ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and Sustainability

Borys D. Sawicki, who co-leads the ESG Team, is a member of the ESG Committee at the National Chamber of Commerce, a member of EFRAG’s support group for the development of reporting standards for small and medium-sized enterprises (VSME ESRS), a cooperating expert in the Working Group on the Application of EU Taxonomy conducted under the auspices of the Polish Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, and a member of the working group on minimum guarantees at the Polish Bank Association (ZBP).

We support our clients in the following key areas:

• EU Taxonomy: we help businesses assess the eligibility and compliance of their business with the EU Taxonomy (both taxonomy eligibility and alignment), alongside preparing taxonomy disclosures, as required under Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation. We also assist banks with ESG risk disclosures under Article 449a of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and assessing the taxonomy compliance of exposures, including the compliance of exposures secured by residential real estate (for individual borrowers).
• Sustainability reporting: we support businesses in reporting on sustainability issues under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Sustainable Reporting Standards (ESRS). We assist in conducting a materiality assessment as a starting point for reporting on and in implementing a due diligence procedure under OECD Guidelines, the UN Guidelines, and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD), which supports the materiality assessment process and is required by several sustainability regulations, including the EU Taxonomy. We also provide support in identifying the regulatory gap and then, in preparing the necessary documentation, including policies and action plans, an overall ESG strategy, and in selecting indicators and setting reportable targets.
• Green and social financing: we assist in raising financing in the form of “green” or social loans or through the issuance of “green”, social, or sustainable bonds taking into account leading market standards, including LMA Green Loan Principles and LMA Social Loan Principles, ICMA Green Bond Principles, ICMA Social Bond Principles, ICMA Sustainability Bond Guidelines, and ICMA Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, as well as the EU Green Bond Standard (EU GBS).
• Credit institutions: we provide support in developing sustainable financing products and internal procedures and processes for assessing, classifying, and monitoring their financing in a way that enables them to raise the necessary cash to finance them by issuing green, social or sustainable bonds under ICMA standards or the EU GBS. We also prepare the market-standard sustainable finance framework (SFF).

On the regulatory side, we assist in preparing disclosures on ESG risks and other issues related to compliance with the requirements under the amended CRR Regulation and CRD Directive (CRR III/CRD VI).

In addition, we help in evaluating the compliance of financed projects with the EU Taxonomy and prepare—in accordance with the recommendation of the European Banking Authority’s greenwashing report—opinions confirming the “greenness” of financial products.

• SFDR: we give financial market participants (including investment fund managers and alternative investment companies) support in identifying and properly implementing obligations under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the EU Taxonomy, including implementing due diligence, as well as additional obligations on ESG issues under the revised MiFID II, AIFMD and UCITS Directives.

• Energy transition: we support businesses in identifying regulatory requirements arising from energy transition legislation. We advise on business decarbonisation by supporting the identification of decarbonisation levers and the development of decarbonisation strategies. We support entrepreneurs in the real estate sector in identifying the requirements deriving from the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and relevant national regulatory changes.
• Greenwashing: we assess informational and advertising materials and entrepreneurs’ statements and actions concerning products and services (financial or non-financial) and their activities to eliminate the risk of greenwashing allegations.
• Proceedings before the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF): we represent entrepreneurs in proceedings before the KNF concerning the so-called taxonomic disclosures under Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and sustainability reporting.
• M&A transactions: during a due diligence (legal audit), we support entrepreneurs in identifying the sustainability/ESG risks associated with the investment and then reflecting them appropriately in the transaction documentation.
• Green HR: we guide employers and HR departments through the social sustainability of organisations—including preparing policies and identifying risks in the social area.
• ESG Hotline: we provide ad hoc support to businesses on all sustainability/ESG issues that may arise during day-to-day operations. The maximum response time (for more complex issues) is 72h, although we usually respond in less than 24h.

The core fields of client support on sustainability/ESG issues identified above are not exhaustive which is why we encourage you to contact us to discuss how we can help you.

Please use the following link to make an appointment (Teams).