Sustainability briefing: reporting formats, EU finance rules, Danish export funding and green software
Reporting standards and disclosure rules dominate today's briefing, from GRI's streamlined sector format and EU moves on SFDR and taxonomy reporting to the Green Software Foundation's expanded scope, alongside a Danish export-funding deadline and new reporting on SF6 emissions from China's power grid.
GRI moves to a shorter format for sector standards, starting with food and beverages
In its Q3 update on 22 September, GRI said its standard-setting board has approved a streamlined format for sector standards. The new format keeps the existing structure and lists likely material topics and major impacts, but adds no new sector-specific disclosures, so standards take less time to develop. The first pilot covers food and beverages, and GRI says companies making up 62% of global market capitalisation use its standards.
EU sustainable-finance disclosure overhaul (SFDR) waits on Parliament after Council backs new product categories
The Council's negotiating position on the revised Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) would create three new categories of financial product. To qualify as 'sustainable' or 'transition', a product would have to use at least three indicators of harmful impacts, taken from a list the Commission will provide. The Council can start talks once the European Parliament agrees its own position. The Commission's review had found current disclosures too long and complex, and said the rules were being used as an unofficial labelling system, which raised the risk of greenwashing.
ESMA consults on simplifying EU taxonomy reporting measures, including banks' green asset ratio
In March 2026 the Commission asked the EU financial supervisors for technical advice on reviewing the EU taxonomy's disclosure rules. The EU securities regulator ESMA's consultation paper, dated 1 July 2026, is its response. It covers reporting measures such as banks' green asset ratio, which is built from their on-balance-sheet exposures. ESMA says its proposals, taken together, could substantially simplify the reporting framework.
Danish energy-export funding round closes on 2 October
The Danish Energy Agency has set aside DKK 8.4 million for the 2026 round of its pool supporting Danish energy exports. The round opened on 3 August, and applications are due by 23:55 on Friday 2 October. A private and a public partner must have agreed to apply together before submitting. Projects are scored on their potential to grow green energy-technology exports and to strengthen government-to-government energy cooperation.
Green Software Foundation widens its scope to water and waste and starts a water-footprint standard
The Green Software Foundation's 2026 working definition of green software now covers carbon emissions, energy use, water use and waste, including the hardware software runs on. A Software Water Intensity (SWI) standard is being developed alongside its existing carbon metrics. The Foundation cites the pressure generative AI puts on computing, energy and water, and says disclosure rules in the EU, UK, Asia and North America are converging in ways that directly affect software.
China's power grid is the largest emitter of the potent greenhouse gas SF6, Inside Climate News reports
Inside Climate News reported on 20 September that China's electricity grid, despite leading the world in renewables build-out, is also the largest source of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). The gas is used as an insulator in high-voltage equipment such as circuit breakers. Pound for pound it warms the planet 24,300 times more than carbon dioxide and stays in the atmosphere for about 1,000 years.