SOON

The EU's strategy seeks a safe, prosperous, green, and digital future that decouples economic growth from resource consumption. The European Green Deal (EGD) is leading the transformation but is not alone. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), already in effect, requires listed companies to report data on their 2024 sustainability posture the following year. California's new SB-253 Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act and SB-261 Greenhouse Gases-Climate Related Financial Risk require disclosure of emissions and climate-related financial risks in 2026. In 2023, Japan's Financial Services Agency established the process for requiring sustainability disclosures that public companies must make. Indeed, most G-20 countries have regulations drafted for climate data reporting. Simultaneously, rules on large economy cross-border data flows are formalized now in the USA, EU, Japan, and China. Japan, California, and the EU account for about 25% of global GDP. 
 

Because data wants to be free, we can analyze what happens to consumers and brands when there is pervasive supply chain data and radical transparency.
 

Impact

The EU's data-first, technology-driven strategy uses Digital Product Passports (DPPs) to rewrite, interconnect, align, and enforce legal frameworks around carbon neutrality, sustainable economies, strategic autonomy, fair competition, quality of life, circular economy principles, and national security. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is a big change agent because it builds a digital wall around the EU. Transformation crashes into politics because products without DPPs will be turned away at a customer's border.