Frank Bold organised two online events to present the results of the research on the disclosures made by 300 companies on climate and environmental matters providing targeted presentation and insights for companies in Southern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe.
New data from the research shows some, yet insufficient progress at a turning point for sustainability reporting in Europe as the legislation for sustainability disclosures in Europe will be reformed in 2021 (see details of the research and context here).
The events featured key experts, regulatory representatives, financial and business actors (e.g.Piraeus Bank, BBVA, ENEL, Raiffeisenbank or Tauron Polska Energia). About 300 participants interested in non-financial reporting and sustainable finance agenda attended the event.
1) Are companies in Southern Europe ready for the European Green Deal
See also the slides and summary of the discussion below.
2) Companies' climate and environmental disclosure in the CEE: progress, gaps and opportunities
See also the slides.
The key takeaways from the webinar discussion include:
key issues to address in creating an EU reporting framework and standards include:
In mid-December, the European Commission acknowledged a large part of the arguments put forward by the Czechia in an effort to prevent the expansion and continuation of illegal mining at the Turów mine in Poland, that endangers the sources of drinking water for thousands of people in the Liberec region and, according to new studies, has serious impacts on groundwater in Germany as well. Frank Bold's lawyers, who defend the interests of Czech citizens, have long been involved in the case.
The Frank Bold Society and the Neighbourhood Association Uhelná called on the Czech government today to be more consistent in its negotiations with Poland over mining at the Turów brown coal mine. According to both organisations, the government did not have enough information or time to prepare an agreement that would truly protect Czech interests. Moreover, the government has acted in a non-transparent manner by failing to inform the public in advance of the terms of the agreement being prepared, which should lead to the withdrawal of the action against Poland at the EU Court of Justice. The organisations have therefore drawn up a document with seven basic demands on which the Czech side should insist.
The European Commission recently introduced a draft of the revised EU ETS Directive which, among other things, proposes that 100 % of ETS revenues should be used for environmental measures. We welcome this idea but we’re also sceptical about how the ETS revenues are used in the Czech Republic. Therefore, we have prepared an analysis mapping the use of ETS revenues in Czech Republic and sent it to the European Commission as an input for the recent public consultation. The main conclusions are presented below.
