The past year has been characterized by a flurry of regulatory changes in the area of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, particularly in the context of harmonizing climate, environmental and reporting rules in the Central and Eastern European regions.<\/p>\n
Despite the deadline for transposing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU) 2022\/2464 (CSRD) in July 2024, some EU Member States have failed to fully implement the directive. The European Commission has initiated infringement procedures against 17 Member States, including the Czech Republic and Romania, and the decision on the next steps in these procedures is not yet clear.<\/p>\n
Attention is now focused on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU) 2024\/1760 (CSDDD), which obliges companies to undertake extensive due diligence obligations for their operations and supply chains. The deadline for transposition of the CSDDD is set for 26 July 2026.<\/p>\n
Amendments to environmental and ESG legislation in the Slovak Republic<\/strong><\/p>\n Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act<\/strong><\/p>\n On September 17, 2024<\/strong> The National Council of the Slovak Republic approved an amendment to the law that streamlines and aligns the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process with European standards. The amendment clearly separates the initial screening steps (decision on the need for an EIA) and the determination of the scope of the assessment (what the EIA should cover) from the main environmental assessment itself. The amendment further states:<\/p>\n – Raises standards<\/strong> for experts carrying out EIA,<\/p>\n – Reduces administrative demands<\/strong>, thus minimizing paperwork,<\/p>\n – Simplifies the entire process<\/strong>to make it clearer, faster and more aligned with EU law.<\/p>\n Emissions Trading Act<\/strong><\/p>\n On September 18, 2024<\/strong> The National Council of the Slovak Republic approved an amendment to the law that aligns Slovak legislation with EU directives 2023\/959 and 2023\/958<\/strong> aimed at modernizing emissions management. The main modifications include:<\/p>\n – Updating key concepts<\/strong> relating to emissions trading,<\/p>\n – Revision of free emission allocations,<\/strong> to better reflect current climate goals,<\/p>\n – Directing auction proceeds<\/strong> to finance low-carbon initiatives,<\/p>\n – Setting conditions for granting permits<\/strong> for greenhouse gas emissions,<\/p>\n – Defining the rules for the validity of emission quotas,<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2013 Support for low-carbon technologies and clear definition of government responsibilities within the emissions system.<\/p>\n Recovery Plan for Europe \u2013 State aid schemes in the ESG context<\/strong><\/p>\n The Slovak Republic is implementing several ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) related support schemes as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. These schemes include, for example:<\/p>\n – Scheme 1<\/strong>: Supporting the development of infrastructure for alternative fuels and electricity storage,<\/p>\n – Scheme 2<\/strong>: Renewable energy production and storage,<\/p>\n – Scheme 3<\/strong>: Biomethane production and industrial decarbonization,<\/p>\n – Scheme 4:<\/strong> Financial conditions and tenders to support the above initiatives.<\/p>\n These schemes aim to:<\/p>\n \u2013 Support the transition to clean energy,<\/p>\n \u2013 Increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprint,<\/p>\n \u2013 Support innovative technologies and environmentally friendly business,<\/p>\n \u2013 Ensure financing of projects in various sectors through cooperation with relevant ministries.<\/p>\n Amendments to laws and support schemes within the framework of the Recovery Plan for Europe reflect the Slovak Republic's commitment to sustainable development and the fight against climate change. Harmonization with European standards and implementation of ESG principles are key to increasing environmental protection, social justice and effective management of business processes. Spring<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The past year has been characterised by a flurry of regulatory changes in the area of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, particularly in the context of the harmonisation of climate, environmental and reporting rules in the Central and Eastern European regions. Despite the expiry of the transposition deadline for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU) 2022\/2464 (CSRD) in July 2024, some Member States [\u2026]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lca_esg_ghg_csddd_csrd_iso_flr"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}