EDITORIAL

It's already time to take stock of 2023. In our business, we work alongside our clients to define and implement their sustainability strategies, analyse the human rights risks in their value chains, set and monitor their impact finance strategies, and design and implement programs to improve their supply chains for greater social and environmental impact. So, we have a front-row seat to the latest developments, underlying trends and contradictory regulations. 
In 2023, 5 trends stood out for us:

1. The European regulatory landscape continues to gain momentum, with significant progress being made, in particular on the implementation of the CSRD from 2024, as well as the taxonomy – while waiting for the CS3D.  This is not without sometimes questioning its consistency, as with the forthcoming overhaul of the SFDR, which is central for financial players. These are major developments, affecting companies both inside and outside the EU. If, for example, the CSRD has been brought into line with the ISSB, the CSRD becomes a regulatory obligation and is imposed on non-EU partners as an essential reference guide for the strategy and sharing of ESG indicators.
    
2. The backlash against ESG, a natural outlet for populist and conspiracy theorists, requires even greater rigor in clarifying the “business case” - and efforts to develop ESG schemes that are as inclusive as possible. For example, no climate trajectory is possible without a strategical anchoring of “just transition” issues in its very core.
    
3. A mid-term review of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals offers a mixed picture, insufficient but offering also interesting windows of opportunity. Over the long term, poverty is declining overall. In the short term, many of the SDGs have slowed down or even reversed in the post-Covid world. Inequalities are on the rise. The result? Increased funding needs on the way to the 2030 agenda.
    
4. 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record. As contributors to COP 28 in Dubai, we have seen first-hand how lack of leadership – or even cynicism – could lead to breakthrough consisting of a proliferation of non-binding announcements. It  leaves mainly companies and local authorities at the forefront of the radical changes that need to be implemented.
    
5. The exponential judicialization of climate-related litigations, which if well-calibrated enough to be effective will potentially have a more significant impact on decision-makers than statements of intent.

For Ksapa and our community of clients and partners, there is no time to waste. We deploy concrete solutions. Our actions are also consistent with the developing regulatory landscape, as well as with the anticipation of the necessary trajectories outlined by many ongoing legal disputes. In 2023, together with our partners in business, government and civil society, we have resolutely dedicated ourselves to multi-stakeholder operational programs delivering concrete economic, social and environmental benefits, and to organizing initiatives bringing together leading companies and investors making the link between the energy transition and human rights and advocacy activities. 

We look forward to working with you to strengthen and expand on these initiatives in 2024 ... and beyond!
 

Raphael Hara, Managing Director