Editorial ESG News 2/2025

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Dear readers,

The European Commission's “Omnibus Package for Deregulating Sustainability Compliance", which was announced at the end of February 2025, continues to raise questions for all stakeholders – companies, banks, insurance companies, consultants, auditors, etc. There is great uncertainty as to how to deal with the regulatory changes. For this reason, it is worth taking a look at the bigger picture. From this perspective, it becomes clear that sustainability cannot be defined or discussed away. Sustainability is here to stay. Investors, customers, business partners and other stakeholders have an overriding interest in the opportunities and risks associated with sustainability.

The (European) tax authorities, for example, are rather critical of developments to simplify CSRD/ESRS reporting. At the heart of their arguments are significant sustainability risks that will not be resolved through reduced reporting obligations. They are therefore keeping the pressure on banks and insurance companies high. Financial institutions will pass this pressure on to borrowers. This raises the crucial question of the origin of trustworthy sustainability data if they cannot rely on CSRD reports. It will presumably lead to borrowers receiving (further) ESG risk-related queries, meaning that the debate about ESG is likely to remain relevant against this backdrop. So it remains exciting.

In our second issue of 2025, we therefore cover the entire spectrum of environmental, social & governance and would like to show you once again how diverse and comprehensive the topic is. Of course, we start with the latest updates on Omnibus​ and give you a deep dive into the changes within the EU taxonomy​ and supply chains. From a legal perspective, we shed light on issues relating to green marketing and intellectual property, and from the environment and energy sector, you will find everything you need to know about the ETS2 changes from 2027, the third part of the SBTi episode and a general article on climate resilience. Finally, this time the international perspective takes us to the USA and Turkey.

We hope you have an inspiring read. As always, do not hesitate to contact us directly in case of questions or suggestions.

Kind regards

Ihr Martin Wambach​​​​​