LIU Changsong: Key Issues and Risk Prevention of ESG Information Disclosure | CBCGDF Media Reports

On December 6, 2024, the Standard Working Committee of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) and the Beijing Zhixing Legal Practice Research Center jointly held a discussion on optimizing the business environment and ESG information disclosure. The meeting was live-streamed on platforms such as CBCGDF Media, with a total of 600 people participating online.

The meeting invited Dr. LIU Changsong from the National Climate Strategy Center to speak on key issues and risk prevention of ESG information disclosure. The following is the main content of the speech:

ESG, "E" stands for environment, "S" stands for social responsibility, and "G" stands for governance. Its original concept comes from the company's CSR (corporate social responsibility). From the 1980s and 1990s, foreign companies began to publish social responsibility reports. Now many of our large companies, listed companies, and central enterprises publish social responsibility reports every year. ESG is a very common information disclosure method used in the field of sustainable development.

Why do we need to do ESG? From a domestic perspective, it is due to relevant policy requirements. From the earliest environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction to the current carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the national ecological civilization system has been gradually improved, and the legal construction of ecological environment protection has been further improved. The ecological environment code is currently being compiled, and the relevant requirements will be transmitted to market entities. As the requirements for ecological and environmental protection become more and more stringent, ESG information disclosure is becoming more and more detailed.

From the international situation, the European Union's (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has come into effect and is now in the data reporting stage. Once export products are included in the scope of carbon tariffs, they must report carbon emissions. Not only the EU, but also countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada are following up, and there is a tendency to establish a carbon tariff alliance. If the company's export products do not meet the EU emission standards, it will cost a huge price to enter the EU market, or even make it difficult to enter. Our new three products of photovoltaics, electric vehicles, and power batteries are the highlights of the post-epidemic economic recovery, but now the new three products are also subject to great external shocks. The EU, Canada, and the United States have all passed measures to impose tariffs on China this year. Although the final result is still under further negotiation, it can be seen from this trend that our export situation is still very severe. New green trade barriers such as the The EU Batteries Regulation are getting higher and higher, and so are the United States and Canada. Not only the new three items have been greatly impacted, but other aspects are also affected. ESG is ultimately a governance method, not a fashionable term, or to say that it is enough to publish relevant reports and make promises. The level of corporate governance is equivalent to competing with companies in the EU and the United States, and being under the same standards as competing companies. If their barriers are further raised and domestic companies cannot meet this standard, it means losing competitiveness.

From the corporate level, there are not only problems with the authenticity of market data, but also problems such as "greenwashing" and "greenwashing" in the green financial market, as well as problems in corporate awareness, and a wait-and-see attitude towards ESG, which is very unfavorable to the governance of ESG, including the disclosure of ESG information.

Original Chinese article:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/56IPFfv1PMsmOHjXyVPsHA

Reviewed by Sara

Editor: Daisy

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