On the afternoon of 9 January, the ESG Committee of BritCham Shanghai hosted a Greenwashing Risk Management Seminar 2024 event at Deloitte Shanghai Office.
The gathering commenced with a warm welcome from Guoxiong Zhang, Managing Director and Economic Advisory of Deloitte China and the Chair of BritCham Shanghai ESG Committee who extended his greetings to all the attendees.
The event featured three insightful keynote presentations addressing key issues in Greenwashing Risk Management. Gary Yang, Partner of Beijing Dacheng Law Offices, LLP (Shanghai), commenced the event with the first keynote, addressing Greenwashing Regulatory Guidelines. The topics covered a reviewer checklist for greenwashing and a comparison of law enforcement practices on greenwashing between the United States and China. He provided insights by sharing an illustrative example of a landmark climate change lawsuit involving a European oil giant in the EU.
Valerie Wang, Sustainability Solution Consultant of EcoVadis Asia delivered the second keynote on Third-party Evaluations as a Means to Combat Greenwashing. She delved into the risks of greenwashing, focusing on increased reporting and due diligence requirements, including aspects like sustainability, ESG governance, and supply chain considerations. She addressed the challenges involved managing value chain impact, with a key emphasis on avoiding greenwashing through integrated ESG reporting processes, fully accounting for adverse impacts, and grounding reporting in robust data.
The final keynote on ESG Disclosure Requirements across Different Regions, delivered by Song Ting, Partner of Sustainability and Climate Financial Service Industry of Deloitte. The keynote highlighted the dynamic evolution of the global ESG disclosure and regulatory landscape. Regarding China Mainland regulation trends, she discussed the potential acceleration of domestic disclosure requirements by Chinese regulatory authorities, influenced by ISSB’s goal for global ESG information disclosure unification. She emphasized how the implementation of CSRD could impact the global strategy of Chinese companies expanding overseas, especially in Europe or other jurisdictions.
The following panel discussion was moderated by Guoxiong Zhang, which featured three keynote speakers and Stephen Baron, Head of Reputational & Sustainability Risk of HSBC, and the Vice Chair of BritCham Shanghai ESG Committee. The panel explored the effects of EU reporting and due diligence regulations on the APAC region, covering internal processes, policy development, and management actions to tackle greenwashing risks. Additionally, insights were shared regarding the local development of regulations. Diverse audience members from various industries posed relevant questions from their perspectives.
Among the esteemed attendees were representatives from prominent organizations such as ACCA, KPMG China, JunHe LLP, Dentons Shanghai Office, TÜV AUSTRIA (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD, British Consulate General Shanghai, Modern Water Technology (Shanghai) Co.Ltd , STAR (Shanghai) Accounting & Consulting Co. Ltd. , Shanghai Minhang District Qingyue Environment Protection Information Technology Service Center, HALEON, Dun & Bradstreet, The Shanghai EDITION, THE BANK OF EAST ASIA (CHINA) LIMITED, Abacare Insurance Brokerage, Savills Property Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, Barclays, Thames Investment, INEOS, Plant Petz LTD, Trimco Group, Octave Institute, CCTong and FMC China.
