EU: Parliament Votes to Delay Application of Due Diligence and Sustainability Reporting Rules
On April 3, 2025, the European Parliament voted to postpone the application dates for new EU laws on due diligence and sustainability reporting requirements. The Parliament’s vote comes after the Council approved its negotiating mandate in late March.
Member states will have an extra year —until July 26, 2027— to transpose the new due diligence rules into national legislation. The one-year extension will also apply to the first wave of businesses to be affected, namely EU companies with over 5,000 employees and net turnover higher than €1.5 billion, and non-EU companies with a turnover above this threshold in the EU. These companies will have to apply the rules from 2028. The date of application will be the same for the second wave of companies: those in the EU with over 3,000 employees and net turnover higher than €900 million, and non-EU companies with turnover above that threshold in the EU.
Application of the sustainability reporting directive will also be delayed by two years for the second and third waves of companies covered by the legislation. Large companies with more than 250 employees will be required to report on their social and environmental measures for the first time in 2028 for the previous financial year, while listed small and medium-sized enterprises will have to provide this information one year later.
UK: Government Launches National Action Plan on Pesticides
On March 21, 2025, the United Kingdom announced a new National Action Plan on Pesticides. The plan envisages a future of more sustainable pesticide use, while boosting food production in the long term. The plan sets out how all four UK governments will support farmers, growers, and other land managers to voluntarily increase their use of nature-friendly farming techniques and embrace alternative measures to reduce environmental risk from pesticides by 10% by 2030, while controlling pests and pesticide resistance effectively.
The core goals of the plan are as follows:
- Set clear targets and measures to monitor the use of pesticides
- Encourage uptake of integrated pest management
- Strengthen compliance and promote good practice
USA: Researchers Generate Comprehensive Pistachio Genome Sequence
Researchers from the University of California, Davis have generated the most comprehensive genome sequence of the pistachio ever published. The findings from their study could allow plant breeders to create better and possibly more nutritious pistachio varieties. Moreover, the researchers’ insights on how pistachio nuts develop may enable growers to manage their crops more sustainably.