The green transformation that is taking place before our eyes touches all aspects of our activities. The biggest challenge is the energy transition – touching on both the challenges of electricity and heat.
Local and regional authorities (LRAs) are a decisive lever for achieving the EU Green Deal objectives, such as the 2030 climate and energy targets as set out in the European Climate Law and the relevant ‘Fit for 55’legislative revisions, in particular the recast of the Energy Efficiency (EE) and the Renewable Energy (RES) Directives, as well as the climate neutrality objective by 2050. In this context, many municipalities and other public bodies have already committed to such ambitious targets, for instance through the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy initiative. LRAs also have a very relevant role to play in phasing out EU dependence on fossil fuel imports, within the framework of the REPowerEU Plan, and are well-placed to accelerate the implementation of respective/specific initiatives such as the preparation and implementation of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and their updates; the Renovation Wave and mobilization of investment in clean energy, the Just Transition Mechanism.
European Union aims to apply the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) to European and non-European all scale companies by 2028. The purpose of the CSRD is to create detailed, audited, public, and comparable ESG reporting across a wide range of public and non-public companies. To this end, the European Commission (“Commission”) is expected to adopt detailed mandatory ESG disclosure requirements as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS”). Further, CSRD reporting will be subject to limited assurance by accredited auditors and is expected to ultimately be subject to more rigorous assurance standards (i.e., “reasonable” assurance). The intention is to both provide investors with the information they need to make investment decisions that consider sustainability factors, and more generally, to increase transparency concerning companies’ ESG affects for other stakeholders (e.g., regulators, consumers, civil society, and NGOs).
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course, participants will know the next concepts:
