brazilian law The latest sustainability policy and regulatory news The week that was

Happy Friday! Today we bring you our weekly round-up of global sustainability news and views.

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Landmark legal opinion opens the door for corporate climate litigation The International Court of Justice says states must protect citizens against climate change

The International Court of Justice has delivered a legal opinion saying states have a duty under international law to enact measures that mitigate against climate change and adapt to its impacts

www.sustainableviews.com/landmark-leg...

Green taxonomy fatigue sets in For many, the UK’s move to abandon its taxonomy plans brings relief

After years of effort to define “green”, taxonomy fatigue is taking its toll.

www.sustainableviews.com/green-taxono...

How banks are avoiding ‘toxic’ ESG language The sustainability lexicon is changing in financial institutions

How financial institutions are dropping 'ESG' language

www.sustainableviews.com/how-banks-ar...

The LIFE programme works. Why is the EU Commission trying to dismantle it? Ester Asin is director of the WWF European Policy Office The environment policy restores nature and builds unique partnerships. It is needed more than ever

In an attempt to “simplify” the next EU budget, the European Commission has proposed to dismantle the LIFE programme as a standalone funding stream.

This would be a mistake writes Ester Asin director of the @wwf.eu policy office in Sustainable Views.

www.sustainableviews.com/the-life-pro...

Voluntary carbon market turns corner amid behind-the-scenes reform Alexia Kelly is managing director of the Carbon Policy and Markets Initiative at the High Tide Foundation Policy can help or hinder further progress of the VCM

A wave of behind-the-scenes reforms is now reshaping the voluntary carbon market with stricter standards, argues Alexia Kelly managing director of the The Carbon Policy & Markets Initiative at the High Tide Foundation.

www.sustainableviews.com/voluntary-ca...

‘When do you pull the trigger?’ Rethinking insurance exposure in a warming world Extreme weather is undermining the viability of coverage, which is worrying investors

Investors are reassessing insurers’ role in climate risk, with calls to exclude companies heavily exposed to vulnerable geographies such as south Florida

www.sustainableviews.com/when-do-you-...

US federal policies driving fresh interest in oil and gas Jennie Simmons is a partner at Troutman Pepper Locke Private equity investors are adapting to the Trump administration’s energy agenda

Troutman Pepper Locke LLP partner Jennie Simmons says US federal policies are driving fresh interest in oil and gas, with AI data centres boosting electricity demand.

www.sustainableviews.com/us-federal-p...

South Korea signals ‘shift’ on human rights amid regional momentum Regulators across Asia are moving forward with human rights due diligence legislation and guidance

Regulators across Asia are moving forward with human rights due diligence legislation and guidance

www.sustainableviews.com/south-korea-...

Employers told to invest in climate adaptations as workers feel the heat Trade unions say the UK government and European Commission must introduce a maximum temperature for workers

Calls are growing for employers to take measures to protect workers as heatwaves become the new norm in countries- including the UK- not used to hot temperatures.

www.sustainableviews.com/employers-to...

Texas floods reveal climate blindness in the US

The flood that hit central Texas in the early hours of July 4 was supposed to be a once-in-a-millennium flood.

Scientists have consistently said that these supposed once-in-a-lifetime events are becoming more frequent.

www.sustainableviews.com/texas-floods...

Investor concerns grow over exclusion of Palestinian human rights from ESG screening Norwegian pension fund KLP says it is ‘very concerned’ about Morningstar ending analysis of conflict areas

Investor concerns grow over exclusion of Palestinian human rights from ESG screening

www.sustainableviews.com/investor-con...

The next financial crisis could come from our oceans Narmin Nahidi is an assistant professor in finance at the University of Exeter and Imtiaz M Sifat is an assistant professor in international economics at the University of Radboud The UK’s economic ex...

The UK’s economic exposure to marine biodiversity is large yet under-appreciated, write Narmin Nahidi assistant professor in finance at the University of Exeter and Imtiaz Sifat assistant professor in international economics at the Radboud University

www.sustainableviews.com/the-next-fin...

EU climate reporting gets real — and that is a good thing Jane Thostrup Jagd is director net zero finance at the We Mean Business Coalition Thanks to the CSRD, companies are starting to treat climate reporting like financial reporting, with discipline, data ...

“Something big just happened in European corporate reporting — & most people have not noticed.”

Thanks to the #CSRD, companies are finally treating climate reporting like financial reporting: with discipline, data & oversight.

Read Jane Thostrup Jagd’s article in @sustainableviews.bsky.social ⬇️

Bolster the EU sustainable finance framework to boost nature funds Heather Grabbe is a senior fellow, Bruegel Europe’s plans for nature credits must go hand in hand with greater incentives to encourage demand for nature-positive assets

Europe’s plans for nature credits must go hand in hand with greater incentives to encourage demand for nature-positive assets, argues Heather Grabbe from Bruegel.

www.sustainableviews.com/bolster-the-...

Droughts increasingly hitting global supply chains A drought spell today carries an economic cost at least twice as high as in 2000 Countries need to be better prepared to counter the effects of longer-lasting droughts, as climate change is draining w...

A drought spell today carries an economic cost at least twice as high as in 2000

www.sustainableviews.com/droughts-inc...

Company directors sentenced in Italy’s first criminal conviction for PFAS pollution Ruling adds momentum for governments to enact ecocide legislation, advocates say At a glanceHailed by campaigners as the first criminal conviction for contamination by forever chemicals, individuals w...

Eleven company directors involved in the management of a chemical plant in Northern Italy have been convicted for knowingly polluting the soil and waterways of nearby communities.

www.sustainableviews.com/company-dire...

Defence no longer off limits for a growing number of European ESG investors Defence stocks, once considered incompatible with ESG principles, are now included in more than a third of ESG funds in Europe At a glanceDefence is gaining ESG acceptance, with exposure in European ...

In March 2021, less than a quarter of Europe’s ESG funds held defence stocks, according to data from Morningstar Direct. In the past four years, this has risen to 35%.

www.sustainableviews.com/defence-no-l...

From fragile to future-proof: the case for EU investment in food system resilience Andrew Voysey is chief impact officer at Soil Capital Farmers and food companies need a credible, standardised benchmarking framework for key indicators — from carbon to soil function, water use and b...

Chief impact officer at Soil Capital, Andrew Voysey, calls on the EU, as it gears up to agree its latest multi-annual budget, to ensure it and the Common Agricultural Policy catalyse investment in farming systems that are resilient, low risk and future-proof

www.sustainableviews.com/from-fragile...

Why water must take centre stage in climate action Kristin Hughes is global head of sustainability at Diageo As droughts, floods and scarcity surge, businesses must treat water as a critical resource in need of urgent, local and collaborative solution...

In today’s opinion piece, Kristin Hughes, global head of sustainability at drinks company Diageo, calls on all companies to treat water use much more seriously. She outlines her company’s actions and urges much more collaboration on the issue.

www.sustainableviews.com/why-water-mu...

Quarterly thinking is a risk we can no longer afford Peter Bakker is president and chief executive of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Some companies are building for the demands of tomorrow. Others are still taking cues from yest...

Peter Bakker, president and chief executive of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development says companies leading on climate action and redesigning their structures for a disrupted operating environment will benefit in the long term

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