This White Paper focuses on ESG developments through the Asia-Pacific ("APAC") region since the start of 2024.
For businesses present in the APAC region, as well as doing business there, it is imperative to be vigilant of the ever-growing body of ESG laws, regulations, and obligations. Increasingly, regulators are actively enforcing, and sanctions are becoming a real risk for noncompliance. As this White Paper evidences, there is activity across the board, with all focused jurisdictions implementing extensive additional requirements. Where similar levels of enforcement have not yet been seen, it would be injudicious for businesses to rely on an absence of enforcement and not implement processes to meet such obligations.
In the region in particular, the breadth and extent of recently introduced requirements are catching some companies off guard, with many now expending significant resources to "catch up" with their obligations, which often differ across jurisdictions and pose resource demands, such as in climate-related disclosures.
ESG-related enforcement actions and proceedings are also becoming more frequent throughout the APAC region, with regulators, stakeholders, and nontraditional claimants (including environmental groups and individual activists) bringing significant claims before decision-makers, often publicly, with significant reputational and financial consequences. We are also seeing claimants leverage successful claims across jurisdictions, if at least to extract settlements.
In this Jones Day quarterly APAC ESG Update, our extensive team of lawyers across the APAC region set the ESG scene on a country-by-country basis, with an overview of recent and notable ESG developments across litigation, legislation and regulation, and policy.
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