CSR News – November 21, 2025: Planetary Limits, COP30 and Transition

Crossing Planetary Boundaries: Toward a “Climate Superfund”?

• Seven of the nine safe planetary boundaries have been exceeded, leading in France to an increase in extreme climate events, declining agricultural yields, water scarcity and coastal erosion, requiring deep adaptation of territories and infrastructures.
• Funding for these transformations has largely fallen on taxpayers, while major fossil fuel corporations have not contributed proportionately to their responsibilities, despite significant profits and knowledge of the risks.
• Initiatives such as the Climate Superfund in Vermont, a similar fund in New York, and a bill in the Philippines aim to distribute climate costs more fairly and offer regulatory developments toward climate justice.

Source: Le Monde – “Faced with global and irreversible climate risk, we must complement our legal system with the creation of a ‘climate superfund’”

EU Drastically Restricts CSR Obligations for Companies

• On November 13, 2025, the European Parliament adopted an amended report on the Omnibus proposals related to CSRD and CSDDD, raising application thresholds to more than 1,750 employees and €450 million in revenue for CSRD, and more than 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion for CSDDD, drastically reducing the number of companies concerned.
• The revision removed the obligation for climate transition plans and eased requirements on human rights and environmental due diligence in supply chains.
• Negotiations between the European Parliament, the EU Council and the European Commission must conclude by the end of 2025 to determine the final regulatory framework for sustainability reporting and due diligence.

Source: ESG Today – “Guest Post: What the EU’s Signal Shift on Sustainability Reporting Means for You”

TotalEnergies Accused of Complicity in Crimes in Mozambique

• On November 18, 2025, TotalEnergies was the subject of a complaint for complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearances in Mozambique, linked to its Mozambique LNG project halted in 2021 and relaunched for planned operation in 2029.
• NGO ECCHR accused TotalEnergies of providing material support to a military force involved in serious abuses against civilians, while internal documents revealed that the company was aware of these facts.
• This case, amid judicial investigations and environmental criticism, raises the issue of corporate criminal liability for major human and ecological concerns.

Source: Novethic – “TotalEnergies targeted by a complaint for complicity in war crimes in Mozambique”

French Industrial Fishing: A Sector with a Major Carbon Footprint

• On November 17, 2025, NGO Bloom and the Shift Project published a carbon assessment showing that French fishing generated 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 per year, 29% of which is attributable to 39 industrial vessels over 40 meters using intensive techniques such as purse seining.
• This concentration of emissions among a very limited number of large vessels highlights a disproportionate environmental impact for the sector as a whole.
• For the first time, the study included the full life cycle of vessels and their fishing methods to better quantify the sector’s responsibility in national emissions.

Source: Reporterre – “Fishing: 1% of boats responsible for 29% of the sector’s emissions”

France Introduces a Tax on Small Non-EU Parcels Starting 2026

• On November 19, 2025, French MPs voted to introduce, starting January 1, 2026, a €2 tax on parcels under €150 coming from non-EU countries, within the finance bill.
• The tax aims to finance strengthened customs controls to limit the import of non-compliant or illicit products, responding to concerns raised about such items circulating on certain platforms.
• The measure anticipates an upcoming EU-wide harmonisation, marking a regulatory shift for the entire e-commerce sector.

Source: Reporterre – “Parcels under €150 soon to be taxed”

COP30: Tensions Over Climate Finance and Fossil Fuel Phase-Out

• COP30, held in Belém from November 10 to 21, 2025, brought together 197 countries and quickly validated an agenda covering 111 topics, but faced major disagreements over climate finance, fossil fuel phase-out, and Indigenous peoples’ demands.
• Negotiations were hindered by disagreements between rich and developing countries, calls to triple adaptation finance, and tensions over financing modalities and transparency.
• The expected transformation aims to implement COP28 commitments but remains slowed by resistance from at least 70 countries and the absence of a consensus on a clear roadmap for a global energy transition.

Source: Reporterre – “Halfway through COP30, the long-awaited awakening has yet to emerge”

PFAS Tax: Clash in the National Assembly Over Implementation Timeline

• On November 17, 2025, the French National Assembly adopted a new version of the “polluter pays” tax on PFAS, rewritten by amendment to address technical challenges related to identifying liable parties and calculating the tax base.
• The measure, introducing a fee of €100 per hundred grams released, triggered intense debates over its entry-into-force date, opposing business adaptation needs and health impacts.
• Ultimately, maintaining implementation from 2026 was approved in a tense atmosphere linked to state budget discussions.

Source: Le Monde – “The National Assembly approves a new version of the ‘polluter pays’ tax on eternal pollutants”

Global Ocean Governance Faces the Challenge of Private Financing

• The 3rd UN Ocean Conference in Nice paved the way for reinforced international governance with the launch of the Oceans COP and the entry into force of the High Seas Treaty in 2026.
• Despite the ocean’s importance for the economy, society and climate regulation, private financing remains marginal, and the ESRS E5 standard of the CSRD is still poorly applied by companies.
• This dynamic signals a scaling-up aimed at better protection, restoration and sustainable management of the ocean.

Source: Novethic – “Toward global ocean governance: issues, financing and perspectives”

Controversial Resumption of Uranium Exports to Russia

• On November 15, 2025, Greenpeace France observed in Dunkirk the loading of at least ten containers of reprocessed uranium onto a Russian cargo ship, marking the resumption of exports to Russia after a suspension in 2022.
• The organization highlighted a contradiction between France’s energy-independence commitments and its dependence on Rosatom, the only entity capable of reprocessing this uranium, 90% of which is then stored as waste in Russia.
• Greenpeace called on the French government for more transparency, an end to exports, and a plan to phase out dependence on Russian nuclear energy in line with REPowerEU objectives.

Source: Reporterre – “Despite the war, France has resumed its shipments of reprocessed uranium to Russia”

Airport Expansion in France: A Threat to Aviation Decarbonisation

• NGO Transport & Environment published a study showing that expansion projects at six French airports would lead to an increase of 45 million air passengers by 2050.
• This rise in traffic would undermine efforts to reduce CO2 emissions in the aviation sector, contradicting France’s climate ambitions.
• The article highlighted the risk that ecological transition in the sector could be compromised by these infrastructure developments.

Source: Novethic – “Airport expansions jeopardise aviation decarbonisation”