The European Union has been very active so far, in matters related to the regulation of environmental, social and governance factors, also known by its acronym in English: ESG.
For the environmental factor, three events were held in June and July 2021, and February 2022. There were developed the Taxonomy Regulation and the Sustainable Finance Plan. In July 2021 we can also highlight the “Fit for 55” package. In December 2021 the legislative proposals were developed to decarbonize the gas market in the EU, facilitating the use of renewable gases.
Regarding the social factor, the proposal to encourage sustainable and responsible business behavior along all global supply chains took place in February 2022.
Regarding governance, the publication of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) focused on sustainability standards to help implement the new CSRD reporting directive.
At the international level, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) created the International Sustainability Standards Board to guide the financial markets in the ESG area.
These policies will have a strong impact on European companies with activities beyond the European Union.
European Climate Law
With the approval of this law, Europe has included in its legal system the objectives for the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 values. As we already know, the objective of this measure is to reach zero emissions by 2050, which would make Europe the first climate-neutral continent.
This zero emissions target has become the main driver of the European sustainability strategy. Achieving it will entail changing the production model in virtually all sectors.
To achieve these goals, the Parliament is negotiating a series of specific measures such as the Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff to be negotiated with the World Trade Organization (WTO) for non-EU products that do not respect GHG emissions.
Fit for 55
As mentioned above, this is the package of proposals presented by the European Commission on July 14, 2021 with the objective of reducing GHGs to 55% by 2030.
It is the most complete package of proposals presented so far. This set of proposals are all interconnected with each other, with the same objective of ensuring a fair, competitive and environmentally friendly transition until 2030.
This policy mix is based on a balance of pricing, targets, standards and support measures, covering virtually all economic sectors and all climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies.
Reducing the carbon footprint of freight transport
The main objective of EccoNetwork is to create an international community of sustainable forwarders with a common mission: to reduce the carbon footprint of international freight transport worldwide.
All members of the community have access to our Eccologistics360 platform developed over more than 8 years with the most advanced technology and following international protocols and standards for the calculation and reduction of CO2 emissions in international freight forwarding.
We have recently launched EccoNetwork Care, the program through which our community members propose environmental projects in their home countries, and where EccoNetwork will collaborate in different ways.
Thanks to EccoNetwork, all members eventually have a specialized sustainability department available that helps and advises them at all times in their sustainable transition, providing them with advice and strategies in this area.