The EU’s proposed CSDDD could substantially up the stakes in human-rights law for companies and investors. Our research found that many of those in scope for CSDDD fell short on baseline practices to prevent human rights abuses. 

The EU is ironing out the final details of its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. We look at what it could mean for how companies identify, mitigate and report on their impacts on human rights. It’s a pioneering step that not only stands to affect European companies, but global ones that earn revenue in the EU market.

There is a considerate environmental cost to e-cigarettes. The critical metals that make up their batteries are more likely to be found in landfills than recycling facilities. Not only does this pose a problem for the environment but regulators are starting to take notice. In this episode, we discuss the environmental problem of e-cigarettes and what may be done to address it. Then, we discuss the ambitious new regulation on tail pipe emissions by the US Environmental Protection Agency that might be the most ambitious air quality regulation ever.

A Japanese publishing company allegedly bribed an Olympic committee member to become an official sponsor of the Tokyo Games. As Kadokawa Corp picks up the pieces, we ask what governance factors may have led to this point. And then we look at why doing the “right thing” by sourcing slavery-free cocoa is becoming a regulatory imperative, even for ice cream makers.

Institutional investors may have more exposure to cryptocurrency risk than they realize. We find that cryptocurrencies were a part of business for at least 52 companies covered by MSCI ESG Research, including 26 MSCI ACWI Index constituents.

Biodiversity has finally become mainstreamed, and the world is better understanding what its destruction means for our ongoing concern as a species. Many industries play a significant role in global biodiversity loss, and the mining industry is one of the big ones. We look at how mining is impacting biodiversity and where mining is impacting biodiversity. Then we provide you with another proxy season update with the bombshell resolution at HSBC that commits the bank to phasing out coal-fired power and thermal coal mining financing by 2040 that passed at 99%. And that makes it legally binding.