ESG Bird & Bird Academy – meeting summary

This meeting was designed to equip ESG Bird & Bird Academy participants with knowledge and competences that will help them better understand the ESG regulatory framework and efficiently navigate various legal acts.

Part I – Sources and Hierarchy of Legal Acts

In the first part of the meeting, we analysed the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, in particular its Chapter III, devoted to the sources of law and the hierarchy of legal acts. Sandra Sekuła-Barańska (attorney-at-law) presented the important role of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as the highest legal act in Poland, defining the hierarchy and framework of legal provisions.

We also discussed acts of generally applicable law (the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, acts, international agreements, including those ratified with prior consent expressed in the act, regulations and acts of local law remaining in force in the area of the operation of the bodies that established them), as well as acts of internal law (resolutions and ordinance).

We then moved on to discuss the sources of law (primary and secondary sources) of the European Union and their hierarchy, as well as the role of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular in the context of guidance for creating new law, changing existing law and interpreting existing legal norms. We also examined acts of secondary European Union law, such as regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions, shedding light on the hierarchy of these acts and their impact on shaping Member State legislation.

We introduced participants to the most popular databases of Polish and European legal acts, which will allow them to search and access their content effectively.

We wanted primarily to equalize the participants’ level of knowledge regarding the sources and hierarchy of Polish, European Union and international legal acts as many Bird & Bird ESG Academy participants are not law students. In our opinion, knowledge and understanding of these interdependencies is a key tool to efficiently navigating ESG regulations.

Part II – ESG: introduction to non-financial reporting regulations

In the second part of our meeting, Michał Szczepanowski, presented an introduction to ESG legal regulations (Environmental, Social, Governance), in which he discussed the key legal acts on which non-financial reporting is based. He also presented a catalogue of entities subject to the non-financial reporting obligation in connection with the dates of entry into force of the new reporting obligations and discussed the latest changes and trends in ESG regulatory framework.

During the meeting, we also introduced participants to the regulations issued in July this year, i.e. the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which are a milestone in the harmonization of ESG reporting at the European level, and we referred to the planned release of sector-specific ESRSs, which are expected to appear in June 2026.

Why is this important?

Knowledge of the sources of law and their hierarchy, databases with legal acts and the core ESG regulations is the basis and starting point not only for participating in further Bird & Bird ESG Academy meetings, but also for understanding the entire regulatory ESG environment.

This is not only an intellectual pleasure, but also the key to functioning effectively in today's business world. These meetings not only provide knowledge, but also inspire us to further explore the areas that shape today's legal and business environment. We look forward to our next meetings, where we will further explore the secrets of ESG.