After the results of the European elections, where the presidential political party lost a significant number of seats at the European Parliament, the president of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly. This dissolution was effected by the presidential “Decree of June 9, 2024 dissolving the National Assembly“, which was published in the Official Journal of the French Republic on June 10, 2024.  

At the time of the dissolution, several projects and proposals of laws were pending adoption within the French Parliament and the question of the status of these texts was scrutinized by the media shortly after the dissolution. Particular concern was raised by certain media articles about the consequences of the dissolution on pending environmental legislation, including the proposed legislation to protect the population from risks linked to Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (“PFAS“) (the “Proposed PFAS Law”).

The Proposed PFAS Law had drawn quite substantial public attention as, if enacted, France would become the first EU Member State to heavily prohibit PFAS in products. The Proposed PFAS Law was also developed in parallel to the development of a PFAS restriction at the EU level, which drew criticism from industry bodies and some French parliament representatives.

Multinational companies are facing increased pressure to ensure that they have adequate ESG-related policies in place and (more importantly) that they are implementing those policies in practice within both their business and associated supply chains via appropriate systems and controls. Companies that are found not to have implemented or adhered to those policies face increased

The solar industry is starting to get whiplash. Over the past year in particular, the industry has experienced a whirlwind of regulatory changes making solar tariffs some of the most complex tariffs in all of U.S. importing history. We should not expect the changes to lessen as the solar industry remains a focus for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and consumers. Given this frenetic pace (plus the upcoming June 28 deadline for public comments on the recent Section 301 duty increases), we provide this guide to current tariff and trade actions as a guide to help those in the industry keep afloat.

Japan is considering whether to require all of its primary listed companies to publish an annual sustainability report which substantively conforms with the standards issued by the IFRS’ International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB”). The new mandatory disclosure rule would be applied in phases based on the size of market capitalization, with the biggest companies planned

On 3 June 2024, the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (“APLMA”) published its set of “Model Provisions for Green Loans” (“Model Provisions”), following the publication of the “Draft Provisions for Sustainability-Linked Loans” by the London-based Loan Market Association (“LMA”) a year earlier in May 2023. The markets expect that the Model Provisions will bring some clarity into the classification of green loans going forward.