California recently enacted two laws—the Offshore Wind Expediting Act (SB 286) and the California Offshore Wind Advancement Act (AB 3)—to accelerate the development of offshore wind energy that could have significant implications for the industry and its stakeholders. The new laws aim to streamline the offshore wind permitting process, promote collaboration among state agencies
On 14 December 2023, following several rounds of inter-institutional negotiations, the European Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament (Parliament) announced that a political agreement had been reached on a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CS3D). The European Commission (Commission) had initially published its proposal for CS3D on 23 February 2022,
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