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European sustainability legislation

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The European legislation on sustainability will beevery year further tightened. For example, reporting obligations and benchmarks are being worked out in increasing detail, also for real estate entrepreneurs and financial market participants. Consider, for example, regulations such as:

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• SFDR Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation

• RTS (SFDR level 2) Regulatory Technical Standards

• CSRD Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

• Taxonomy

• Benchmark Regulation 

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It can be quite a puzzle for entrepreneurs to set up their ESG policy in a practical and legally correct way. On the one hand, ESG objectives must fit with the strategic objectives and on the other hand, the policy and reporting on the results must comply with the regulations. We advise our clients about the regulations, the consequences and the solutions. We also develop tooling that companies can use to meet their ESG reporting obligations. Our latest product is Stainable, with which financial market participants can now automatically deliver their SFDR/RTS reports. The CSRD is also already in view. 

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Not legale climatet chords

ESG policy has many angles. This is happening on a global, European and national levelclimate objectives, laid down in a series of agreements (including the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the 2013 Energy Agreement and the 2017 Raw Materials Agreement), alongside national legislation (such as the EPBD Directive, the Energy Efficiency Directive and the recent Climate Act). The need to achieve serious CO2 reduction has been further accelerated by the judgment rendered at the end of 2018 in the appeal of the Urgenda case. Also the United Nations to have with their Sustainable Development Glike a dsustainability framework dropped.

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Consequences for real estate

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For landlords and owners, the legal obligations regarding the sustainability of buildings are becoming increasingly far-reaching. This applies to both existing buildings and new construction. For example, on the basis of the 2012 Building Decree, new buildings must be realized as of December 31, 2020 Nearly Energy Neutral (BENG). For buildings owned by the government and in which government agencies are located, this requirement already applies from 1 January 2019.

Traditional agreements are not sufficient to make a building more sustainable. Integrated contracts with a chain approach are necessary for this. Boot Advocaten advises on the drafting of such new agreements. We also have a great deal of experience in drawing up so-called (Energy) Performance Contracts (EPCs), in which guarantees are mainly given on the basis of 'Key Performance Indicators' (KPIs).