The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rulemaking process has received much attention under Chair Gensler’s leadership not only because of the volume and substance of proposed rules, but also because of the relatively short comment periods allotted for the public to respond pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act process. As just one example of
Investors are increasingly focussed on how companies address modern slavery and wider human rights issues when making investment decisions. Despite this, many UK companies are failing to adequately report on, and take sufficient steps to eradicate, modern slavery within their businesses and supply chains, according to the Financial Reporting Council’s (the “FRC”) recently published Modern
The European Commission recently published a series of documents in the context of the Green Deal initiative. One of these is a proposal for a directive on consumer empowerment. With this proposal, the Commission seeks to deliver on its promise to ensure consumers have access to reliable, comparable and verifiable information on products to allow
In December 2021, President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) into law. The UFLPA creates a rebuttable presumption that goods “mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”) of China, or by certain other entities in China, are made with forced labor and that such
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
In the latest of a series of actions by the Biden-Harris administration aimed at reducing the federal government’s carbon footprint, the US General Services Administration (GSA) has issued new national standards for the concrete and asphalt used in GSA building and paving projects.1 The standards apply to concrete and asphalt provided by GSA’s prime
“Greenwashing” – that is, environmental claims that are not fully or properly substantiated, or that contain false information, omit critical information, are exaggerated or are presented in an unclear, ambiguous and/or inaccurate manner – continues to be a major focus of scrutiny across all sectors, and the advertising industry is no exception. The volume of
A centerpiece of the European Green Deal was officially unveiled last week. The Proposal for a Regulation establishing ecodesign requirements for sustainable products[1] (‘ESPR’) is an ambitious document, part of a series of European Commission proposals seeking to redefine business in line with the European Union’s vision for a more sustainable future, as part
In 2017, following multiple legislative proposals and lengthy negotiations, France became the first EU Member State to adopt a cross-sectoral law on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (the “French Law”). At the time the French Law was adopted, it was highly criticized, in part because France appeared to be going “out on a limb” and a
In a previous blog post, we noted that the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will shortly publish its proposed general sustainability-related and climate disclosure requirements.
On 31 March 2022, the ISSB published highly anticipated drafts of IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information (General Requirements Exposure Draft) and IFRS S2 Climate-related