There are so many ESG-related publications and developments that it is hard to keep abreast of them all. For this reason, every two weeks, our firm has been publishing a tracker of ESG-related publications and developments, with a primary focus on developments that may be of most interest to or impact our clients, be they corporates, asset managers or asset owners.

Key updates covered in this edition include:

  • ESMA has published a preliminary report on the EU carbon market;
  • the United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative announced the creation of the Impact Management Platform, a collaboration with other international providers of sustainability standards and guidance to mainstream the practice of impact management; and
  • the ECB has published a press release calling European banks to accelerate efforts to tackle climate change.

If you have any ESG-related questions, please get in touch with your usual contact at HSF who will be able to direct you as appropriate.

Key items

This issue covers the period from 5 November to 22 November 2021.

Recent and upcoming HSF ESG-related publications, webinars and events

  • Check out our ESG, Sustainability & Responsible Business Hub for easy access to all of our latest updates across the E, S and G, as well as access to our dedicated ESG podcast and webinar channels.
  • Our 5th annual Global Bank Review highlights how the ESG focus of banks has shifted from accepting the need to act, towards one of establishing harmonisation of standards and an industry-wide approach, which delivers on ESG and makes sustainability part of banks’ DNA. ESG: creating a purposeful future explores these issues and more. Click here to find out how ESG continues to represent considerable challenges for banks, but also offers a rare moment for reinvention.
    • Going green – Rising expectations and risks on green claims | Herbert Smith Freehills | Global law firm, with the participation of Jaime de San Román and Leonie Timmers
    • Human rights due diligence and banking – a practical introduction | Herbert Smith Freehills | Global law firm, with the participation of Iria Calviño
    • Central bank digital currencies and ESG – a sprint across the tightrope | Herbert Smith Freehills | Global law firm, with the participation of Pablo García Mexia
  • Check out our recent webinar ‘Sustainable Innovation Forum at COP26: Rethinking Corporate Purpose’. As part of COP26, the Sustainable Innovation Forum sought to identify the breakthrough innovation and technologies that can be deployed and scaled now, and the importance of public-private partnerships and finance. Partner Timothy Stutt spoke on the ‘Rethinking Corporate Purpose’ panel, on which there was consensus for a broader view of corporate purpose going beyond profit maximisation for shareholders.
  • We recently published a report, in partnership with Institutional Shareholder Services ESG, focusing on fund-level Net Zero implementation driven by asset managers. The report looks at how fund managers can set appropriate Net Zero targets, design a suitable Net Zero strategy on the basis of these targets, implement the strategy in the fund’s governance and daily administration, and finally, disclose and report on the strategy and its achievement.
  • Check out the article published by the Head of Energy Regulatory of the Madrid office, José Ramón Mourenza, on the public consultation process on the draft Self-consumption Roadmap.