The trustees of the IFRS Foundation have published a consultation paper to assess demand for global sustainability standards.
By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green
On 30 September 2020, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (the Foundation), a not-for-profit organisation that develops global accounting standards, launched a consultation paper seeking to assess demand for global ESG standards. The paper seeks to assess whether the Foundation should expand its current remit of developing financial reporting standards and use its experience in international standard-setting.
The Greek Competition Authority (HCC) has announced a public consultation on how competition law rules might be adapted to promote more sustainable business practices. The HCC published a 
A group of leading sustainability and integrated reporting organisations — including the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the Climate Disclosure Standard Board (CDSB), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), and the Sustainability Accounting Board (SASB) — have pledged to work together on the harmonisation of sustainability standards. In the document, which was published on 11 September 2020, the organisations commit to collaborating together by providing joint market guidance on sustainability standards while also building a shared vision of how such standards could complement generally accepted financial principles.
On 16 September 2020, Ursula von der Leyen, delivered her first state of the union address since taking over the presidency of the European Commission (EC) in December 2019. The speech covered numerous topics and presented specific proposals addressing some of the most pressing issues the EU faces today, including ESG topics such as climate change, sustainable finance, and social matters. Throughout the address, the EC President called for change by design, not by destruction.
On August 31, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) 
On 12 July 2020, the EU’s regulation on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment (the Taxonomy Regulation) entered into force, after several years of planning and deliberation. The EU Commission (the Commission) initially proposed an action plan on financing sustainable growth in March 2018. Action 1 of the plan called for the establishment of an EU classification system for sustainable activities (the Taxonomy). Subsequently, in May 2018, the Commission proposed the Taxonomy Regulation, as reported on in a 
On June 19, 2020, the Equator Principles Association (EPA) issued 
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present unprecedented challenges for European private equity firms and their portfolio companies. A significant number of companies have been forced to undertake emergency liquidity measures, make difficult decisions to ensure the health and safety of their workforce, and pivot their business models, all whilst trying
On 11 June 2020, private equity firm EQT announced that it has entered into an environmental, social, and governance–linked fund-level subscription credit facility (SCF) with an upper limit of around €5 billion