ESG as business critical
The importance and impact of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria is growing exponentially on a global level. Reinforced by regulatory trends in the EU, investors and consumers have embraced ESG and sustainable investing. Sustainable building, renewable energy and social compliance have become the norm, and an appropriate ESG strategy is now a competitive advantage for businesses.
ESG as business critical
Sarah Wared, Florian Kusnier, Christine Siegl and Jana Landhaeusser
Keeping up with (investor) expectations and new regulations – Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria are no longer just a trend – their importance and impact on companies is growing exponentially on a global level. Reinforced by regulatory trends both in Austria and the EU as a whole, key investors have started to fully embrace ESG and sustainable investing. This of course moves ESG compliance up the boardroom agenda.
We see it in our daily work, that the importance of ESG is growing rapidly. On international level, some mergers and acquisitions have already been abandoned due to (high) ESG risks involving one or more of the target businesses.
-Sarah Wared, Partner, Wolf Theiss
Environmental
- Sustainable use and protection of resources
- Climate protection
- Adjustment to climate change
- Protection of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems
- Transition to a circular economy
Social
- Appropriate remuneration and fair working conditions
- Diversity, ongoing training and development
- Labour law standards
- Employee health and safety
- Safeguards in supply chains
Governance
- Tax honesty
- Measures for prevention of corruption
- Sustainability management
- Sustainable business activities
- Whistleblowing
- Data protection
ESG in-depth
An effective ESG strategy requires a clear understanding of the issues in the first instance. Making real change though takes embedding these practices in the appropriate areas of your business.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
New reporting requirements for undertakings in the EU – The CSRD significantly extends the scope of the sustainability reporting requirements and the number of businesses subject to such reporting requirements. It is important that affected businesses start compiling and developing standards and procedures to make sure that the sustainability information is available and accurate.
Green bonds and sustainable securitisation series
ESG, private enforcement and strategic litigation in times of war
Valerie Hohenberg and Theresia Franziska Welser – The war in Ukraine confronts companies with new fundamental questions in the area of ethical corporate governance and integrity. How should existing business relations with Russia be handled? Is doing business with and in Russia still socially acceptable? Is my company still able to act in an ESG-compliant manner?
Current legal developments
References
Our practices with ESG competencies
Banking and Finance
Experts in sustainable financing, green bonds and more
Investigations, Crisis Response and Compliance
Comprehensive services on compliance-related ESG matters
Corporate and M&A
Market-leading advice on ESG topics in corporate matters
Energy & Natural Resources
Industry experts in renewables and clean energy
Environmental Law & Permits
Comprehensive advice on environmental law & permits
Employment Law
Trusted advice on ESG matters in employment law
Real Estate Law
Recognised specialists in topical issues involving ESG in real estate
Regulatory and Administrative Law
Regulatory specialists including complex environmental, compliance and EU requirements
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Wolf Theiss - Leading Lawyers in CEE&SEE
Accessibility Statement
- www.wolftheiss.com
- 13 December 2024
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability. To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more. This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs. Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments. If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following emailScreen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:- Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
- Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
- Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
- Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
- Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
- ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
- Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
- Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
- Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
- Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
- Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
- Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
- Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
- Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
- Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.