The Sillion Briefing 28.11.2025
A fortnightly digest for corporate sustainability & communications leaders
In this edition…
COP30 boosts grids, ducks fossil phaseout
UK Budget shifts net zero costs, taxes EVs
Parliament backs scaling back CSRD and CSDDD scope
COP30 closes in Belém: progress on grids and industry, weak on fossil phase out
COP30 in Belém wrapped up with the “Belém Package”: big headline pledges on grids, renewables, and industrial decarbonisation, but no agreed route map for phasing out fossil fuels. Petrostates led by Saudi Arabia and Russia blocked fossil fuel language in the final text, even though over 80 countries backed a roadmap away from fossil fuels.
Alongside negotiations, utilities in the “Utilities for Net Zero Alliance” pledged to boost annual grid and storage investment to around $148bn a year, development banks promised more than $12bn for regional interconnectors, and various initiatives launched to scale sustainable fuels, industrial decarbonisation, and efficiency.
Source: Reuters
Why this matters
For corporates, COP30 reinforces two messages: (1) policy on fossil fuels will remain fragmented and politically contested; (2) the system is moving ahead on grids, industry standards, and carbon markets regardless. That affects transition plan assumptions, particularly around power prices, carbon costs, and the credibility of “aligned with Paris” claims.
UK Budget 2025: lower bills, new EV tax, steady on investment
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget shifts a chunk of net zero costs off energy bills and into general taxation. From 2026, the government will scrap the Energy Company Obligation and cover around 75% of Renewables Obligation (RO) costs, cutting average household bills by roughly £150 a year while still honouring legacy renewables contracts. This nudges in the direction the Climate Change Committee has recommended – making electricity cheaper relative to gas – but stops short of a full rebalancing.
For transport, the Budget introduces a new per-mile “eVED” tax on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles from 2028 – 3p per mile for EVs and 1.5p for PHEVs – in addition to existing vehicle excise duty. The OBR expects the measure to raise around £1.1bn in 2028-29 and £1.9bn in 2030-31, and also notes it could suppress EV uptake. Alongside this, the Budget tops up EV grants and charging support, but offers little fresh money for energy efficiency beyond the Spending Review envelope set in June.
Source: GOV.UK
Why this matters
The Budget is less about new climate ambition and more about who pays for it. Large electricity users should benefit over time from slightly cheaper electricity, which helps (but doesn’t transform) the business case for electrification of fleets, heat, and processes. Fleet operators and employers using EVs in company car or salary sacrifice schemes will need to revisit whole-life cost models and communications to staff before the per-mile tax comes in, especially where EVs were being sold as a straightforward cost saving.
EU Parliament backs Omnibus vote to cut back CSRD and CSDDD
On 13 November, the European Parliament approved its negotiating mandate on the “Omnibus I” package, which amends both the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The mandate, driven by a centre right and far right coalition, dramatically narrows the scope of companies subject to detailed sustainability reporting and due diligence, and removes the obligation for in scope companies to prepare climate transition plans under CSDDD.
Source: EU Parliament
Why this matters
This is the clearest political signal yet that the EU is shifting from expansion to “simplification” of its ESG rulebook. Even if negotiations soften the changes, multinationals should now assume greater divergence inside the EU (between listed vs non listed, large vs mid cap), and keep an eye on how investors and banks respond for companies that fall out of the mandatory regime but remain material to portfolios and supply chains.
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