The European Green Deal: Implications for exporters from down under

November 2021

In this webinar replay, Caroline Lambert, Head of Trade for the Delegation of the EU to Aotearoa New Zealand, outlines how the EU’s new rules for company reporting and disclosure will close the gap between sustainability reporting and financial reporting.

She also explains the what’s driving the changes: the huge investment in sustainable infrastructure, goods, and services needed to transition to the EU’s ambitious sustainability programme, the EU’s Green Deal.

The EU’s sustainable investment programme will affect Australian and New Zealand businesses.

A sneak preview of the webinar. The full webinar recording can be downloaded below.

Key takeaways from webinar

• The EU’s Green Deal requires huge investment in sustainable infrastructure, goods, and services.
• To ensure investors have the reliable, consistent information they need to invest on this scale, the EU has developed a sustainable investment programme.
• The programme is based on three ‘building blocks’: a taxonomy (classification) of sustainable activities, new disclosure rules, and new standards for ‘green’ investment tools.
• To be labelled ‘sustainable’, an activity must meet four environmental, social, and technical hurdles.
• Businesses must disclose the risks they face from external sources, plus the risks their operations pose for people and the planet (a ‘double materiality’ approach).
• Sustainability reporting must be included in financial reporting, audited and enforceable.
• The impacts of the EU’s programme will be felt widely Down Under.
• The programme comes into force in 2022 and 2023. Businesses should start preparing now.

The full webinar recording can be downloaded below.