SustainabilityConnect Newsletter May 2025
New York enforces strict emissions reporting requirements for high-emitting sectors.
New York State has introduced draft regulations requiring large greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters to report their annual emissions, marking a major step under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The proposed rules target sectors such as power generation, manufacturing, transportation, and waste management, focusing on entities exceeding set emissions thresholds. Companies will need to submit detailed data on carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases, ensuring the information is accurate and independently verified.
The regulations demand businesses establish strong internal data systems, apply rigorous measurement and reporting standards, and secure third-party verification. Organizations must cover both Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) emissions and prepare for the likely expansion into Scope 3 (supply chain) reporting. These steps are critical for compliance and for aligning with broader national and international climate commitments.
Checklist for companies to prepare:
Failure to comply could expose companies to regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and competitive disadvantages. As New York tightens its climate accountability framework, businesses must act proactively to meet evolving expectations, safeguard operations, and maintain stakeholder trust.
Updapt Views: Mandatory GHG reporting will drive businesses to refine supply chains, adopt energy-efficient technologies, and enhance climate risk management. This fosters resilience, sharpens competitive positioning, and unlocks access to ESG-focused capital. Firms that adapt early can shape market standards, strengthening brand trust and securing long-term profitability in a low-carbon economy.
Philippine Government Launches Comprehensive Sustainable Finance Strategy.
The Philippine Department of Finance (DOF) has outlined its sustainable finance strategy for 2025, aiming to align financial policies with the country’s climate goals and strengthen green investment. The DOF plans to include the Bureau of the Treasury, Philippine Guarantee Corporation (PHILGUARANTEE), and other government agencies to broaden the Inter-Agency Technical Working Group on Sustainable Finance (ITSF) membership and take a more comprehensive approach to sustainable finance policies. This expansion is intended to improve coordination in mobilizing capital for renewable energy, climate adaptation, and green infrastructure projects.
The ITSF will establish three key clusters: Policy, Financing, and Investment. Each cluster will provide focused guidance in its area under the Sustainable Finance Roadmap. This structured approach supports the integration of international best practices, the ASEAN sustainable finance taxonomy, and efforts to strengthen regulatory frameworks and increase the issuance of green and sustainable financial instruments.
Additionally, a Center of Excellence for Sustainable Finance will be set up as a central hub for capacity building, policy support, and market development. This center will help develop expertise and facilitate knowledge sharing in the sustainable finance sector. As climate risks increase across Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ approach reinforces its commitment to building a resilient and low-carbon economy.
Updapt Views: Companies can leverage this shift by aligning their financial practices with the national sustainable finance roadmap, integrating ESG factors into risk assessments, and preparing for evolving disclosure requirements. To stay ready, firms should invest in ESG data systems, strengthen climate risk governance, and position themselves to access green capital markets as regulatory expectations tighten and market incentives sharpen.
China Issues $825 Million Green Bond on London Stock Exchange for Climate Projects.
China has issued a 6 billion yuan ($825 million) green bond on the London Stock Exchange to raise international capital for domestic climate initiatives. The bond is split into three-year and five-year maturities with interest rates of 1.88% and 1.93%. Proceeds will go to projects such as electric vehicle charging networks, biodiversity protection, and pollution control, all aligned with China’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
This marks China’s entry into the $3 trillion global green bond market. In 2023 alone, China issued over $150 billion in green bonds, reflecting its expanding role in sustainable finance. The funds from this issuance will support five main areas: climate change mitigation, climate adaptation, resource conservation, pollution prevention, and biodiversity. By tapping global capital markets, China strengthens its financial backing for its transition to a low-carbon economy.
The issuance also has broader economic goals. By using yuan and listing in London, China aims to promote its currency on the international stage and build stronger financial ties with the United Kingdom. This move aligns with China’s long-term plan to integrate ESG principles into its economic development.
Updapt Views: The issuance of China’s green bond on the global stage creates pressure for Chinese organisations to elevate ESG integration well beyond surface-level compliance. As access to international capital increasingly depends on measurable sustainability outcomes, companies will be pushed to rethink governance structures, embed climate risk deeply into strategic decisions, and align capital allocation with long-term resilience goals. This signals a shift where sustainability is no longer a reporting exercise but a structural requirement for competitiveness in both domestic and global markets.
UK Introduces Integrity Principles to Strengthen Voluntary Carbon Markets.
The UK government has launched a new framework aimed at strengthening the voluntary carbon and nature markets, addressing widespread concerns over credibility, transparency, and the actual climate impact of carbon credits. With global demand for offsets projected to rise sharply in coming years, governments, businesses, and investors are under pressure to ensure these markets deliver measurable emissions reductions and are not used as a loophole to delay or avoid real climate action. The UK’s initiative marks a clear move to set a higher bar for how carbon credits are issued, traded, and reported.
At the center of this framework are 6 key integrity principles. These include prioritizing direct emissions reductions within company operations before using offsets, ensuring credits are backed by strong and independently verified standards, requiring transparent disclosure of credit use in corporate reports, making environmental claims that are accurate and evidence based, improving governance and oversight of crediting systems, and promoting collaboration among governments, standard setters, and industry players to align practices. Together, these pillars aim to close loopholes, reduce the risk of greenwashing, and guide investment toward projects that deliver real climate benefits.
Compared to international frameworks such as the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s Core Carbon Principles or the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative, the UK’s approach aligns closely in its focus on transparency, additionality, and governance. However, the UK principles place added emphasis on ensuring that companies do not treat offsets as a substitute for cutting their own emissions. While many global initiatives seek to harmonize standards, the UK framework goes further by explicitly linking credit use to broader national and international net zero targets.
Updapt Views: Companies should prepare by reassessing how carbon credits fit into their overall climate strategy, recognizing that the UK’s new principles elevate offsets from a marketing tool to a governance responsibility. They must strengthen internal systems for tracking, verifying, and transparently reporting credit use while ensuring these credits complement, not replace, real emissions cuts.
Kenya Releases Green Finance Taxonomy to Strengthen Sustainable Finance.
Kenya has launched its Green Finance Taxonomy (KGFT) and Climate Risk Disclosure Framework to provide the financial sector with a clear system for identifying and classifying green economic activities. The taxonomy is part of Kenya’s commitment to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, targeting a 32% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. With climate change expected to reduce Kenya’s GDP by up to 7.25% by 2050 if unaddressed, the KGFT offers banks and investors a structured approach to align financial activities with climate mitigation and adaptation goals.
The KGFT draws from international frameworks, including the EU and South African taxonomies, but has been adapted to reflect Kenya’s specific national climate policies and economic priorities. It sets out environmental objectives, technical screening criteria, and minimum social safeguards, helping institutions track taxonomy-aligned activities, investments, and portfolios. The accompanying Climate Risk Disclosure Framework standardizes how banks report climate-related risks, improving consistency, comparability, and investor confidence.
This initiative supports Kenya’s goal to mobilize both domestic and international climate finance, complementing the USD 62 billion estimated cost of implementing its climate actions. By introducing clear definitions and disclosure standards, Kenya aims to reduce the cost and complexity of green finance, enhance transparency, and strengthen the resilience of its financial system against climate risks.
Updapt Views: To prepare for Kenya’s Green Finance Taxonomy, banks and financial institutions must map their lending, investment, and portfolio activities against the taxonomy’s technical screening criteria and minimum social safeguards. This requires robust internal data systems to track financed emissions, energy exposures, and adaptation impacts at the asset and portfolio level. Institutions should integrate taxonomy alignment checks into credit and investment assessments, with board-level oversight ensuring climate risk disclosures meet new regulatory standards.
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