ESG and Climate: Narrowed CSRD, CBAM Price Start, and New Wave of Green Financing

On 26 February, Directive 2026/470^[1] (“Omnibus 1”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, dramatically narrowing the scope of the CSRD and CS3D/CSDDD directives. Mandatory sustainability reporting will cover only groups employing at least 1,000 employees and with net turnover of 450 million EUR, while due diligence on human rights and environmental matters applies to companies exceeding 1.5 billion EUR turnover in the European Union or their equivalent entities outside the EU. Penalties under the CS3D regime will be capped at 3% of global turnover. The directive will take effect on 18 March 2026, with member states required to implement CSRD by 19 March 2027 and CS3D by 26 July 2028. This means that an estimated 80% of companies originally planned to be in scope will fall out, while high requirements remain for the largest capital groups, increasing contractual pressure on their suppliers, including in Poland.

Omnibus 1 Changes ESG Reporting Rules

Simultaneously, on 6 March, the European Commission through DG TAXUD^[15] announced the CBAM certificate pricing algorithm for 2026 and began a tender for a common platform to sell certificates. In 2026, CBAM certificate prices will correspond to the quarterly average auction prices in the EU ETS system; from 2027 prices will be calculated weekly. The Commission scheduled price publications for 7 April, 6 July, and 5 October 2026, and 4 January 2027. Importers of cement, steel, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity, and hydrogen will need to purchase certificates from February 2027 for emissions linked to 2026 imports, directly raising operating costs for companies importing these goods into Poland. Bids for operating the common certificate sales platform can be submitted until 20 March 2026, 12:00:59 CET.

CBAM Enters Cost Phase

In reporting standards, on 25 February the UK government introduced final UK Sustainability Reporting Standards^[4] (UK SRS), based on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 standards. UK SRS S1 sets general disclosure requirements for all material ESG risks and opportunities affecting cash flows, financing access, and cost of capital, while UK SRS S2 concerns climate disclosures—covering corporate governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. Meanwhile, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) began consultations on 30 January to replace existing TCFD requirements with mandatory reporting aligned with UK SRS S2 for listed issuers from 1 January 2027, using a “comply or explain” approach for Scope 3 emissions and non-climate risks. Concurrently, the European Commission presented a draft delegated act for the EU Prospectus Regulation, introducing an “ESG Disclosure Annex” for all non-equity bonds “promoted as considering ESG factors or achieving ESG objectives,” including green bonds and sustainability-linked bonds. These new requirements will apply from 5 June 2026, alongside the EU Listing Act package, significantly raising the evidential bar against greenwashing, including for Polish issuers.

New Standards and Regulations for Sustainable Financing

At the sectoral regulatory level, ANRE announced on 8 March an increase in the financial guarantee^[23] needed to issue connection conditions (ATR) for sources with 1 MW capacity from 5% to 20% of the connection tariff value. Failure to obtain the location decision within 12 months will result in loss of ATR and forfeiture of the guarantee. According to ANRE data as of 1 January 2026, only around 12% of projects with the previous 5% guarantee had signed a connection agreement, about 3% had both a connection agreement and construction permit, and approximately 1% also held an installation establishment permit. Additionally, 663 projects of at least 5 MW capacity totaling about 57 GW must submit connection studies to operators by 30 June 2026. This intensifies discussions around the Polish “Grid Act” project presented by the Ministry of Climate and Environment in January 2026. Meanwhile, according to the China Energy Storage Alliance, the Energy Department of an unspecified jurisdiction issued circular DC2026-02-0008 requiring that all new wind and photovoltaic projects with at least 10 MW capacity include an energy storage system equal to 20% of the source’s installed capacity.

Critical Raw Materials, Urban Mining, and Renewable Energy Projects

In green financing, Germany’s Ministry of Finance through Finanzagentur GmbH carried out a issuance^[5] on 10–11 March of 15-year green treasury bonds totaling 4 billion EUR nominal at a 2.60% coupon under the “twin bond” concept, where each green issuance is accompanied by a conventional paper with identical terms. The European Investment Bank Group through Fund granted^[6] BNP Paribas an additional 250 million EUR guarantee under the InvestEU program to expand the “Sustainability SMEs and Small Mid-Caps” portfolio for small and medium enterprises investing in innovation and sustainability. Simultaneously, the World Economic Forum reported insured natural disaster losses in 2025 reached around 107–108 billion USD, marking the sixth consecutive year exceeding 100 billion USD, while catastrophe bonds—including the World Bank’s instrument that provided Jamaica a 150 million USD payout after Hurricane Melissa—are becoming vital tools for adapting to climate risks.

Implications for Polish Companies and Institutions

Raw materials policy is increasingly significant. In a Council on Foreign Relations debate on the report “Leapfrogging China’s Critical Minerals Dominance,” Audrey Robertson emphasized the need to restrict exports of black mass fractions^[7] and other scrap containing rare earth metals to accelerate domestic urban mining development. The Department of Energy is consolidating activities in the new Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, and according to Audrey Robertson, recycled metal recovery from black mass will increase significantly within the next 12 months. In Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan’s government announced a photovoltaic farm worth approximately 200 million USD to boost renewable energy’s share in the energy mix, whereas Poland still lacks official legislative projects implementing Omnibus 1 as well as new green bond issuance plans by the State Treasury.

For Polish companies, the key task is now preparing for new thresholds^[2] under CSRD and CS3D, precise modeling of CBAM costs, engaging in the growing green bond market, and monitoring intensifying competition for battery waste streams between the European Union and the United States.

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