Christian Ritz, LL.M. on Corporate Governance

ESG Investigations in Europe Part II – Handling particularities and challenges

Recent years have seen an ever increasing density of ESG regulation on the national, European and global level. With significant regulations already or about to enter into force, enforcement actions on different levels,...more

4/3/2025 / Corporate Governance , Due Diligence , Enforcement Actions , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , European Commission , Greenwashing , Investigations , Regulatory Requirements , Reporting Requirements , Supply Chain

EU Omnibus simplification package – corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence. What's next for the CSRD and the CS3D?

For the last few months the European Commission has been working to bring together a proposal to amend the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), the...more

2/27/2025 / Corporate Governance , Corporate Social Responsibility , Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) , Due Diligence , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , EU , Regulatory Requirements , Reporting Requirements , Risk Management , Sustainability

ESG Compliance Management and Corporate Strategy: What to Expect in 2025

As we enter 2025, ESG compliance is continuing to become a strategically important mandatory regulatory requirement for businesses. Despite some ESG backlashes in the political arena both in the US and the EU, 2025 marks a...more

1/15/2025 / Corporate Counsel , Corporate Governance , Due Diligence , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , EU , Regulatory Requirements , Reporting Requirements , Risk Management , Supply Chain , Sustainability

Part II – ESG and Antitrust Law – Future prospects and practical guidance

Despite numerous national initiatives and updated EU Guidelines aimed at facilitating sustainability collaborations, significant legal uncertainties persist, especially for international ESG alliances. So the question...more

7/31/2024 / Antitrust Provisions , Climate Change , Corporate Governance , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , Popular , Sustainability

ESG and Antitrust law: Sustainability in the focus of antitrust authorities – and legislators?

With more regulations coming into play, especially when it comes to reporting on due diligence along the supply chain, companies may want to – and are to some extent actually required by these regulations to – join forces to...more

7/23/2024 / Corporate Governance , Due Diligence , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , Supply Chain , Sustainability

ESG Market Alert - April 2024

In this month’s round-up of the latest developments in ESG for UK clients, we cover: Belgium: Pioneer protecting the planet; David v Goliath: ClientEarth v Shell and the growing need to consider nature related risks as part...more

5/1/2024 / Corporate Governance , Disclosure Requirements , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , Sustainability

Europäisches Parlament verabschiedet CS3D: Neue ESG-Litigationrisiken in der Lieferkette

Unternehmen haften künftig auch zivilrechtlich nach europäischen Vorgaben für Menschenrechts- und Umweltverletzungen entlang globaler Lieferketten. Am 24. April 2024 hat das Europäische Parlament die Corporate Sustainability...more

4/25/2024 / Corporate Governance , Due Diligence , Germany , Supply Chain , Sustainability

Last but not least, the EU Council voted to endorse the CS3D

On 15 March 2024, the European Council eventually voted to endorse the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CS3D), aiming to impose on certain...more

3/19/2024 / Corporate Governance , Due Diligence , EU , European Commission , Sustainability

Failure of the EU Council to endorse the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

While the European Parliament and Council negotiators eventually reached a political agreement on 14 December 2023 on the much-awaited proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate...more

2/29/2024 / Corporate Governance , Due Diligence , EU , European Commission , Sustainability

ESG Compliance and Supply Chain due diligence in the EU and Germany – What to expect in 2024

2023 has seen a rise of a range of ambitious ESG regulations especially in the EU. Due to the ongoing transition from a soft law to a hard law environment cast in national and supranational laws and regulations,...more

1/11/2024 / Corporate Governance , Due Diligence , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , EU , Germany , Human Rights , Risk Assessment , Risk Management , Supply Chain

ESG Market Alert – January 2023

In this alert, we provide a round-up of the latest developments in ESG for UK corporates. In this month’s ESG Market Alert, we cover: On 13 December 2022, EU member states reached a deal on the world’s first major carbon...more

1/27/2023 / Corporate Governance , Disclosure Requirements , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) , Proxy Voting , SFDR , Supply Chain , Sustainability

LkSG Compliance - Die Risikoanalyse nach LkSG (Teil 2)

Am 18. August 2022 hat das Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle („BAFA“) seine lange erwartete „Handreichung zur Umsetzung einer Risikoanalyse nach den Vorgaben des Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz“...more

9/15/2022 / Anti-Corruption , Business Strategies , Corporate Governance , Corporate Social Responsibility , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , Human Rights , Supply Chain

Greenwashing - Increased Compliance Risk for Companies

As political and social efforts for climate protection and sustainability increase, so does the pressure on companies to address these issues. “Climate-neutral”, “eco-friendly” or “ESG-compliant”: those or similar words can...more

6/28/2022 / Climate Change , Corporate Governance , Disclosure Requirements , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , European Commission , Greenwashing , Publicly-Traded Companies

Greenwashing – Gestiegenes Compliance-Risiko für Unternehmen

Mit steigenden politischen und gesellschaftlichen Bemühungen um Klimaschutz und Nachhaltigkeit steigt auch der Druck auf Unternehmen, sich dieser Themen anzunehmen. "Klimaneutral", "umweltfreundlich" oder "ESG-konform": Diese...more