On April 7, 2022, the federal government of Canada released its Budget 2022 (Budget), which includes significant measures by the Canadian government to build its Net-Zero Economy and to fight climate change. In the Budget, the Canadian government is committed to move towards mandatory reporting of climate-related financial risks across a broad spectrum of Canadian economy, based on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. The new reporting requirements will be applicable to, among others, federally regulated banks and insurers, which “play a prominent role in shaping Canada’s economy” – as noted in the Budget.

The Call for Evidence is one of a number of measures the EU is taking as it aims to strengthen the reliability of ESG ratings.

By Paul A. Davies, Sarah E. Fortt, Betty M. Huber, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 4 April 2022, the European Commission (Commission) published a call for evidence (Call for Evidence) to solicit responses to inform the Commission on the dynamics of the ESG ratings market in Europe, including on the use and objectives of ESG ratings and the interplay between larger and smaller market players.

Given the growing interest in ESG issues from investors in recent years, ESG ratings and similar products have become increasingly popular as an independent and easy-to-use data point for investors to compare companies’ ESG credentials. However, this popularity has led to concern from some market participants and regulators as to the currently unregulated nature of the ESG rating provider market. This unregulated nature has in turn led to concerns regarding the consistency and quality of ESG ratings, as well as the ability to compare ESG ratings from different providers who often use materially different methodologies.

On April 5, 2022, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published a second 15-day notice of modification to its proposed Proposition 65 safe harbor “short-form” warning regulations.  If adopted, the amendments would significantly impact businesses’ use of the short-form warnings.

by Patrick J. Paul

On April 7, 2022, Alphabet’s Wing launched commercial drone delivery service in two suburban towns north of Dallas, Texas – Frisco and Little Elm where Wing had been testing its service over the last year following experiments in Christiansburg, Virginia; Helsinki, Finland; and Canberra and Logan, Australia.

Like Waymo, which is

Dave Curran, ESG and Law Institute executive director and co-chair of the Paul, Weiss ESG Advisory Practice, has been recognized by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as an honoree of the 2022 NACD Directorship 100, an annual recognition of the leading corporate directors and corporate governance experts who significantly impact boardroom practices and