Speaking at the event on Friday (Feb 17), Mark Carney, UN special envoy for climate action and finance, and former central bank governor for the UK and Canada, said of the baseline: “It’s critical. You need compatible information.”  

Mr Carney stressed ongoing discussions between the ISSB and major jurisdictions, such as the EU (European Union), the USA and Japan, about the need for regulatory harmony.…

When France’s fast-food chain O’Tacos (www.o-tacos.fr) announced in 2020 that it would be selling in Italy its halal-certified French-style meat and vegetable wraps, Italian Muslims took this as a sign that halal was going mainstream in their country. O’Tacos’ first Italian outpost will open in January 2022 in Rome (delayed by Covid-19) and more openings in 2022 are planned in major Italian cities, including Milan and Bologna, said Yassin Baradai, founder of Milan-based Meem Communication (https://meemcommunication.com/…

Higher education institutions are being warned they could be a target for money laundering, with fees being financed by the proceeds of crime, including corruption, which might also buy property, cars and other items for students.

The problem has been highlighted in a series of reports.…

While FATF’s mutual evaluation reports continue to show growing compliance with the organisation’s recommendations, concerns remain that the global AML/CFT system continues to fail in either preventing ML and TF or detecting and punishing such crimes after they are committed.

With FATF undertaking a strategic review since 2018, launched by the former China presidency and continued by the German presidency under Dr Marcus Pleyer, change in how the world fights ML and TF may emerge.…

While in recent years, the peaceful approach to progress associated with Islam has not been given a high-profile, because of the activities of extremists, the truth is that there is much to be learned from the Noble Prophet Mohammed about the value of incremental negotiation.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will start work in early 2022, based in Frankfurt, Germany, and Montréal, Canada, the IFRS Foundation Trustees have announced at the COP26 climate change meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. The trustees added that the new body would by next June (2022) incorporate the work of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) and the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), which itself includes the Integrated Reporting Framework and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).…

Britain’s open register of beneficial ownership was groundbreaking worldwide but its effectiveness as a bulwark against money laundering is being debated, even as both the European Union (EU) and the US move ahead at varying pace to replicate the system. The question of whether BO registers should be open or closed is one that is being discussed in countries around the world.…

Sub-Saharan Africa has natural resources that aids the development of renewable energy, it has lots of sun, plentiful wind, and much potentially sustainable biomass. With the development of small-scale affordable renewable energy technologies, such systems have been promoted by major aid agencies keen to prevent deforestation and excessive reliance on fossil fuels, that – even where they are plentiful, have not usually led to widespread economic development.

The Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a revision of the island’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Law, partly to help paint and coatings manufacturers maintain access to the European Union (EU) market. The reform will take account of the EU’s planned Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which may levy duties on products the EU deems have been made with excess carbon emissions.…

The increasing decriminalisation and legalisation of cannabis as a recreational and medicinal substance has encouraged the liberalisation of hemp as a fibre crop, whose use in some jurisdictions had been restricted because of laws against the plant’s chemically-active ingredients.

This is starting to change, most notably in the USA, which used to have severe anti-marijuana laws, but which now has 18 states that have legalised recreational cannabis use.…