Most UK climate litigation concerns challenges to the decisions of public authorities on projects with environmental effects or policies being adopted by Government that can have significant impacts on the environment.
A series of five recent decisions in the courts – all of which have rejected challenges based on climate grounds – show that the
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (the “Singapore-Asia Taxonomy”) at the COP28 climate conference on 3 December 2023. This development is noteworthy as the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy is the world’s first multi-sector transition taxonomy for defining green and transition activities across eight key sectors, namely: (1) energy; (2) industrial;
On 28 November 2023, Baroness Young of Hornsey introduced the Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Bill (the “Bill”) to the House of Lords. If passed, the Bill would introduce mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (“HREDD”) into UK law.
The description of “reasonable” HREDD set out in the Bill
As we alluded to in our pre-COP video (which you can watch here), the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement will be concluded at COP28. Although it is an important milestone in terms of establishing a comprehensive picture of what has been achieved since the Paris Agreement was entered into and what remains
A new California ”anti-greenwashing” law comes into effect on January 1, 2024. The law – called the Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act (AB 1305) (VCMDA) – casts a wide net over companies participating in the California voluntary carbon market or that make certain “green” claims within California. The VCMDA applies regardless of revenue thresholds if
This mini Q&A series will follow COP28, providing you with a quick and easy way to stay informed as the discussion evolves. Our coverage will highlight significant and recent developments from a legal perspective, allowing you to assess the impact of these on your business.
In this video, Tim Baines (Environmental partner, London, and founding
On 28 November 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published its “Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR”) and investment labels” policy statement (PS23/16) (the “Policy Statement”). The Policy Statement introduces a set of new rules aimed at tackling greenwashing, including investment product sustainability labels and restrictions on how terms like “ESG”, “green” and “sustainable” can
The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) has today published three useful explanatory notes covering key topics of the European sustainable finance framework, namely: a) the definition of “sustainable investments”; b) the application of do no significant harm (“DNSH”) principle; and c) the use of estimates.
The explanatory notes set out factual information regarding these
Plastic pollution is a global environmental problem. To combat this issue, the United Nations Environment Assembly passed a resolution in March 2022 to develop a draft global agreement on plastic pollution by the end of 2024 (reported here). The third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee recently concluded in Nairobi, Kenya with the next
In line with the global trend of increasing importance of sustainability-linked loans, the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the European Leveraged Finance Association jointly published on 5 October 2023 the updated Best Practice Guide to Sustainability-Linked Leveraged Loans (the “Updated Guide”), which contains updates to the original Best Practice Guide to Sustainability-Linked Leveraged Loans published