CSR News - January 2026

👉 EFRAG releases simplified ESRS under CSRD overhaul

EFRAG has published its final proposal to significantly simplify the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) under the CSRD. The revised standards cut mandatory datapoints by over 60% and eliminate all voluntary disclosures, resulting in a total reduction of more than 70%. Materiality assessments and supply-chain data requirements are also streamlined. Mandated by the European Commission following the Omnibus package, the revision aims to ease reporting burdens while preserving decision-useful information for investors and financial institutions.

Source: ESG Today, 12/04/2025

👉 Canada to introduce national sustainable investment taxonomy in 2026

Canada plans to launch a national sustainable investment taxonomy in 2026, providing a common framework to classify economic activities aligned with climate objectives. Led by the Canadian government, the taxonomy will initially focus on climate mitigation and transition activities, aiming to support credible sustainable finance, reduce greenwashing risks and guide capital allocation by investors and lenders.

Source: ESG Today, 12/19/2025

👉 UK moves to regulate ESG ratings under FCA oversight

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has proposed bringing ESG ratings providers under formal regulation, requiring FCA authorisation for both UK and overseas firms serving UK clients. The framework aims to improve transparency, address conflicts of interest and strengthen complaints handling. The FCA estimates up to £500m in net benefits over ten years, with rules expected to apply from 2028, after which unregulated providers would be barred from issuing ESG ratings.

Source: Financial Conduct Authority, 12/01/2025

👉 China releases climate reporting standard aligned with IFRS

China’s Ministry of Finance has launched its Corporate Sustainable Disclosure Standard No. 1 – Climate (Trial), a voluntary climate reporting framework aligned with the IFRS/ISSB standards. Initially voluntary, the standard is expected to expand in scope and eventually become mandatory. It aims to improve the transparency and comparability of corporate climate disclosures while supporting China’s “dual carbon” goals. For investors and lenders, the move signals growing convergence between Chinese and international climate reporting frameworks, easing cross-border comparability while retaining local specificities.

Source: ESG Today, 01/05/2026

👉 A new Real Deals Due Diligence Report shows investors shifting towards a more granular understanding of portfolio companies’ operating context and resilience. Data quality, structure and monitoring are now central to deal assessment, with dedicated data diligence emerging as a distinct source of risk and opportunity.

Source: Real Deals, 12/10/2025

👉 Dutch pension fund PME has terminated a €5 bn equity mandate with BlackRock, reallocating it to UBS and MN after concluding the asset manager no longer acts in its best interest on issues including climate risk. The move highlights rising scrutiny of managers’ climate-risk stewardship by large asset owners.

Source: Investing, 12/15/2025

👉 New research by British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Stanford University finds that integrating ESG factors can enhance private equity performance. The study adds evidence that ESG considerations can support financial returns, not just risk management, in long-term private market investing.

Source: Pensions&Investments, 01/07/2026

👉 New annual public reports in UK have flagged 11 private equity–owned portfolio companies for failing to meet basic reporting and transparency standards, despite repeated engagement. While environmental and social disclosures are improving across PE-backed firms, gaps remain on strategy, gender diversity and financial KPIs, highlighting rising scrutiny of PE stewardship.

Source: Financial News, 12/2/2025

👉 Corporate Knights’ 2026 outlook predicts a lower public profile for sustainable funds amid ESG backlash, increased bank financing for LNG, and stronger momentum in renewables and climate-transition sectors. It also expects Europe’s sustainable fund naming turmoil to ease post-ESMA rules, while private capital shuns Canadian pipeline projects.

Source: Corporate Knights, 12/23/2025

👉 Malaysia’s civil service pension fund KWAP announced new forest-based initiatives to advance the country’s sustainability agenda, focusing on conservation, restoration and sustainable forestry investments. The move positions natural capital as a long-term value and risk-management lever for institutional investors.

Source: KWAP, 12/09/2025

👉 ESMA study finds two‑thirds of ESG funds changed names under EU sustainable fund naming rules, spotlighting ongoing taxonomy implementation challenges and implications for product governance and marketing.

Source: ESG Today, 12/22/2025

👉 Neste has postponed parts of its climate targets, citing investment requirements that are currently not economically realistic. The company stressed that capital intensity and market conditions are constraining the pace of its transition, highlighting growing tension between climate ambition and financial feasibility in the energy sector.

Source: ESG Today, 12/15/2025

👉 Climate risk focus from Irish central bank: At the Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance Forum, Ireland’s central bank emphasised embedding climate risk into strategic decisions and disclosures, signalling heightened supervisory expectations for risk frameworks across banks and insurers — likely influencing EU peer regulators’ approaches.

Source: Central Bank of Ireland, 12/08/2025

👉 The voluntary carbon market is set for rapid growth in 2026, with analysts projecting market sizes ranging from USD 1.7bn to over USD 20bn, driven by record credit retirements, surging capital inflows and strong Asia-Pacific momentum. Despite price divergence, demand, credibility and investment are accelerating, positioning VCM as a fast-growing but volatile climate asset class.

Source: Carbon Credits, 12/26/2025